Is Horse Slaughter a Necessary Evil? I ve always loved horses and recently had the opportunity to volunteer

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Sharlene Allison
5 years ago
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1 Kendra Lapin Composition I-Search: Horse Slaughter 27 June 2008 Is Horse Slaughter a Necessary Evil? Introduction I ve always loved horses and recently had the opportunity to volunteer at a horse rescue. One of the big conversations that keep coming up about horse slaughter, and how awful it is. On the other hand, I hear a lot of old farmers saying it s not so bad, and that there would be too many horses if they weren t slaughtered. The farmers say that more horses would end up abused, neglected, or abandoned if they weren t slaughtered and used for food. The people I work with at the rescue, though, say that is not true. Since the three slaughter plants in the U.S. were closed a few years ago, the cases of abuse have not gone up, nor has there been any problems with horse abandonment; articles that say there is an issue have been proven false. Since there is a new bill that many of the volunteers are working to get passed to prevent the transport of horses to Mexico and Canada for slaughter, I figured it was time to find out more about this issue for myself. What I Know, Assume, or Imagine I wasn t sure what I thought about the issue. I believed both sides had a point. I know that with other meat animals, slaughter is done effectively, and there are many groups who make sure that it is done

2 humanely. I have already read a book, Animals in Translation, and an article a while ago that I don t remember the title of, by Dr. Temple Grandin, a behaviorist doctor who designs safe and humane slaughter facilities for cows, pigs, and chickens. An old farmer I knew, Bobby Haigh, who runs a 2000 acre ranch in Littleton, MA, said that he had seen horses both slaughtered and euthanized, and that he would prefer slaughter because he d seen a horse spasm in pain from euthanasia but the bolt gun in a slaughterhouse knocked the horse out immediately. I started out believing that there might be a way that both sides could be right. For anyone who has worked with horses, their personalities really shine through. You can t imagine what smart, loving, and wonderful creatures they are if you never had to care for them or find out how to keep them from sneaking into the grain or try and train them to canter even as they re training you to give them treats for looking pretty! But I could also understand that people who work with horses in the farming business see the animals like cows and pigs, and must work them into the finances of running a farm (a very expensive job!) Selling a horse to an auction for slaughter can provide income, rather than dishing out the hefty sum of $500 (average cost of euthanasia) to put down an old horse. The Search In my work with New England Equine Rescues (NEER) ( and with the Bay State Equine Rescue (BSER) ( I had the opportunity to ask many of the

3 volunteers what they knew about horse slaughter and why they were against it. The answer I received from almost everyone was that the experience Bobby Haigh described with the euthanasia was highly unusual, and what he described as happening with the stunning bolt gun was not always that effective. With the bolt gun, in particular, I was told that it was effective on cows and pigs about 90-95% of the time because they have a broad, flattened forehead and back of the head. Horses, however, have a very narrow forehead and back of the head, which streamlines them from running and offers more protection for when they fight each other with their hooves. This made the bolt gun much less effective. I was quoted numerous times that the effectiveness was, on a good day, 70%. That meant that when the horse was actually slaughtered (the bolt gun only stuns it to keep the animal from feeling pain), 30% of the time it would be conscious and feel the pain. The volunteers also directed me to several YouTube videos about horse slaughter. The clips were very graphic and showed what happened during the slaughter in American plants, which was sort-of supervised for humane treatment, but then, they became even more frightening when the hidden cameras visited the plants in Mexico and Canada, where horses are currently shipped for slaughter. Seeing what the horses went through brought tears to my eyes and made me sick. While I can understand why people don t want to see this sort of information about the practice of slaughter, I am bothered that many people refuse to even accept this sort of proof of why the practice should end.

4 Fortunately, though, I learned more arguments about why horse slaughter can, and should be ended. At one of the fundraisers for NEER, I overheard the Massachusetts representative, Mary Martin, talking to a pro-slaughter person. She shared several websites, such as and as well as information by Mary Nash, a leader in the Americans Against Horse Slaughter action, which included critical analysis against articles claiming that there were unwanted horses running around in the West since the slaughter plants were closed, as well as law-suits for misinformation. Also, she included statistics showing that there were fewer reports of horse abuse and fewer horses turned over to rescues since the slaughter plants closed. Mary Martin also pointed out that the horses that get sent to slaughter, such as racehorses, sport horses, and even regular backyard horses, are often fed food that is not safe for human consumption per the FDA. People in the U.S. don t eat horsemeat; it s not safe to eat. Why should we send horses to slaughter for overseas consumption? When she said that, I thought of how many unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized each year from rescues. There are countries that eat cats and dogs; we don t send them to slaughterhouses, and I m pretty sure there would be a huge uproar if Americans found out that their dogs and cats were getting slaughtered for overseas cuisine. What I Discovered

5 In conclusion, I m glad that I researched this topic, although I m not glad I learned how awful slaughter is for horses and how they are getting shipped to Canada and Mexico several times a week. Now that I ve learned more, I ve been helping out more in the anti-slaughter efforts of the rescue, and I hope to help save future horses from tragedy in slaughterhouses. If slaughter and slaughter transport were banned, farmers could still sell horses at auctions but knowing that the horses would go to actual homes where people want them. Also, people need to be educated about how expensive horses are. This lack of knowledge is what leads people to abandon, abuse, or neglect them. Once sending the horses to slaughter is not available, more stress can be put on educating people before they buy a horse, like they do with many household pets now. Also, like with puppy and kitten mills, horse breeders may be pressured to slow down their production of foals, which is a much more humane way to prevent unwanted horses than simply shipping them to slaughter.

Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, Inc. Annual Report for 2011

Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, Inc. Annual Report for 2011 The Angel Acres Adoption Program Updates for 2011: A brief description of our rescue and adoption program is below. A horse, usually a Thoroughbred,