I have seen many farms in this state and worse - it is most deff. common practice. And you care about the hogs? Jeez, I’d hate to see what you do to your enemies.

Then there are many comments similar to this from Charity:

“First of all, meat is not murder. The wanton killing of something for the ‘joy’ of killing is murder. Where do you all think the leather on your stylish pumps, or that pricey leather sofa came from? I both own horses, and work at a livestock auction. While I love my horses, I realize the slaughter outlet is a necessity.”

This assumes a lot! Writers at Meat is Murder, and many of our readers are Vegans. That means no leather sofas. It also means no meat, silk, wool, dairy or honey.

The idea of murder is not defined as “wanton killing for joy”. Murder is the unlawful killing of another being (a human, by law), be it for gain, fun, from foolishness, ignorance or malice. Humans don’t need to eat meat to live. We do it for selfish reasons of taste or preference. We treat the animals we eat as property. We keep them in poor conditions and we kill them without compassion. We over breed, creating problems such as discussed in this thread, and the animals pay the price.

Many horse owners such as the one cited above see their horses as working animals, or vehicles for profit, to be owned, ridden, bent to human will and disposed of. These animals are not innanimate objects. They are sentient beings, capable of suffering and entitled to live out the lives that they have been given. “[T]he slaughter outlet is a necessity” only when there is a system in place that sells living, feeling beings for the profit of other living, feeling beings. Sounds like slavery to me.

Finally, some responses to SFARMY:

“Let’s take an approach here that seems to be lost in this forum. Reality laced with the truth.”

YOUR reality bub.

“Most of you posting on this aren’t even old enough to drive. It’s clear as a bell from the content of your posts so we will consider them for what they are, teenage hormonal rants.”

That’s extreamly arrogant and dismissive.

” he Thorobred horseracing industry 900K are born, one third make it to the track. That leaves 600K.”

That you discuss the horses only in terms of money is illustrative of the problem. You lack the insight and empathy to see the animals as anything other than property, simply because they aren’t human. The issue here is that humans like you think you have the right to use other species like toys for entertainment, and throw away the surplus. Again, that’s rather arrogant. A pattern is emerging…

“As a former soldier in a elite unit, I had the unfortunate rresposibility to work in some terrible places. But let me tell you this, I WILL KILL A THOUSAND HORSES TO FEED ONE STARVING CHILD!”

What on earth are you talking about? How are these things related? Why would you need to? YOUR CAPS LOCK IS STUCK!

“You people on this post sit on your leather sofas eating a burger and chastize this industry.”

Please see above.

“I will ive you that it is brutal, but live is brutal.”
Yes it is. Nature is brutal. People are brutal to each other, and to animals. That is not a reason to stop trying to make it better.

“If you were born not that many decades ago, you might have been thanking the good Lord above for the opprotunity to have that protein meal. I am sure that if you grandparents lived through the Great Depression, WWI or WWII, they GLADLY ate horse meat.”
Or not. There were veggies and vegans then too you know. Meat was eaten much less then as a rule - people ate a lot more veg and more homegrown/cooked food. Also,this is irrelevent. We aren’t currently living through rationing - we’re living in a time of mass western overconsumption.

While the UN does use canned horse meat in aid packages, it is worth pointing out that if we didn’t use the huge land and grain resources that we do to house and feed the animals we use, we could feed the human population twice over, and cut our methane problems dramatically.

“If you love things that are slaughtered and are helpless to do anything about it, start making your friends aware of the Genocide in Dafur…I’m not a nut, left winger or have any agenda…I have just recently came back from “near there” and wathched… Rebels massacre babies… Do you think those slaughtered worried about horse slaughter. Get your priorities straight.”

And you get your priorities consistent. You’ve clearly seen some awful things, and I’m glad that you wan’t to spread awareness of them. You SHOULD have an agenda. Why be afraid of fighting an injustice and who better than someone who’s been there and seen it? Spread awareness and don’t pander to a society that dismisses those who speak out as “nut’s”. That’s society’s way of ignoring uncomfortable truths. At the same time, why place a limit on compassion? If it is possible to improve the fate of ALL animals, then why choose only one? Get out there, make something better for someone, and don’t deride those who are working for improvement elsewhere. Between us, we could actually make a difference.

I will never send any horse that I own to slaughter and can’t imagine not being willing to spend the money to have a horse euthanized by a veterinarian. If you are truly worried about spending $300 to $400 to euthanize a horse, I don’t think you should own horses to begin with. How would you pay for veterinary care if your horse got sick? Many times a sick or hurt horse can cost thousands of dollars to care for. I don’t think horses deserve this kind of treatment and think about how they feel as they are shuttled from one place to another via auctions and transport to the slaughter house. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I had put any of my horses through this.

I think the answer to the unwanted horse situation is to cut down on the number of horses that are bred and for people who can afford it to hang onto the horses that they own or consider adopting one that needs a home. In time this oversupply of horses will no longer exist if people don’t continue to contribute to the problem

another problem is that contrary to popular belief: sick, old, and unhealthy horses are NOT the horses that are used for meat. just as sick, old, and unhealthy cows are not used for meat. unfortunately for a cow, it doesn’t have another job it can do. a horse does. the horses sent to slaughter are generally healthy and young, and little is known about whether or not they are “dangerous”. a meat buyers often outbid potentially good homes.

i don’t think horses should be left to starve or suffer, but i DO believe they deserve a humane and dignified death. unfortunately, slaughter does not provide that option. so us stupid americans will continue to oppose the slaughter of horses. remember too, that no matter what country you are from, the footstep of every one of your founding fathers that made your country what it is had the footstep of a good horse next to it.