WY congress woman wants to bring horse slaughter back to US

[waggy]

people have been eating horse meat for a very very long time. there was a horse slaughter place near me. the state shut it down and put a LOT of people out of work.

then they found that doing so is causing many horses that were for slaughter are now just flat out abandoned.

 

[Fear No Evil]

 

[69Mach1]

This isn't about slaughtering them for human consumption. A few years ago a bunch of well meaning people worked very hard to make it illegal to slaughter horses in the US. (They're noble beasts, Helpers of Mankind) This caused the side effect of making it very hard to get rid of horses, as it costs about 4-$500 to have one put down and disposed of. So now we send them to Mexico, and they're not humane at all, the way they slaughter them. In the US we have laws concerning the most humane way to slaughter animals, in Mexico, not so much. But it is pretty rare to have any horse meat made available for human consumption, most goes to dog or cat food.

 

[Throckmorton]

I thought we already slaughtered horses and used them completely? If not, WHY not. I remember reading something that we send them to mexico but also use them here, guess it's ok to slaughter there.

Keep in mind horses are a work animal and after they can't do the work or race (thoroughbreds) or trot (saddlebreds) not much use except for breeding.

I do have a serious problem with them killing wild horses unless the herds are too big/unsustainable.

Rural Americans are hypocrites. Because they ride horses and their daughters draw stupid pictures of them in school, they consider them different from other livestock and undeserving of slaughter. Yet don't even suggest that they take animal welfare into consideration regarding the meat industry, or you're a commie pinko who hates America.

 

[nobodyknows]

It was either in Paris or somewhere in the French countryside, been too long to remember exactly, but I've eaten horse. Didn't know it was horse at the time because I wouldn't let them tell me what I was eating until after I was finished so that if it was something unusual it wouldn't taint my perception of the meal. It was good, not as good as the wild roast boar I had in Germany, but I would eat it again given the opportunity.

I've heard/read in several place4s that horse fleash is tasty. I think Lewis and Clark ate some of their horses, didn't they? Of course they were more valuable as animals when other food was readily available, but iof not meat is meat.

I seem to recall from reading that book about the surviors of the soccer team that crashed high oin the Andes and they ate human flesh that some of them would rather die (and did) rather then eat their friends. The ones that did eat their dead friends looked at as a religious communion type experience.

 

[disappoint]

No, and while we're at it, ban sharkmeat. It's nasty and tough.

 

[nobodyknows]

Rural Americans are hypocrites. Because they ride horses and their daughters draw stupid pictures of them in school, they consider them different from other livestock and undeserving of slaughter. Yet don't even suggest that they take animal welfare into consideration regarding the meat industry, or you're a commie pinko who hates America.

What? I don't think this is coming from the rural folks who actually own horses. Why would they want to make it cost them more money to get rid of unwanted horses. They alwayas went to "rendering" to be made into pet food and glue was my understanding.

 

[Throckmorton]

What? I don't think this is coming from the rural folks who actually own horses. Why would they want to make it cost them more money to get rid of unwanted horses. They alwayas went to "rendering" to be made into pet food and glue was my understanding.

I wouldn't think suburbanites and urbanites would care about horses

 

[spidey07]

Rural Americans are hypocrites. Because they ride horses and their daughters draw stupid pictures of them in school, they consider them different from other livestock and undeserving of slaughter. Yet don't even suggest that they take animal welfare into consideration regarding the meat industry, or you're a commie pinko who hates America.

I thought it was rural people that were upset that they banned it in the first place? Now they're getting less for their animals that are no longer of use because of shipping and no local processing?

 

[Fenixgoon]

my SIL shows horses (and she's really high up there) and she's not opposed to horse slaughter at all.

once a horse is permanently injured, there's not much it can do, especially for the more debilitating injuries. and yeah, people take horses down to mexico to get them slaughtered, and not in the prettiest of manners. At least if you had it done in the US you'd have it done cleanly and in a highly regulated way.

 

[Robor]

I don't think it should be an issue if they are slaughtered humanely. Why is a cow or a pig more deserving of slaughter than a horse?

 

[Throckmorton]

I thought it was rural people that were upset that they banned it in the first place? Now they're getting less for their animals that are no longer of use because of shipping and no local processing?

I don't know. Whoever opposes horse slaughter in America is a moron.

 

[Throckmorton]

Now I remember why I think it's rural people. I once saw a news segment on horse slaughter and the activists were rural. They were people who raised and rode horses and couldn't bear the thought of them being slaughtered, because they thought of them as pets.

 

[nobodyknows]

I wouldn't think suburbanites and urbanites would care about horses

It seems we do slaughter horses for human consumption in the US, we just export most of the meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_slaughter

 

[nobodyknows]

Now I remember why I think it's rural people. I once saw a news segment on horse slaughter and the activists were rural. They were people who raised and rode horses and couldn't bear the thought of them being slaughtered, because they thought of them as pets.

You mean rural like T. Boone Pickens?

During his testimony before Congress Pickens criticized Texas for being home to two horse slaughter plants.[30] "This is a black eye on our state and nation that demands action," Pickens said.[30] Pickens added that nearly all the horses sent to the plants are healthy young horses that the USDA has classified in "good to excellent" condition.[30]

 

[Slew Foot]

Ehhhh, meat is meat. As long as its not human go for it.

 

[spittledip]

I don't see why it should be illegal, but it would be kind of sad in a way. I don't particularly like horses much anyway.. but I don't really like the thought of any animal being killed, even cows and chickens. I don't like meat very much anyway. I don't think it is wrong though.

 

[dullard]

Something is amiss here. I'm fairly certain that it is already legal to have a horse slaughter house here in the US. The problem is that legislation made it unprofitable to slaughter horses here (and thus all locations that did it in the US closed). It always has been legal, just difficult.

 

[Modelworks]

Horse meat is actually better for people than beef. The reason it never caught on for widespread use though is because horses were more valued for transportation and work and horses require a lot more food than cattle to get the same amount of meat.

I have always thought we should use deer as live stock. They reproduce rapidly, eat about the same as cattle and are much more nutritious than beef. But people would never allow it, they would all say things like , they are too cute.

3-ounce serving of venison:

* 130 calories
* 26 grams protein
* 2 grams of fat
* 67 milligrams cholesterol
* 0.9 grams saturated fat
* 3.5 milligrams iron
* 26 milligrams magnesium
* 338 milligrams potassium
* 3 milligrams zinc
* 11 micrograms selenium
* 0.24 milligrams thiamin
* 0.4 milligrams riboflavin
* 9 milligrams niacin
* 0.6 milligrams vitamin B6
* 1.6 micrograms vitamin B12
* 1.2 micrograms vitamin K
* Cholesterol in the form of Omega-3 and Omega 6

 

[waggy]

Rural Americans are hypocrites. Because they ride horses and their daughters draw stupid pictures of them in school, they consider them different from other livestock and undeserving of slaughter. Yet don't even suggest that they take animal welfare into consideration regarding the meat industry, or you're a commie pinko who hates America.

i live in a rural area. I can GUARANTEE it is not the people around here that wanted the slaughter house's closed. IN fact many are upset. We have a few out here that raise horse's just for slaughter.

Il just passed a law makeing them against the law. only time i ever seen a sign for the the law it was in town. and farther east i go (into chicago) the more i seen.

 

[69Mach1]

Something is amiss here. I'm fairly certain that it is already legal to have a horse slaughter house here in the US. The problem is that legislation made it unprofitable to slaughter horses here (and thus all locations that did it in the US closed). It always has been legal, just difficult.

It used to be, but a few years ago Willie Nelson and a group of do-gooders convinced the government to make it illegal. Hence the current problem.

 

[Tristicus]

Mhm yum. The more meat the better.

 

[dullard]

It used to be, but a few years ago Willie Nelson and a group of do-gooders convinced the government to make it illegal. Hence the current problem.

I stand corrected then.

 

[dullard]

I have always thought we should use deer as live stock. They reproduce rapidly, eat about the same as cattle and are much more nutritious than beef.

I think you are exaggerating quite a lot on the "much more nutritious" part. In fact, depending upon ones individual dietary needs, you may be incorrect with that statement.

Beef steak nutrition facts vs. venison steak. Choose 3 ounces of each.

* Venison wins with 36 fewer calories.
* Venison has less fat (which may be a win or a loss depending on your needs).
* Beef wins with less cholesterol.
* The vitamins and minerals are split, beef wins some categories and venison wins some categories. Although I might give venison a slight edge.
* Beef wins with more Omega-3 and more Omega-6.

Overall, they are quite close. So "much more nutritious" is just a major exaggeration.

As an aside, my in-laws are hunters and they serve venison all the time and in 5 years I've never once seen them serve beef. Even they agree that venison fails the taste test unless you mix in fat from other animals which destroys the lower calories and fat argument.

 

[Robor]

From my experience cow > deer taste wise.