Why PETA is Supporting Horse Slaughter in the USA…for Now

By Ali Berman | December 1, 2011

The current article you are reading does not reflect the views of the current editors and contributors of the new Ecorazzi

In what many will surely feel is a contradictory message, PETA is not coming down on politicians for allowing horse slaughter to recommence. In fact, they are thinking of it as an opportunity.

As many animal advocates know, and have noted in the comments of our prior piece on the issue, horses have had it rough in this country even when companies weren’t able to kill them for their meat. The problem was, while they weren’t being slaughtered here, they were still being slaughtered. They were being trucked long distances to Canada and Mexico. Transportation to slaughter is often one of the most difficult parts of being a farmed animal. They are forced to stand for hours on end in crowded conditions with no food or water. Some are even trampled. It can be quite horrific.

PETA had this to say about the issue, “No one wants to see any horse killed for meat or to turn a fast buck, and PETA has always had concerns about the suspension of US slaughter, since it meant more suffering for these sensitive animals, not less. What we feared would happen did: Rather than have a change of heart and stop killing horses, greedy ranchers who deal in horse flesh simply jammed their “commodities” into tractor trailers and hauled the frightened animals hundreds of miles to Canada and Mexico – a journey most did not have to face before – to terrifying deaths in slaughterhouses there.”

Of course PETA isn’t supporting horse slaughter forever. They are just glad that the animals no longer have to endure long truck rides where they are at risk for injury. What they really want is this, “That export loophole still needs to be slammed shut. To reduce horses’ suffering, there must be a ban on exports of live horses together with a ban on slaughter in the U.S., or it doesn’t work, never did, never will.”

So, if you’re outraged about the ban on horse slaughter being lifted, as many of us are, perhaps think of it this way. We can use this bad news to make life even better for horses. Create a law that says no slaughter and no export. Then, we’d really be doing horses a favor.

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Texas Horse Lover

Way to go, PETA. Hope you did not accept your pay off from the French firm that
profits from horse slaughter. The French paper money is too coarse for toilet paper.
guest

PETA is a terrible representation of the animal rights movement. They go for shock value over animal rights time and time again. Look at how they represent women to push their agenda – utterly humiliating and sexist. I will boycott horse slaughter and PETA as well. Go vegan.
Billy

This is terrible. So instead of just trying to get officials to crack down on people cheating the system by hopping boarders, they just jump on the bandwagon. PETAs actions towards complacency are nothing more than insulting.
guest

goes to show doesn’t it, like most they only seek fame for them self and will use any means to get it. PETA have finally proved there worth
Amy

Well, I am glad to see some support for horse slaughter, however I just read an article that quotes PETA as saying they will protest any horse slaughter plants. What’s next boycott cow and pig slaughter and hunting. They are killed with the captive bolt gun too. You people have forgotten that the death they face in Mexico can be much worse, being stabbed in the jugular until they bleed to death is a much more horrible fate than a captive bolt gun. At least the brain dies instantly that way. People are not the only ones that use the horse meat. Zoos used to be able to purchase the meat for their cats and bears and such. Now they must use something that may not be as close to their diet in the wild. The AVMA (not a supporter of horse slaughter) even acknowledges that closing the slaughter plants is not the solution to the unwanted horse problem. Come on people, grow up and face the fact that horses are LIVESTOCK, not pets and slaughter happens to livestock at some point in time. You may see them as a pet but they are federally classified as livestock.
- Honesti
  
  Amy, you are certainly are judging those who have a deep compassion for animals. You’re LIVE, and you are a human form of an ‘animal’ hence, you could easily be considered ‘livestock’ to someone, somewhere. I suppose you would support cannibalism, too, and tell those that oppose it to ‘grow up’. I suppose you’d rather be slaughtered for someone’s meal as opposed to be someone’s well-cared-for pet if the situation was reversed. Slaughter plants are not the solution. Education and regulation of how many animals are purposely bred is the solution. It’s humans that are out of control, NOT the non-human animals. It is humans that have off-balanced the population, NOT the non-human animals. But humans, arrogant beings that they are don’t want to be ‘told’ what to do with their ‘freedom’. Seems the majority of humans think it’s their ‘right’ to breed other animals for their own purpose. Zoos should not exist – again, they are a human-created form of prison for other living beings – for the purpose of human entertainment. Animals in zoos should be in the wild. Protected on protected land from ill-thinking humans who feel it’s their right to poach and hunt for ‘fun’. If animals were in the wild, then horse meat wouldn’t be needed for zoo animals, which is a point you have used as pro-horse slaughter.
- Ken1978
  
  “What’s next boycott cow and pig slaughter and hunting. [sic]”
  
  Yes Amy, liberation across the board is the general idea.
Thomas Durfee

No donations to PETA traitors.
GN

It is much better to stick a lethal injection of chemicals into a horse and pay $500.00 to have it hauled away to be ground into dog and cat food along with a myriad of other products than it is to feed another human being a high protein low fat food source. The US slaughters animals more humanely than other neighboring countries. Let states decide whether to slaughter horses for human consumption. For many of us horses are our livelihood and not our pets. We respect them but we also understand the economic realities.
- Gundog94
  
  Thank you. Finally someone who gets it.
SusanKayne

Can PETA explain how this gruesome act fits into “the ethical treatment of animals”
don mckay

after seeing slaughter houses its now clear where the nazis in germany got there ideas of how to be the monsters by observing the workings of slaughter houses—new regulations are needed
Taylor94

First of all, I emailed PETA and asked them their stance on horse slaughter when the bill was origanally trying to get passed to make horse slaughter illegal. They supported it and told me horse slaughter was inhumane and that they were glad the bill was being passed.
second of all, even if you did pass a bill that made it illegal to transport horses across the border for slaughter, it won’t do diddly squat. There is not enough manpower and funds to enforce that law.
and lastly, while i dislike the idea of slaughtering horses, you can’t just make it illegal. Horse slaughter is a symptom of a larger problem, which is the number of unwanted horses out there, both young and old, healthy and sick. Until we figure out what to do with these horses, we cannot and should not make horse slaughter illegal. If you have a problem with how the slaughtering was done and you think it was done inhumanely, then you should write your congressmen and tell them to make regulations that are more strictly enforced.
That’s my opinion.Before you post your opinion please take some time to gather facts about the subject. Here are some websites that talk about both sides.
http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/rescue/slaughterresponse_112107/

http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/unwanted_horses_faq.asp

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/horse_slaughter/facts/facts_horse_slaughter.html
Taylor94

There is not enough man power or funding to enforce a law that cracks down on people who transport horses across the border for meat. Hell, we can’t even stop illegal aliens for goodness sakes!
Oh, and I’m pretty sure that was part of the bill that was passed, or it was added later.
Horse luvin grl

Not true. Slaughter Houses in America use the invasive captive bolt. Also, there are laws out there that require a licensed vet to watch over and make sure the horse is properly euthanized.
In US slaughterhouses, USDA inspectors (veterinarians) supervised the killing of all horses. Every federally inspected slaughter plant in the United States, including all of the now-closed equine slaughter plants, has a veterinarian and slaughter line inspectors present at all times while animals are slaughtered. The veterinarian and inspectors are required to observe, ensure correction of any errors, and report any instances of inhumane treatment of animals. Slaughter is highly regulated, and any violations of humane slaughter requirements are punished according to federal and state laws and regulations. For more information, please go to: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Key_Facts_Humane_Slaughter/index.asp”
Get the facts….

Gina, I am still a teenager. I do love my horses and they are my whole life. I dislike the idea of slaughtering horses as much as the next person. And the majority of horse owners, who love their horses and respect their horses, would never sell they’re horse to a horse slaughter plant while they were healthy. They would sell them to another horse owner who would love they’re horse just as much as they do. The people who do send their younger healthier horse to slaughter are the people who mistreat their horses, who don’t care and I no way in hell consider them a true horseman. However, horse slaughter is not the problem, but a symptom of a larger problem. Overbreeding. And until we solve that problem I don’t beleive we should ban horse slaughter. They’ll just be sent to other countries such as mexico where they will either be worked to death or slaughter inhumanely. And there was already a ban against transporting horses to other countries. But considering the fact we can’t even keep illegal immigrants from coming into america, a fat lot of good any ban would do. And we do educate people. But people are arragont(as you can obviously understand) and will get them anyway. And as for “No one uses god damn sense any more” if you had used your god damn common sense and actually tried to get both sides of the story and research some websites you wouldn’t be so quick to judge. 😉
Guest

Many people think of horses as pets but they are first and foremost livestock. And slaughter houses when properly regulated are just as humane as anything else. maybe even more so than hunting because if your not a good shot you might miss the animal the first time and not kill it instantly, while as with horse slaughter plants use a captive bolt to the head that kills the horse instantly.
Taylor

1. Most of the meat goes either to A) zoo’s and the like for the meat eating animals B) dog food/cat food for processing(i don’t think as much goes to that though C) other countries where horse meat is considered a delicacy.
2. We can’t even keep illegal immigrants from entering the country. What makes you think that we can patrol the borders for horses that are being transported for slaughter??? we don’t have enough man power or money. So it won’t do anything. I dislike horse slaughter, but at least we could monitor it when it was legal in the U.S.
Guest

Okay. First of all, PETA WAS against horse slaughter. They freaking loved the ban. I dislike peta for many reasons. So i really don’t care what they do. But when EVEN peta says that it is necessary for the time being there has to be more to it. Has ANYONE done any research and looked at reliable websites??? For both sides?? And how many of you people who are against it own a horse?? Do you people even know why so many horse owners support it?? even though they don’t like the idea?? Believe it or not there ARE reasons why so many horse organazations and veterinary organizations support it. Horse slaughter is just a symptom of a bigger problem. And until we get that problem fixed, we need to keep it legal. We just have to monitor more closely.
I’m sorry if I come off rude but I hate it when people talk and argue for things that they just formed an opinion on without getting any facts from both sides of the argument. And i don’t know if anyone from this website is from the city or not but if you are from the city and you think that you can tell people who live out in the country what to do because you “supposedly” know our situations better? YOU DON’T! It’s like me telling you that everything you guys do in the city is wrong! I don’t know the city! and people from the city don’t know the country!
Harper

Herwin. Do you live in the Country? Do you own horses? Have you even researched this subject matter at all? If you answered No to all of these questions, then please…. feel free to shut up about the subject. Yes you could euthanize that horse. Of course it can cost anywhere form $150 or more. More than likely more. But what do you do with the body? Alot of counties don’t allow you to bury your horse on your property. You could cremate you horse, but that costs alot of freaking money. So if you can’t do either of these you have to pay to get the horse transported to a disposal area.
A captive bolt to the head(the intrusive kind) kills a horse just as humanly as a the drug. And it’s quicker too. And what’s wrong with sending a horse to Cat tails? NOTHING!! And guess what? Ben the horse trainer??? He does love his horses and horses in general way more than you.
Now if you would like to respond to me, please feel free to research the topic first and come up with an intelligent response and leave out your freaking smart ass comments about who loves horses. Or don’t reply because you are probably too arrogant to admit that maybe, just maybe you jumped to a conclusion too soon.

Anyway, thanks for the look into the mind of someone who “knows” exactly what is and what is best for horses.
Barrelracernurse

Peta is a joke Supporting horse slaughter and they support killing of animals. I want no part of Peta my horses are a part of my family
wild mustang lover

In reading this article and working with horse rescue for many years, I understand PETA’s stance, and agree that transporting the horses to Mexico or elsewhere was worse… However… perhaps some of you caught a recent documentary on killing of the wild horses in America? They are NOT given lethal injections that are “humane”. That seems to be too costly for these killers. They stab the horses in the base of the neck, severing nerves, so they fall down, and are often hooked and hung for dressing, while still alive. All this to save a buck. So please do ban together to stop the slaughter of horses. The cruel slaughter conditions of other animals is bad enough.
Brad

Not surprising that those in favor of slaughter still can’t articulate how to deal with the aftermath. Many horses taken to slaughter leave orphans than die. That issue is never addressed. Hey slaughter cheerleaders, are you too dense to realize that one reason slaughter was banned is because you did such a lousy job policing the abuses in the first place? If the ban hurts you economically, then go fins a new career. You have no guaranteed “rights” to make a living off slaughter. Stop whining and find another career.
trevor

i mean like who would do this kind of thing….. killing poor horses. i love horses and i think it should be illegal everywhere.
lori

Yes bless u i agree thats so so true lori from alabama thanks

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