Who here thinks that, before the recession's over, horse slaughter will be legal again?

[jmowreader]

First, I don't agree with horse slaughter.

Second, the economy has gone to shit and lots of people who were flush with cash when Clinton was president will need to make some hard choices. Many of those people have horses. Sentient, self-aware creatures notwithstanding, horses are 1100-pound animals that require food commensurate with their size. (Okay, fuck it: they eat like horses.) Given the choice of a house or a horse, most will go with the house.

This will create the need to get rid of the horse, and there aren't that many options. They can try selling the animal, but the market for luxury goods that eat as much as horses do will be very small. They can place it with a horse rescue, but there aren't enough to handle all the horses that will be impacted. They could euthanize the horse, but that's expensive and so is getting rid of the carcass. This means you're going to see people either "forgetting" about the horse in the pasture or abandoning it alongside the road. If they'll do it to dogs, they'll do it to horses too.

Selling the horse for slaughter used to be an option, but we're working hard to close that door. We closed all the slaughterhouses in the United States, and we're trying to ban export for slaughter. Which is fine. I know the people who were doing it are still around, and if shit gets bad enough I think the horse butchers will buy themselves a congressman, videotape starving horses and buy a lot of ads claiming horse slaughter is more humane than horse starvation.

Expect the deluge to start in a year.

[lligrd]

1. I Worried About That When I Saw This Article:

The rising costs of caring for horses run head-on into the debate over the ban on killing the animals in U.S. for meat

<snip>

But discoveries of malnourished horses have renewed questions that perhaps it's necessary to make slaughter available for horse owners. They could collect maybe a couple hundred dollars by selling an old horse for slaughter rather than continue to pay thousands a year for care and feeding -- a situation with which some horse advocates sympathize.

"I understand completely why they do that," said veterinarian Tom Lenz, of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, which opposes a slaughter ban. Horses unwanted by their owners -- estimated at more than 100,000 by the American Veterinary Medical Association -- often wind up at rescue and retirement facilities. Some existing rescue operations report more calls to pick up horses, and new sites, some at prisons, are planned.

Marcia Moss, the operator of a 4-year-old Bullitt County rescue farm and slaughter opponent, said she's never had so many people reporting starving horses or needing to get rid of them as she has in the past couple of months.

more: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/NEWS01/804280405

[tomreedtoon]

2. First off, McDeathburger needs those horses.

Second, it won't outrage anyone as much as dog and cat slaughter.

[Codeine]

3. Cows and pigs are "Sentient, self-aware creatures" too,

and people still slaughter them. Why are horses special? Nobody who eats meat has the right to judge this issue.

[jmowreader]

6. Very few people keep cattle as pets

Horses, OTOH...

[Iggo]

4. It's not legal now?

Damn...learn something new every day!

[jmowreader]

5. Nope, and it was one of those damn activist judges who did it

http://www.saplonline.org/Legislation/USDAviolatedlaw.htm

"Washington, D.C. (March 28, 2007) - In a 51-page opinion issued just hours ago, United States District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly held that the slaughter of horses in America violates federal law. In her opinion, issued in response to a lawsuit filed in February 2006 by the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL) and other humane organizations and individuals, Judge Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to conduct an environmental impact review of its decision to allow the continuation of horse slaughter.

“Tonight, after years of legislation and litigation, America’s three horse slaughterhouses can no longer kill horses for human consumption,” states Chris Heyde, deputy legislative director for the Society for Animal Protective Legislation. “We call on Illinois-based Cavel International to work with the humane and rescue communities to find permanent safe homes for the hundreds of horses who were slated for slaughter, to give them a second chance at life.”

"he rule that was vacated by the court, was promulgated by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to create a fee-for-service inspection process for horses slaughtered for human consumption. The rule circumvented a Congressionally approved amendment to the FY 2006 Agricultural Appropriations Act that cut federal funding for the required inspections. Because of continuing resolutions approved by Congress to fund the government, today's ruling is effective immediately."