HORSE SLAUGHTER - YAY OR NAY?

[HairOfTheDog]

I know this is a sensitive topic and it's not meant to inflame. I just had no idea this was going down and had previously assumed that horses were a protected species here in the U.S.

Looks like that's not the case any longer, legally, but it's essentially the case anyway due to inspection laws.



Congress effectively banned horse slaughter in 2006 when it barred the USDA from using federal funds to inspect any meat processing plants that slaughter horses -- and no USDA inspection meant no legal distribution. BUT, with the help of a key vote by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, that ban was lifted in 2011.

Enter David Rains. He wants to sell horse meat in Missouri. He says he's ready to start, having already modified his processing plant in Gallatin and consulted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and industry experts from Canada.

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) actually awarded Rains' facility, Rains Natural Meats, with a general meat processing permit in November. However, the permit stated that the plant's waste water lagoon "is only authorized to process non-equine species of animals."

Without a way to dispose of the waste, that decision effectively bars Rains from slaughtering horses.

After getting denied for the inspections, Rains sued the DNR at the agency level. Front Range Equine Rescue, a horse advocacy organization, filed motions in that legal actions supporting the department, arguing that a lifetime of drugs and medications makes disposing horse carcasses a potential environmental danger.

"Horses are not raised in a regulated industry, and are given drugs and substances that can't be monitored," says FRER attorney Bruce Wagman, who argues that simply giving the horses a drug test prior to slaughter isn't enough since the the test only detects a small proportion of the drugs in a horse's body.

Rains will know by January 27 whether he can legally move forward with processing horse meat - that's the deadline for officials to respond to his request to include equine slaughter within a general meat processing permit.

Personally, I don't wanna see horses slaughtered for meat processing, but that's mostly because they're, well, horses. However, I know horse meat is processed, sold, distributed, and consumed in other countries.

So, is this fair to the business man? Should Congress have to specifically pass a law to protect horses rather than prohibiting their slaughter through inspection laws? Is it true that horse waste would be more dangerous to society and impossible to inspect due to equine drugging?

[ramseycat]

I think horse slaughter is wrong. I would never eT horse meat.

[Duchess]

I have a lot to say about this!

Horses are slaughtered everyday in America and on more than a couple of occasions I've felt that was preferable to being sold to the Amish which is where many retired racehorses go.

Now that I'm thinking about this I don't think I can discuss it in a reasonable fashion. I've rescued horses for a lot of years, horses that normally would have been sold to the killers. It's a godawful business.

I know this goes on in other countries & I'd really hate to see my country sanction this practice.

Fuck.

[HairOfTheDog]

It rubs we wrong, too.

I'm curious to see what happens at the end of the month.

Seems that Rains would be distributing the product to other countries, primarily. Can't imagine there would be a worthwhile market demand in the U.S.

I hope he's blocked and wish that horse slaughter for meat processing itself would be specifically banned - no ambiguity.

[sally]

I don't think there is any need to slaughter horses for meat processing here, especially if it's an environmental danger. They're not a species that were bred for the meat industry.

But if I think about it I don't really see a difference between consuming horse meat or any other meat. Cows are cute and have been known to show affection towards humans and pigs are the most intelligent farm animals, but no one has a problem with bacon.

[Cynical Ninja]

I've had horsemeat once in France it tastes a bit similar to venison its got an almost gamey tang to it. Its not something I'd make a habit of though.

We had a horsemeat scandal in the UK last year some frozen beef burgers and beef ready meals were found to contain a percentage of horsemeat. A lot of people were outraged some people, like me, weren't really bothered apart from the fact it should be listed as an ingredient if its in there.

Scientists have proven that pigs are more intelligent than dogs but sorry I'm still eating sausages and bacon.

I don't see on what grounds horses shouldn't be eaten? I don't understand why not? What makes horses any better than deer or kangaroo?

[HairOfTheDog]

If I take the alleged environmental hazards out of the equation:

Logically and from a business perspective, I don't think horses should be treated any differently than other animals.

Emotionally, I see horses as more majestic and versatile than other farm animals and slaughtering them for meat rubs me wrong.

[sally]

The only reason I think they should be treated differently from other livestock is because they weren't bred for the meat industry. The majority of horses here aren't even fit for human consumption because of all the drugs they are given, I'd be wary to eat it. If we started breeding them specifically for meat processing then we may as well start doing it with dogs and cats too. There is a market for them in other countries too.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know for sure, but if Rains and others were legally able to raise horses for the purpose of slaughter for meat, that business would become regulated by the USDA and the drugs given to the horses would be tested for human consumption. That's likely how it's done in other countries.

If Rains wins his battle, the door will probably be open for that type of regulation.

Cats and dogs are probably safe regardless of the equine decision, though. They're generally consumed in poorer countries, AFAIK - so not big international profit potential.

[Cynical Ninja]

As long as it was raised, treated and dispatched humanely I would try most things.

If me and hotdog were starving on a desert island (a desert island without magic mushrooms and fire works) and she died first (of natural causes) I'm sorry but I'm eating her ass!

Literally not figuratively.

[HairOfTheDog]

Eat sand, CN!

Your desert island is the only one in the world that exists solely of sand (making it NOT a desert island).

You must have been on mushrooms when you declared that there would nevertheless be food on your one-of-a-kind desert island (fish don't live on the island, but I guess maybe that's what you meant).

[Cynical Ninja]

Cats and dogs are probably safe regardless of the equine decision. They're generally consumed in poorer countries, AFAIK - so not big international profit potential.

I don't know, start exporting top quality dog and cat meat to China and it might make a dent in the trillions of dollars you owe them.

[Cynical Ninja]

Eat sand, CN!

Your desert island is the only one in the world that exists solely of sand (making it NOT a desert island).

You must have been on mushrooms when you declared that there would nevertheless be food on your one-of-a-kind desert island (fish don't live on the island, but I guess maybe that's what you meant).

Your neverending and pointless quest to try and impose the rules of reality onto a hypothetical fantasy to try and sound clever continues to amuse me.

Please keep it up.

Desert Island Discs is the Moriarty to your Sherlock!

Bwahahahaha!

I was going to post a thread about what you would do if you had superhuman powers but you would probably make it a personal quest to pick it apart like an angry cat with a tapestry.

[HairOfTheDog]

Cats and dogs are probably safe regardless of the equine decision. They're generally consumed in poorer countries, AFAIK - so not big international profit potential.

I don't know, start exporting top quality dog and cat meat to China and it might make a dent in the trillions of dollars you owe them.

Nah, as China has progressed economically, the practice of eating cats and dogs has greatly decreased and may be outlawed by the government soon, on the basis of it being inhumane and unhealthy.

Of course, that won't likely stop people in the poorest regions who will eat them rather than starve, but there's no potential international profit market for cat and dog in China these days.

Here's an English version of one of the Chinese public campaigns that's been running since 2010.

[Cynical Ninja]

Your desert island

Lol.

It wasn't MY island though is the point I'm trying make hotdog.

I gave you a game to play and all you wanted to do was show how clever you think you are by getting “around the rules”.

I thought I was a fucking pedant!

Jesus.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bullshit.

But, I don't care about your game, in any event.

I thought you were just having a funny jab upthread, so I played along. Had I known you were gonna get all twisted up about it again, I'd have just rolled my eyes and let you talk to yourself about it, like I will henceforth.

Move on. Jesus.

[Carsman]

It was mentioned that horses should be treated differently from other livestock is because they weren't bred for the meat industry.

That being said, as it turns out, many of them were/are bred for horse "racing".
And I have a bud that has lost so much $$$$$$ at the track on some of those nags, as he calls them, that if he had the chance to cut them up into little pieces he would do it in a heartbeat! And probably eat them as well.

[Duchess]

A lot of drugs in racehorses & not just what would be considered medicinal drugs but because they are considered athletes there is always the possibly that their owner/trainer has given them performance enhancing drugs. It's against the law of course but just like with humans it happens.

[Cynical Ninja]

Move on. Jesus.

What a hypocrite!

You might notice in some threads I let you have the last word. Because you've won the argument? No, because I concede the point to you? No. Its because I really can't be arsed reading and dissecting another one of your epic posts about literally fuck all that prove how much you just don't care!

Follow your own damn advice and move on for Christs sake.

Jesus. Ever since you became a mod you've turned into one of the most pedantic people I have ever come across online.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't care about the desert island game - game over. That's what I said, that's what I meant, that's it.

I've never noticed you letting me or anyone else have the last word and typically like posting with you and reading your posts. You don't have to let anyone do anything, so whatever you do or don't do here is your choice.

I moderate the crime forum which is basically self-moderating based on how well LC set it up, so what you said you're seeing or feeling is towards just another Mocker.

Don't like me or my posts? Hey, it happens. It's not some serious drama. I won't lose any sleep over it and still don't have any problems with you.