Horse Slaughter: The Truth Revealed | Habitat for Horses
Horse Slaughter: The Truth Revealed – History
The following is a series of copyrighted articles on the history, process, legislation and people playing a role in horse slaughter in the United States. This is a collaborative effort among a lot of people who have volunteered their time and effort to push back the curtain of propaganda and to bring the truth forward.
Jerry Finch, Habitat for Horses
Revealing the Truth
Most Americans are unaware that their horses are being slaughtered by the thousands so the meat can feed the palates of overseas diners in countries like Belgium, France, Italy and Japan.
Show horses, racehorses, foals born as a byproduct of the Premarin© industry (a female hormone replacement drug), wild horses, camp horses, carriage horses, rodeo horses, and family horses all fall prey to this detestable international industry.
Despite claims to the contrary, most of the slaughtered horses are in good-to-excellent health, yet they are inhumanely killed and their meat shipped overseas to satisfy the demands of foreigners for “American Horse Steaks.”
A scientific poll conducted in California showed that 70% of those polled support a ban on horse slaughter. Non-scientific polls show up to 90% in favor of banning horse slaughter. Amazingly, 60% of those polled were not aware of the horse slaughter industry. More recent nationwide polls indicate that at least 80% of the American public is opposed to horse slaughter.
Nearly 20 years ago, there were up to 14 horse slaughter plants operating in the United States. The number was gradually reduced due to diminishing foreign demand for horse meat starting in the early 1990s.
Today, due to a mixture of federal USDA inspection appropriation cuts (now rescinded) and state legislation and court rulings, there are no horse slaughter plants currently operating in the US.
However, last year alone (2011), 133,241 American horses were shipped across country borders to be slaughtered.
The same foreign companies that operated in the US also own plants in Mexico and Canada, where they can continue brutally killing horses with nearly total impunity; and with each passing month, the death toll keeps climbing.
Although working classes around the globe have been badly hit by an economic crisis, this recession has not been enough to quench the lust for horsemeat among the well-to-do in countries where it is considered a haute cuisine staple. Sadly, horsemeat consumption is on the rise because once again it is trendy. The flesh is surrounded by a halo of mythical properties and hype, promoted by horsemeat purveyors who are not mentioning the health risks to ignorant, unsuspecting individuals who eat it.
Habitat for Horses has played a part in several attempts to stop this needless destruction of our horses and will continue to do so until horse slaughter ends, both in and from the US. We invite you, as a member, to work within the legal system to put an end to slaughter. We also invite you to learn, in the following paragraphs, the background and true facts surrounding this unnecessary evil.
read much more in part 1 of the sordid and sickening history of horse slaughter in the US: The Origins of Horse Slaughter in the US
It takes inhumane treatment to make the economics work
