Horse Slaughter
Those who support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act claim that because of the horse's place in society it should be protected. They claim that the slaughtering process is brutally cruel and inhumane. They graphically describe the process and horrendous conditions of transporting horses to slaughter. They also make the very valid point that domestic horses are frequently given worming medicine and vaccinations that are clearly labeled as being unsafe for livestock intended for human consumption. Another very valid point is that because most of the horsemeat is sold in Europe, France and Japan, the economic impact for the United States is limited mostly to the low paying wages given to the workers at the slaughter houses. Unscrupulous "killer buyers" at auctions often deceive sellers into believing that they are reputable traders, and readily buy stolen horses without checking for proof of ownership.
Those in support of keeping horse slaughter legal have equally grounded reasons for their position. In a press release issued by the AMVA http://www.avma.org/press/releases/04010... they address such issues as needing a way of disposing bodies of unwanted/unusable horses. They consider the use of the captive bolt (which renders the horse unconscious before bleeding the animal) to be a humane form of euthanasia. It further states that this bill could prolong the suffering of many animals. While the bill proposes grant money to be given to help support rescue groups, in reality there is no money available. Without the option of slaughter they believe more horses will be left neglected to suffer prolonged deaths. With no slaughter facilities left in the United States, horses will be shipped to Canada for slaughter and endure longer transportation time.
As with many of our legislative issues, the case can be made that enforcing laws already on the books would take care of many of the indiscretions that cause new legislation to seem necessary. There are already laws against the transport of horses in double decker trailers with inadequate headroom and transporting without rest or water, there are laws concerning the humane treatment of animals at slaughter facilities, there are laws regarding quarantine and processing through sale barns that should make it nearly impossible to dispose of stolen horses to this market (see Horse Theft in the Horse Talk archives). But these rules are rarely, if ever enforced.
Recently, the Thoroughbred industry has made a strong stance against horse slaughter. Their stance has led,
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