Horse slaughter facilities

[ppine]

Recently there has been a lot of controversy in the West about making horse slaughter facilities legal again in the US. People that know horses, will tell you that it is a good idea. There are 15 million horses in this country, and if the average life expectancy is say 20 years, then 700,000 horses are going to die per year. Euthanasia with horses is an untidy business. They are standing and then they fall in a heap. Then there is the matter of the 1,200 pound carcass to dispose of.

Horses in poor health, or those that are unsound may need to killed. For the last few years the only facilities available were in Canada and Mexico. That means some long road trips for infirm horses. Few people eat horse meat in the US, but it is shipped overseas and utilized.

[Lamebeaver]

I have a hard time believing the horse meat people eat in restaurants overseas comes from old infirm horses.

[CozInCowtown]

When the gubberment banned slaughtering horses they slaughtered the market also.
There are literally thousands and thousands of unwanted horses and no way to dispose of them. They are almost like unwanted stray dogs and cats.
The last time I went to the sale barn they were giving away to anybody who wanted them abandoned horses. Nobody wanted them due to flooded market allready.
If there is a market for horse meat then why not? Any different than beef?
What do y'all think a danish ham is?
DC

[ponderosa]

I would rather see them slaughtered for food than neglected because people can't afford to keep them. I'd also rather have them slaughtered in the United States in well regulated, humane facilities, than shipped to Mexico for slaughter, which was the result of the ban in this country.