Horse Slaughter in the United States 1

Horse Slaughter in the United States

Lane Hand

English 203

New Mexico State University

Horse Slaughter in the United States 2

Abstract In my paper unfolding the issue of horse slaughter ainly focuses on three ain to!ics"

#hese are the econo ic o!!ortunities$ ani al cruelty$ and world starvation" %y discussing these three to!ics & ho!e to o!en the eyes of any individuals and stri'e interest in lifting

the ban on horse slaughter" & want hel! others understand the i !ortance of horse slaughter with ho!e that they can as' want others to gain ore (uestions about the issue" Most i !ortantly$ & society"

ore res!ect for the industry of agriculture fro

Horse Slaughter in the United States 3

&ntroduction Starvation is a leading problem in the world that all countries face. Some people face starvation due to the lac of resources and food! but some people face starvation due to lac of effort and care for themselves. "here are many countries that speciali#e in certain types and styles of food while different countries struggle with producing small amounts or no food at all. $griculture production is the beginning of all food products as well as many miscellaneous products. $merican agriculture is the leading supplier of food in the world by e%porting many grains! meats! and fruits. $merica has many resources and speciali#ed producers that ma e it possible to have such a large supply of food. "he economy in $merica is made up of many products! but the most profitable products are from agriculture. "here is a lot of money to be made through the agriculture sector. &ne product that is not produced in the United States is the consumption of horse meat. $merica does not allow the practicing of horse slaughter. "here are many horses in the United States that could be slaughtered for human consumption. "he slaughtering of horses could help boost the $merican economy and could also be beneficial to helping world starvation. In the past ten years in the United States! there were '(!))) horses slaughtered before the banning of horse slaughter in 2))*+Stull! 2)12,. #he )roble "he issue with horse slaughter is that the $merican society views horses as pets. -ithout a doubt horses are ma.estic animals and can become very close to an individual. Some people might compare horses to dogs! a man/s best friend. 0ost people want the best for their pet or animals that they have grown very close to. -hen a dog is out of a home and starving they are ta en into care and adopted by a human or humanely put down. $lso when our dogs or cats are

Horse Slaughter in the United States 1 so old that they cannot function! the owner will have a veterinarian put them down which is very e%pensive. $s owners we would not want an animal to suffer because of age or neglect. -hen a horse is in this situation! owners and society want the e%act same outcome. -e feel that the animal needs to be put down gently and charitably. 0ost of the time horses are not treated as well as society desires because the owner cannot afford to put the animal down at a veterinarians cost. 2&n average there are 1))!))) horses every year categori#ed as 2Unwanted22+Stull! 2)12,. -ith this many horses being considered unwanted is the perfect reasoning behind horse slaughter. $ horse should not have to suffer due to the owners irresponsible self. $ horse deserves every fair chance! .ust as we would say for humans. "he purpose behind horse slaughter is not to slaughter all horses! it is use the resources available to humans but also to ta e the pain away from suffering horses. "here are many resources that come from the corpse of a horse. 2Horse products are used to ma e gelatin! hair products! and leather materials2+3ane! 2)12,. "he part with the whole issue of horse slaughter is that people only understand what human consumption is. Society doesn/t loo into what products are made from horses because they now that they couldn/t live without all those products. "hey only see the bad about consuming horses. "hey don/t reali#e what help it could do to the world but also to the issue with animal cruelty. Society is more than happy to use all the products that are made from horses! such as the hair products and gelatin! etc.. "he $merican society needs to reali#e how it is humane to practice horse slaughter. "here are many countries who happily consume horse meat as a main dish. 4rance! 5hina! 3a#a hstan! Indonesia! 6ermany! 7elgium! 8apan! Swit#erland! and Scotland all consume horse meat+29 countries that!2 2)13,. In these countries horse meat has always been a prime source of food. "he people in these countries still love horses but they also don/t waste these loved animals once they

Horse Slaughter in the United States : have passed on. In these countries consumption of horse meat has always been an option! so it does not interfere with their cultures. In the United States! as far bac as the history boo s will go! there is proof that humans have consumed cattle! sheep! hogs! goats! and many other animals. "he reason that the $merican society does not agree with horse slaughter is because they have never been introduced to the idea. In $merica we have always been use to the meats that we consume. "hat is the reason society has never been in complete ob.ection towards consuming those animals. ;eople are used to it but more importantly don/t want to give it up. If society would understand what '(!))) slaughtered horses+Stull! 2)12, could do for the economy but also the food ban ! some views on horse slaughter would change. $n issue that horse slaughter faces is that society doesn/t understand the opportunity that it brings to the public. -ith the slaughter of horses this would allow many opportunities economically. "he first opportunity would be that by slaughtering horses and opening up a mar et for horse meat could lower prices of many other meats. It might not be the best <uality of meat but it is a nutritional source of protein that can be consumed by humans. $nother opportunity is that it drives up the price of horses. "his would create a more economical mar et flow and provide a higher profit for buyers and sellers. 0any product prices would decrease with more horses being slaughtered because the companies of ma eup products and hair essentials would not have to search as hard to find useful materials. Society needs to completely be aware of what horse slaughter could do for them instead of ma ing more horses suffer daily. Society is always complaining about the issue on animal starvation. "hey seem to assume that every owner of an animal is always going to be able to ta e care of that animal. "hat is where they are wrong. &n average 2a horse eats 2)=3) pounds of hay a day2+2How much hay.2,. "he biggest problem with people owning horses is that they thin they can afford them for a long

Horse Slaughter in the United States ' period of time when in reality they can only afford a couple of months. Hay prices have recently been increasing in the past couple of years. "his means it is harder for the owners to eep the horses fed. -hen a horse cannot be fed daily it starts to lose weight. "his is when you can start noticing the horses ribs showing as well as their hip bones. 0any owners now this happens but can/t find ways to get rid of the horses. "hat is why there are many horses dying of starvation in the United States. Solution -ith many issues facing horse slaughter society needs to understand the full aspect of why it is necessary! instead of ma ing not only horses but other animals suffer due to the poor care from the owners. >o matter what! society will always thin the worst in every situation! but if the information and facts are provided to them then there might not be as much disregard to the practice of horse slaughter. ;eople today seem to want to now what ta es place every step of every process. If congress was to pass the practice of horse slaughter then the solution to pleasing society is easy. "hat is to simply inform them about what they don/t now but also what they want to now. -ith society loving horses so much many people many times want to now why a horse is being slaughtered. "he way to inform consumers about a horse could be! when a horse is ta en into the slaughter house! the purpose for the slaughter of that horse shall be e%amined by a veterinarian and recorded. It is obvious that it would be hard to inform the public about every horse! but with the daily advancement in technology! there could be invented methods to eep record of every horse. &ne way that this could be done is by assigning each horse a number when they are entered into a slaughter facility. "hen as the horse becomes slaughtered and processed! under that horses number! the wor ers fill out paperwor of what was done to the horse and what it will be

Horse Slaughter in the United States * used for. -hether its to be classified as human consumption! animal consumption! or miscellaneous. $ll this information would be re<uired to be in records in the United States ?epartment of $griculture/s record data base system. "he way that this information can be provided to the public is through the United States ?epartment of $griculture website. &n the pac age of the product would be an animal code number that the individual could type into a search bar or whatever ind of search source is available. "his would allow the information about the horse to be brought up. "his information would include the date the horse was slaughtered! breed! weight! age! and most importantly the reason for slaughter. "his amount of information is enough to give reasoning behind why a horse was slaughtered. "he information will allow humans to understand more about why this type of practice is necessary. *onclusion In conclusion! horse slaughter should be allowed for practice in the United States. "his availability would be very beneficial to many areas of our lives. "here could be more .obs created along with more products made in the United States. "hese products could help ma e prices in the economy decrease and allow more money flow to benefit the economy. 0ost importantly! this practice could help accomplish one more step to fi%ing starvation for humans with more than '(!))) horses to be slaughtered per year+Stull! 2)12,. 0uch more food could be distributed to the $merican public. Horse slaughter can and will benefit many lives in the United States. Horse slaughter allows one main issue to be solved! the concern of animal neglect and cruelty. 0any horses will <uit suffering and be humanely treated. 7y continuing to ban horse slaughter many horses will e%perience unnecessary cruelty and neglect that will cause many horses to suffer in pain. "he practice of horse slaughter in the United States should be allowed to solve these problems.

Horse Slaughter in the United States (

-or 5ited ?erfler! ;. +2)11! 12 )9,. Setting the record straight on congress' lifting of the ban on horse slaughter. @etrieved from httpABBblogs.usda.govB2)11B12B)9Bsetting=the=record=straight= on=congressC=lifting=of=the=ban=on=horse=slaughterB 3ane! D. +2)12! 1) 12,. by-products of horses. @etrieved from httpABBpre#i.comBtivm%cw#yrvfBby= products=of=horsesB Stull! 5. +2)12! 8uly ,. Nutrition of rehabilitating the starved horse. @etrieved from httpABBwww.vetmed.ucdavis.eduBcehBdocsBhorsereportBpubs=8uly2)12=b m=sec.pdf How much hay does a horse eat?. +n.d.,. @etrieved from httpABBwww.as .comB<uestionBhow= much=hay=does=a=horse=eat 9 countries that actually love horsemeat. +2)13! 4ebruary 1*,. @etrieved from httpABBwww.huffingtonpost.comB2)13B)2B1*Bcountries=that=eat= horsemeatEnE2'9*:':.html