 "Photo: Illustration by Hannah Loftus")
Over the last several years, hundreds of starving horses have been seized by authorities across the country. This is a result of the rising costs of hay and fuel, a depressed economy and the dubious political actions of animal rights activists that have led to the closing of the now much-needed equine slaughterhouses in the United States.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the number of horses whose owners will not or cannot care for them is rising at an explosive rate. Americans own more than 9 million horses today, up from just 6 million in the mid-1990s.
This boom in equine population has come at the worst of times. Of the more than 2 million people in the United States who own horses, more than one-third of those owners have a household income of less than $50,000.
With the state of the economy, many of these horse owners are unable to afford the costs of equine care. The price of hay alone has more than doubled this past year because of rising fuel prices.
In the past, this set of circumstances might not have led to quite the crisis horse owners face today. Until recently, a market for unwanted horses existed in equine slaughterhouses which, according to a Department of Agriculture report, processed upwards of 70,000 horses annually for human consumption in Europe and Japan.
Unsavory as it might seem to the sentimental, such slaughterhouses played a vital role in this country until they were shut down in 2007 because of pressure from animal rights activists.
Today, while some unwanted horses end up in Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses, thousands more are left to suffer and starve.
"It's scary," said Jennifer Hack, director of the U.S. Equine Rescue League, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The group, which shelters horses in five states, has taken in more than double the number of horses this year than in the last two years combined.
Still others are simply left to fend for themselves. The South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recently rescued five horses that had been abandoned by their owners in the Everglades.
It was with good intentions that people began their crusade against horse slaughter within our borders — the intention to end suffering and to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
But those good intentions have led only to disaster. The thousands of horses that in previous years would have ended up going to a quick end in a slaughterhouse are now left to linger in homes that can no longer afford to care for them.
The truth is we need horse slaughter in the United States. Unpleasant as it might seem, it is necessary for both the welfare of the economy and the welfare of unwanted horses.
Now, almost three years since the end of horse slaughter in America, several states, including Missouri, have begun to reconsider. Legislation is now being considered in at least three states that would take steps toward correcting a three-year-old mistake.
- Jessica Hensley is a senior in political science. Send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
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The slaughter of horses is in place to fill the demand for horsemeat.
Case in point, since the closing [not made illegal, please note] of the US plants, as many horses have still gone to slaughter from the US as prior to the closings. If the slaughter plants were in business to take care of our surplus, that number [with the state of our economy, etc., etc] should have gone up.
Finally if the slaughter ban legislation were to pass, it would also make it illegal to transport to slaughter- keeping the US horses from meeting that most inhumane end in Canadian/Mexican plants.
Those who are pro-plant should look into why the Ill plant was closed and what complaints the locals had regarding the place and how it overwhelmed their sewer system, etc. Want that in your backyard? Go for it. No one is stopping you.
Lots of research out there if people really want to educate themselves or present a thorough evaluation of the situation, Apparently this author is not one of those people.
really is sat. Night live material if horse slaughter wasn't such a horrific reality!
Also, because current statistics show that close to the same numbers of US horses are still being slaughtered, any abandoned horse cases you're hearing about now, isn't due to a lack of horses being slaughtered. Slaughter doesn't prevent or cure abuse, neglect or abandonment. If it did, there wouldn't be any past cases or any cases now. The numbers of horses slaughtered is due to the demand for horse meat, and how many horses the kill buyers are able to purchase at US auctions. Any horse for sale can be a victim of slaughter. When the slaughter plants were here in the US, and they couldn't purchase enough excess horses to meet the horse meat demand abroad, they imported horses from Canada to slaughter here. (Source: USDA) Canadian imports:
2005 - 7,865 horses imported for slaughter in the U.S.
2006 - 4,022 horses imported for slaughter in the U.S.
2007 - 2,488 horses imported for slaughter in the U.S.Even the last few months they were still open in the US in 2007, they had to import horses from Canada. Obviously, we don't have enough "excess" horses. We just have a lot of people who've been duped by the lies from the slaughter industry promotors.
And certainly, no horse "needs" to be slaughtered for its own welfare (I can hardly believe anyone would say that).
IAfter reading your article on horse slaughter I have no doubt that you should pursue a carreer in politics. You are a natural. You state opinion over fact. You use phrases such as "explosive numbers" are abandoning horses, rather than documented statistics. You use fuel costs as the reason for hay prices while completely disregarding droughts and other conditions that affect hay production. You state that animal rights activists shut down American slaughterhouses when it was a majority of Americans who spoke out against horse slaughter. The number of horses slaughtered has not declined now that horses are transported to Mexico and Canada yet you declare that "SOME horses are slaughtered abroad while THOUSANDS more are left to starve". I especially like your attempt to suggest that horse slaughter will help the ailing economy. What exactly is the hourly rate for a slaughter employee? Are green cards required?
Most college students view themselves as independent thinkers with an open mind. Your article is a carbon copy of every Farm Bureau and pro slaughter agriculture organization in America. Your thoughts are neither original nor accurate. You have done no research on the issue, but you have subjectively chosen those snippets of information that make your case. Why don't you" go where no pro slaughter professor has gone before you", why don't you go to a local livestock auction and seewhat really happens to these horses.
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