Stop The Slaughter of an American Icon

Horse abuse and slaughter is a very personal topic for me. I’ve owned horses since I was a little girl and two of the horses I’ve owned have been rescue horses. The first horse I owned was whisper. We got her from my moms’ friend Laurel, who bought her at a horse auction in Canada. Whisper was headed for the slaughter house but Laurel bought her and we nursed her back into good health. When we first got whisper she was so thin you could see her ribs. She had massive scars along her flanks and her main tail and coat weren’t looking so good. She had a hard time trusting us and spooked a lot so we knew that she had been abused. To nurse her back into health we gradually increased her food intake and gave her minerals to add shine to her coat and deal with medical issues. Unfortunately when I was in sixth grade we had to put her down due to arthritis in her knees.
My family also owns a pony, peaches and cream that was also rescued by Laurel. The owners didn’t want her because she was a mistake. She too was going to be auctioned to a slaughterhouse at only five months old. My family took her in and we’ve been doing our best to keep her going although it’s been a struggle. Peaches has terrible problems with her hooves so she can only have small amounts of food. If she eats too much then she’ll most likely founder and die. Recently she foundered and we almost had to put her down because her bone was about to go through her hoof. We tried a new treatment and for the time being she’s okay.
When I looked further into the topic of horses being shipped to slaughter houses I was surprised at what I found. There are three foreign owned plants in the US – two in Texas and one in Illinois.(1) In one year a total of 88,000 horses, mules and other equines were slaughtered as compared to the yearly average of around 100,000. Thousands of other equines are shipped across the boarder to Canada for Slaughter. The meat doesn’t even stay in the US it’s exported to European and Asian countries such as; Belgium, France, Italy, and Japan. (3) The meat that does remain within the states is used in zoos. (1)
Any horse is susceptible to slaughter; ponies, show horses, family horses, retired show horses, and abused horses. The majority of stolen horses are also slaughtered because a thief can make an easy $300-700 and the evidence is destroyed. A surprising 90% of horses slaughtered are young and healthy. (3)
I found that in 2005 congress voted 263-146 to ban the slaughter of horses for meat but, instead of banning it, congress yanked the salaries and expenses of federal inspectors. (1) The Bush administration started charging slaughter plants for inspections and slaughter had thus continued. Rep. John Sweeney who supports the ban of horse slaughter for meat argued that the slaughter of horses is different from the slaughter of cattle and chickens because horses are American icons. On the other hand defenders of horse slaughter say that horse slaughter offers a cheap and easy way to end a horse’s life when the animal is no longer useful. (1)
I was most upset when I looked into the treatment and transport of horses going to slaughterhouses. Federal regulations permit horses to be transported in crowded, dangerous, double-deck trailers, where the animals may languish for more than 24 hours without food or water. (4) Slaughterhouse workers have been known to beat horses around the neck, head, backs, and legs in order to move the animals into the “kill box”. Also US law requires that horses and other livestock be unable to feel pain before they are killed. In order to render the horse unconscious workers use a captive bolt gun which shoots a metal rod into the horse’s brain. (4) However, some horses are improperly stunned and are still conscious when they are hoisted by a rear leg to have their throat cut.
Luckily there are several horse and rescue sanctuaries that dedicate their time to saving horses headed for the slaughter house. There is People helping horses, a locally based, nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to improving human-horse relationships through education, rehab, and support for both horse-owners and professionals. The organizations common focus areas are; educating children and those new to horses, strengthening horse protection regulations, promoting good stewardship of the animals and the land on which they live, therapeutic riding for those with disabilities, and caring for abused, abandoned, neglected, and other horses in need. (5) The Shiloh horse rescue and sanctuary works alongside the angel acres horse haven rescue. Shiloh horse rescue, Rescues thoroughbreds, mustangs, quarter horses, draft horses, mules, ponies, burros, standardbreds and any horse in need. Angel acres horse haven rescue has a fund set up specifically to rescue horses that are in immediate danger of going to slaughter. All proceeds from the fund go to rescue horses that are standing in killer pens, feedlots, or are about to board the truck to the slaughter plant. (4)
Together we can make a difference. You can help make a difference by either virtually adopting a horse or actually adopting a horse. For more information you can go to this sitehttp://www.peoplehelpinghorses.com/?gclid=CODr2oOD6pMCFRfAQAodChQJWQ or this sitehttp://www.angelacreshorsehavenrescue.com/shilohangelacres.html?gclid=CMP2lLaD6pMCFSASQQodxTvAWg Another way you can contribute is by going to http://www.horseincorp.org/Abuse.html and reading about horse abuse and what you can do to stop it. All it takes to make a difference is to learn the facts and share them with others.