GAO: Equine Welfare Worse
It appears you really cant get by on good intentions. The closure of the last U.S. horse slaughter plants in the fall of 2007 has failed to reduce the number of horses shipped to slaughter. Instead unwanted horses are shipped to Canada or Mexico where they are not protected under the U.S. Humane Slaughter Act. This is one of several conclusions contained in a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on Horse Welfare.
With the closure of horse processing plants, the GAO finding confirms what equine professionals have been saying for years, that the glut of horses created by the processing ban has depressed prices, shifted processing to neighboring countries and has increased horse abandonment across the country.
The GAO report cites the Billings auction, one of the largest in the country, as proof that prices for lower-grade horses, generally sold for slaughter, have dropped significantly. “Canners,” or horses bound for slaughter, used to fetch roughly $700 to $800.
At Billings Livestock Commission in May 2005, 25 percent of the “loose” horses (not ridden or saddled) sold for less than $200. In May 2010, nearly three years after the slaughterhouse ban, half of the loose horses sold at the Billings Livestock Commission brought $200 or less.
In 2006, the last full year the U.S. plants operated, 105,000 horses were slaughtered domestically. In 2010, at least 138,000 horses were shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, the GAO reported.
Seventeen state veterinarians, including in Montana, told the GAO that equine welfare had declined since the economic crash in 2008, the closure of the slaughterhouses and the drought, among other factors.
Local government and charities don’t have the money to deal with the large number of abandoned horses, the GAO concluded. And animal sanctuaries, now caring for 6,000 horses nationally, are full.
“Clearly the cessation of domestic slaughter has had unintended consequences, most importantly, perhaps, the decline in horse welfare in the United States,” the report stated.
In the 1980s, the U.S. had 16 horse slaughterhouses where the meat was mainly exported for sale in Asia and Europe.
The last three slaughterhouses closed in 2007 after opponents of horse slaughter had federal funding cut for inspecting horse meat. Unless meat is federally inspected, it can’t be shipped across state lines.
The GAO recommends that Congress consider reversing a ban that keeps the U.S. Department of Agriculture from using federal funds to inspect horse shipments.
I have been in the horse industry and Agr. industry for over 40 years and all the good intention of these people has made the life of the unwanted horse worse.
Like it or not we need a protein market for horses and rules to make sure their last days are handled with care and respect. Good minded people sometimes do not have all the facts.
We agree Deborah. Good intentions only get you so far.
Totally agree with you Deb, lets hope things start to get more sensible
I read the report and nowhere did I see anything mentioned about the glut of excessive breeding. This report seems to be a little one sided. Breeders also need to be held responsible for over producing horses by breeding hundreds just to get one or two and tossing the foals out like mere trash. Many thoroughbreds end up in the slaughter houses after the owners feel they are no longer useful in making them money. The economy was already in a downturn before slaughter was stopped here. Everyone says they want the horse business to pick up,but what are they doing? Killing unwanted horses for their meat is not the answer.Step up and find them a home instead of taking the easy way out. American horses are tainted meat,full of drugs and should not be eaten by humans or animals. I don’t know how people sleep at night knowing these horses are being fed to people and the danger there is in eating it. How many of you have looked on you tube and seen the horses that go thru there? I agree there are too many horses ,but I disagree on the causes,and I disagree on the solution. Killing them is not the answer.
I totally agree with you. Well stated.
First off, just because someone that is against horse slaughter, does not feel the same about taking a horse to slaughter as a pro person, does not mean they are uneducated on the subject. We have the same information you have, the pro-slaughter people just fail to look past the money end of the ordeal. Opening back the slaughter houses and turning the horse into a meal, opens a large group of frighting subjects. One being the environmental aspect of a slaughter house in a community. Read the letter from the former Mayor of Kaufman Texas, Paula Bacon, cover the cost of cleaning up the mess they left. One breeding market has been and always will be spitting out babies is the thoroughbred. The excitement ends when the baby is not up to expectation. Granted the problem is all horse owners need to be responsible for all animals they own. Breeding, feeding housing, vaccines it does not matter. Point being, slaughter is not the answer to the problem. It has never been! The expense that is left in the dirt from this “business” does more harm than the “good” it brings.
Very well said Nancy T! The statements you make can be found anywhere on the internet and they are actual and factual!
I am strongly opposed to reopening slaughter houses in our country or exporting horses and burros to other countries for the purpose of slaughtering them for many ethical and moral reasons along with many major health concerns surrounding human consumption. The push for this cruel and horrific act is rooted in greed. I am taken back that a government agency would promote this action. Let alone a state which is rooted in American History with horses as one of their partners, companions, loyal protectors, and service providers would promote pro-slaughter. Since American horses were never intended for the purpose of consumable meat products the medications feed horses are present a documented health risk for anyone who consume them. I have shared some sights to educate anyone who wants to explore this concern in more depth.
http://harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=79525
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/erbe/2010/04/05/horse-slaughter-is-cruel-and-bute-in-the-meat-kills-humans
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1032379–dirty-little-secret-canada-s-slaughter-industry-under-fire
I find it simply fascinating how the pro-slaughter people- like the writer of this blog, pick through the GAO report and pull out only the phrases that serve their own purpose. It’s such a narrow minded approach, and can only result in a worsening of the situation.
For those who have not read it, he GAO report ALSO recommends as an option, the CEASING of ALL slaughter of American horses, AND the EXPORT of American horses for slaughter- anywhere. You never see that in the pro-slaughter contingencies’ blogs, post, and comments. How handy for them.
It’s astounding to me that the pro-slaughter people keep claiming that moving the slaughter of American horses to Canada and Mexico has ‘hurt’ the US horse industry. That whole concept flies in the face of common sense. The SAME number (more, actually) of US horses are being slaughtered now than were before, so how does WHERE they’re slaughtered make any difference? Transportation distance to Mexico or Canada? That has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not a person decides to haul their old horse to their local auction barn.
There are TWO big problems in the horse industry, and slaughter has no effect on either one of them: 1. To repeat a popular Clinton-era phrase, “It’s the ECONOMY, stupid!” Yes, horse prices are down– because the prices of ALL non-essential goods are down! (Go price boats and motor homes and summer cabins these days. Same thing. Duh. 2. Over-breeding. This is simple, simple business savvy- when you make more of something than anyone wants, the value of that item will go down. Stop producing any incredibly over-produced recreational product, and the value will go up. And again, duh!
Why is this so hard for ‘rural, ag, livestock’ people to understand? Don’t farmers send their kids to college any more? My folks did, And that college education- combined with a lifetime of experience in the horse industry, taught me that gelding my stallion and changing my focus within the industry was a VERY good business move. Now, if a few thousand more like me will follow my example, horses will start to cost more to buy than it does to feed them for one third of a year.
It’s common sense. Try it.
The GAO ALSO recommended a TOTAL BAN on horse slaughter in the US, and there is a bill in Congress right now to do just that. Did you miss that part of the report? No – you pro-slaughter radicals NEVER mention anything that doesn’t support your desire to wring the last penny out of the poor horses you never should have bred in the first place. We are in the worst recession since the Great Depression, but that didn’t stop you from breeding just as many horses as ever. You don’t care if you can sell them or not. You don’t even care if you are creating this glut of horses. You can always just send them on a one way trip to Hell and breed more. Yes Sir! The law of supply and demand don’t apply to YOU.
There are many other things that could be done and that have been suggested – but NO, all you ever suggest is SLAUGHTER. And you expect anyone to believe you have the horses’ best interests at heart! PLEASE!
Horse Rescues Alternatives to Slaughter:http://www.box.net/shared/qkcncvn3ndijs1yxg10l
Besides all that, there IS the issue of US horses routinely being exposed to substances that are strictly banned from the human food chain. You people are unbelievable. Producing food animals is a highly regulated business. You cannot take an animal that wasn’t raised as a food animal from birth and just toss it in for people to eat! My god! If you really are horse people, go and look at the labels on the stuff in your tack room. How many products have this on the label: “Not for use in horses intended for food products,” or something similar? What do you think that means? It means if you use this product just ONCE, your horse is no longer eligible to be in the human food chain.
Food And Chemical Toxicology:http://www.box.net/shared/lqi4hhkg42
Horse Meat Is Toxic to Humans:http://www.box.net/shared/smhn2fmdeb
As for our horse slaughter plants being “regulated” and “humane,”
were ANY of you ever inside a US horse slaughter plant? Too bad. If you had ever seen one, you would NEVER be pro-slaughter. Those were the days all right – owing horses in Dallas with Beltex on one side and Dallas Crown on the other. You never knew whose horse was going to be stolen next.
Come on, people! Get real! Horse slaughter is unconscionably cruel, and US horses are not fit for human consumption. Get over it.
Captive Bolt Study:http://www.box.net/shared/3jbna7fyga
Just a note–if those unwanted horses are slaughtered in the US–do you think maybe there will be some JOBS (auction yards, buyers, transporters, packing plant workers, packing plant suppliers i.e. packaging companies, etc, marketing people to get the meat sold, etc.) for those of us in the US? What about the by-products? Our domestic animals need to eat, too. I have several European friends who have eaten horse meat and after they got over the fact that that is what it was, said it was pretty good. Another comment one of them had (grew up in Switzerland)was that there were hardly any horses around that were not quality horses.
Just to be clear, only one horse I have had over the years (I have had at least one horse since I was 5 and I am now 45) has PROBABLY gone to slaugher. He was very old, and my parents were wise enough to see the decline in his health. I am now feeding a 30 year old that I do not think I could send to that end, but fortunately I have the means at this juncture in my life to take care of him–and 5 others. Am I actively breeding? No–I’ve bred one mare in the past ten years. If my job situation were to change tomorrow–many of my ideas might change. I don’t have a sugar daddy or an inheritance. Could I just put them all down–I guess so. Is it any better to bury them in the ground or take them to the landfill, or utilize nearly all the parts–recycle them?
I remember hearing over the years also, folks going to the auctions and finding an old kids horse and buying out from under the “killers”, prolonging an older horse’s useful life. One of the comments bashed breeders–I will accept that I guess, but most of the reputable breeders do halter and saddle their horses to see how they will turn out. Loose horses are not going to sell very well. And the thoroughbred thing. Yup, like greyhounds in some instances, but I have had 2 washed up race horses and LOVED them as using horses!
To conclude, I think there is a place in our horse world for domestic slaughter. This would help prices and would spread the prices out once again.