U.S. Slaughterhouse ban creates new dilemmas…

…is what I originally titled this letter to the Times-News, last winter solstice; until the editors improved it, to the more aptly titled “Horses need our protection.” Here is the jist of it:

After 1986 Kentucky Derby contender Ferdinand overcame 18-to-1 odds to become champion, he was later sold to stud in Japan. Then in 2002, the victor was evidently sent to slaughter, prompting a “from winner to dinner” hearkening slogan used by the outraged thoroughbred community in its successful campaign to ban the last of U.S. horse slaughterhouses meant for human consumption.

They still kill U.S. horses for food, you know. And a bad hitch is that many of these once-beloved creatures are beginning to face horrifically longer transports to Mexico and Canada, which excludes federal jurisdiction, from our monitoring for humane treatment. Deplorably overcrowded trailers and more obfuscated slaughterhouses continuing with questionable sanitary practices are hot concerns.

Another problem facing new West ranchers are higher hay prices which, coupled with the slaughterhouse closures, has impelled some to abandon their (mostly unbranded) unaffordable horses onto neighboring ranch and public lands.

For those who haven’t heard, it may come as a jolt to the head, that our championed horses now face even murkier final finish lines before export to lucrative overseas markets where horsemeat has long been considered a delicacy. Some horsemeat, after beyond-border-butchering, makes the long haul back into the United States for exotic animal consumption at a controversial zoo near you.

After this letter posted, we had some interesting follow up discussions. Naturally, such a sensitive subject could be easily misconstrued as my meaning, “it’s just awful to send an old crippled horse to a packing plant.”

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with people who eat horsemeat. As far as I can remember, the same thing goes for robust ham & buffalo-burger munchers - hidden connection between Mad Cow and misdiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease notwithstanding.

Friends have called me a carnivore before. If offered, I might test a tiny bit of horsemeat “to sate my academic curiosity,” like Commander Tibbets, in the spirit of inspecting dark Nagasaki this time of year, back in ‘45. On the other hand, I might change my mind at the last second and turn away disgusted from the holiday dinner table. Afraid I can’t say for sure, til it actually happens to me.

People from PETA poles apart (People Eating Tasty Animals and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) might agree; that if there’s something more awful than wasting perfectly good meat; it’s the unnecessary harsh treatment, some of these animals are stricken with on their way to slaughterhouses.

Even with the large amount of questionable burgers I’ve madly consumed over the years, I still vividly remember the chapter from FAST FOOD NATION that reveals how the processing plant in Greeley, Colorado slowed production down to a safer level, on days that meat was being shipped to Europe, because they had to meat higher standards!

For those who believe that the term “Humane slaughtering” is oxymoronic, please reflect upon this quote from visionary Temple Grandin; who designed the sweeping curved corrals that reduce stress in animals being led to slaughter and are used for fifty percent of the cows slaughtered in America.

“I think using animals for food is an ethical thing to do, but we’ve got to do it right. We’ve got to give those animals a decent life and we’ve got to give them a painless death. We owe the animal respect.”

And this from Wikipedia:

One of Temple’s most important essays about animal welfare is “Animals are not Things,” in which she posits that animals are technically property in our society, but the law ultimately gives them ethical protections or rights. She uses a screwdriver metaphor: a person can legally smash or grind up a screwdriver but a person cannot legally torture an animal.

In Idaho, horses are considered production animals, whereas in California, the State has deemed horses “companion animals.” This gives horses improved legal rights against inhumane treatment.

However, this is a murky issue, since there are many parameters, which define production animals, versus companion animals. I would be interested in hearing viewpoints from equestrians familiar with this issue, especially anybody who knows about the challenges that the California Humane Society must have come up against, while trying to implement regulations with such far-reaching ramifications.

Every Idaho Agriculture inspector has more than a handful of revolting stories involving severe horse abuse. With the higher price of hay, reports of horses starving in Idaho increased 5% this last year. This summer, The Times-News reported that Horse abuse cases are almost certain to increase and while local law enforcement doesn’t have the resources to cope, the editorial board offered some potential solutions.

State equine regulators and BLM officials fear that in this economic pinch, more Idahoans will dump their horses on rangeland rather than euthanize them. And this has been happening, ever since the closure of the last U.S. horse slaughterhouse meant for human consumption.

Some horse-lovers have wondered how an impact of several thousand horses running newly wild again on BLM lands, compares to the vastly larger number of cows now grazing on Idaho Public Lands. Then again, anybody wanting to speak up against the powerful cattle industry, should probably remember the difficulty given to Oprah.

Truly, the way in which we treat animals, reveals much about ourselves.

This summer solstice, Cassidy Friedman wrote a brilliant front-page article for the Times-News, which encompassed many of these same high horse concerns.

Since then, a new horse rescue operation opened their gates, led by some local concerned citizens. While it took a lot of hard work, their first mission was highly successful, and they found homes for almost all the horses. (I’d be happy to update in greater detail, where this group’s rescue efforts now stand, as soon as I hear back from them)

Meanwhile, here are two stories about “Betty’s Girls Rescue” written by Katy Moeller for the Idaho Statesman:

“Rescued Paint horses in Wood River Valley need homes, help”:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/ourtowns/story/484403.html

And “Paint horses find new homes inValley”:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/ourtowns/story/510809.html

Another Idaho group supporting equine rescue, of older, abandoned and troubled horses is the non-profit Orphan Acres. Twin Falls photographer Scott Sommers has a plan to try to sell 2 million calendars featuring horses, to help support Orphan Acres.

I think the Ag Weekly article “Abandoned horses pose dilemma for ranchers”, describes best the slaughterhouse dilemma many New West Ranchers face, when it says: “There is no perfect answer to this problem, and the horse processing thing certainly is not a solution for a lot of people. But it is for a lot of others.”

With the shift in horse slaughterhouse laws, it’s nice that these rescue operations are giving people one more option to choose from, while they are facing the difficult decision of what’s best to do with the beloved horses they can no longer afford to keep.

A great take on horse slaughter - sent in by an equestrian friend

Jim-
Hope you find this informative, even if it doesn't end up being relevant for your writing. -M.



"Thought this was an interesting perspective...maybe you could post it next to the horse slaughter petition....good way to stir the pot a little.....or better yet....good topic for the newsletter...maybe a great way to get rid of unwanted customers.

On my forum, this was posted by Juli Thorson, writer for Horse and Rider adn some other great magazines. This was a great, eloquantly writtenpost that I think will be a great source for many concerning the ripple effect of banning horse slaughter in the US.


The other day, it occurred to me that if Congress manages to block all routes to slaughter for horses intended as food, the U.S. horse economy would become the first in history to operate without food-salvage value as its floor. Basically, this also would make horses the only form of livestock WITHOUT per-pound salvage value, having the effect of turning horses from assets into liabilities. In turn, this would alter the horse economy's infrastructure so profoundly as to force a new one into being, to replace the one society now finds repugnant.
So, for what it's worth, here are some of the things I can see coming as a result:
* An annual tax per head on every horse we own. This is how the government will seek to fund the equine holding facilities, 're-homing' operations, and disposal stations it will see a need to build as the unwanted-horse crisis continues to build. The Seattle Post Intelligencer just ran an editorial calling for this very sort of tax:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/347789_erbe18.html
* Mandatory microchipping of every horse. These ID chips will be used for multiple purposes, including ability to track down and fine/prosecute any owner who abandons a horse. As the rate of abandonment accelerates, this will come to pass sooner rather than later.
* Mandatory facilities registration, accompanied by inspections. Horse owners will pay fees toward these measures, too. This already has a name: NAIS, for National Animal Identification System. The general public will buy into this as a way to protect itself against a form of bioterrorism, among other justifications:
http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml
* Mandatory application for and payment of a 'transport voucher,' any time you wish to move a horse to or from your property. This will be used as a way of funding reinforcement of a federal ban against transporting a horse for the purpose of slaughter, once that's been made illegal.
* Federally built, regulated, and funded equine euthanasia/disposal stations (see my first point). Whether people care to acknowledge this or not, every horse eventually ends up as a half-ton carcass that needs to be disposed of somehow. If not turned into usable meat/hoof/hide byproducts, it comes garbage--buried or composted on private property, rendered, dumped in a landfill, or dragged off for wild animals to feast on. I just read a statistic, published in the New York Times, stating that 138,000 fewer horses were processed in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in 2007 compared to 2006:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11horse.html
If all 138,000 head were 'humanely put down' instead, that'd add up to around 75,000 TONS of horse carcasses to be dealt with in some manner. A year. With somewhere around 100K of those in the U.S. How long do you suppose our 'not in MY neighborhood!' society will put up with that before getting the government involved? Especially when you consider that the carcass of a horse killed with barbituates is increasingly considered to be a threat to the environment?
* As an answer to the toxic-carcass problem, a new service provider will appear: The person willing and able to euthanize your horse by gunshot. In my area, such a service is already available, if you know the numbers to call. However, those who provide the service will be forced underground, once those in the general public get wind of it. 'My God--people are allowed to SHOOT horses?! This must be stopped!'
* Federal taxation on every breeding. I don't think I need to explain this one. Just see all the above.
* A resulting horse economy--for good or for bad--that will be unrecognizable to us within 10 years.
On my forum, this was posted by Juli Thorson, writer for Horse and Rider adn some other great magazines. This was a great, eloquantly writtenpost that I think will be a great source for many concerning the ripple effect of banning horse slaughter in the US. "

Update: Now there is a petition out to bring back the slaughterhouses>

I originally titled my letter of public interest to the Times-News as “Humane Slaughterhouse ban creates new dilemmas,” until it was edited into the better fitting “Horses need our protection”. Naturally, such a touchy subject could be easily misconstrued as my meaning, "it's awful to send an old crippled horse to a packing plant.”

Sure, there’s nothing wrong with people who eat horsemeat. As far as I can remember, the same thing goes for robust ham & buffalo-burger munchers - hidden connection between Mad Cow and misdiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease notwithstanding.

I’ve been called a carnivore before. If it was offered, I might test a tiny bite of horsemeat in my mouth “to sate my academic curiosity,” (kind of like in the spirit of Commander Tibbets inspecting dark Nagasaki this time of year, back in ‘45). On the other hand, I might change my mind at the last second and turn away disgusted from the Christmas Dinner table. Afraid I can’t say for sure, til it actually happens to me.

People from PETA poles apart (People Eating Tasty Animals and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) might agree; that if there is something more awful than wasting perfectly good meat, it’s the unnecessary harsh treatment some of these animals are stricken with on their way to the slaughterhouses.

Spark Zebarth, I hope that you are correct when you say that those beyond border butchering plants are inspected the same as others. I would like to see some facts to back up your statement, and then would embrace them if they can be proven true.

Even with all the mad cow burgers I’ve probably consumed over the years, I still remember the chapter from FAST FOOD NATION that revealed how the plant in Greeley, Colorado slowed production down to a safer level, on days that meat was being shipped to Europe, because they had to meet higher standards. So perhaps you are right. Maybe the Mexican and Canadian plants even exceed our standards!

Maybe I had better hold my earlier statement at the starting gate, until we can determine exactly which horse slaughterhouses pale in comparison.

Meanwhile our once-beloved horses are still overburdened with the longer transport problem and humane treatment inspection exemption.

Moreover, Spark, we are working on another care center for horses. The eve of my letter’s publication, an equestrian called to inform me about a synchronistic article called “Saving an American horse for Christmas” by Dennis Higman in the December 19 Idaho Mountain Express. Mr. Higman had pastured seven of his cowboy neighbor Frank’s horses, but as winter approached and the cost of diesel and hay skyrocketed he said, that something had to give and to their surprise that something was those horses going to auction. After a heart-rending story, where the horses ended up selling for fifty bucks each and headed for the slaughterhouse, they decided to look into seeing if they could find some other place where future unwanted horses might be welcomed besides the slaughterhouse. They found a viable place called Orphan Acres, a non-profit near Moscow run by a man named Brent Glover. Now the Higman’s are looking to utilize their own ranchland in the Twin Creeks area north of Sun Valley, as a satellite-summertime-sanctuary for unwanted horses, providing them with “good food and vet care in the hope they will regain their health and be adopted.”

In addition, there has been some buzz, that the Illinois horse slaughterhouse is attempting to reopen, by appealing the newly passed law, but so far, I have been unable to substantiate the details on this. Whether or not this plant opens, the news is a mixed black and white paint, no matter who is inspecting the horse’s mouth.

Thanks to all for this dialogue opportunity.