The terrible news of the passing of legislation to resume funding of inspections of horse slaughter plants is an outrage. The commercial slaughter of horses is NOT humane euthanasia but a brutal and terrifying death where many horses are conscious and struggling as they are hoisted by their rear leg to have their throats slit.
- Horse slaughter is a profit making business
- The plants that operated in the United States were foreign owned operating at the US taxpayers expense
- One Texas plant paid five dollars in federal tax on twelve million dollars in sales
- Slaughterhouses negatively impact communities with their fluid runoff, stench and documented cruelty
- Horse slaughter promotes more cases of abuse and neglect as it encourages irresponsible breeding and treats horses as a disposable commodity rather than sentient beings, who like us ,experience pleasure and pain
- Young and healthy horses, such as children’s ponies, carriage horses, race horses, show horses, Premarin mares and foals are sent to slaughter regularly
- Some animal advocates believe it is more humane to reopen plants in the US rather than send the horses to Mexico or Canada; yet it is a fact that while slaughter plants operated in the US, tens of thousands of American horses were still exported and slaughtered in foreign countries every year
Reopening US slaughter houses is not the answer. The answer is elimination of breeding incentives, the creation of foal impact fees, the establishment of low cost euthanasia programs and the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. These steps will prevent much horse suffering. Please contact your US Representative and Senator and ask him or her to support The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act House Bill 2966 and Senate Bill 1176 and tell President Obama to honor his campaign promise and issue an executive order to ban horse slaughter and the exporting of America’s horses for slaughter. Contact the White House and President Obama