"Stable to table"
The Post-Star's Dave Canfield had an article this weekend about slaughtering horses for meat -- and the opposition against it. One of the interesting bits from the story: NYRA will pull the stable rights for trainers or owners if they sell their horses for slaughter. Horse slaughtering had been illegal in the US, but a bill recently passed by Congress makes it legal again. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are co-sponsors of a bill that would prohibit horse slaughter and many activities related to it. [Post-Star] [ABC News] [Thomas]
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Comments
I’m always surprised when non-vegetarians are opposed to the slaughter of well-treated animals for food. When I think of what most meat animals go through on factory farms, I only wish that a larger percentage of meat came from animals who were more valued and treated humanely throughout their lives.
... said Sarah Rain on Dec 12, 2011 at 12:22 PM | link
I was thinking the same thing as Sarah. And what is it that sets the horse apart from the pig, the goat, the chicken, the cow or any other animal we eat?
... said Valerae on Dec 12, 2011 at 12:45 PM | link
Kudos to Senators Gillibrand and Schumer for taking action.
... said Anon on Dec 12, 2011 at 1:02 PM | link
Valerae (and the many many others who ask this question in what I suppose is an arch rhetorical fashion to highlight what they see as hypocrisy),
We set apart horses, dogs, mules, etc, from pigs, goats, chickens, cows, etc, throughout agricultural history because they are WORKING animals.
The horse/dog/mule enables the farmer to increase the food output of the farm (both livestock and plants) many more times than the actual calories it costs to keep the horse/dog/mule around.
They are a good investment:
A horse/mule can plow a much larger area than a human can alone.
A horse/mule can power a mill to process a season's worth of grain.
A dog can herd and protect larger flocks than a human can alone.
A cat can kill rodents that would destroy grain stores.
We've done this for thousands of years and even though we've industrialized most of the work, we still have cultural norms about whether to use them for food or not.
Other cultures use other working animals in the the same way: camels, elephants, water buffalo, etc.
In other words, no matter the individual species, working animals have long been geese that laid golden eggs.
... said Sandor on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:05 PM | link
Lots of interesting comments on this issue over at Table Hopping: http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/27105/congress-lifts-ban-on-u-s-horse-slaughter/#comments
Not having done my own research, I'm reluctant to take a position, but if it's true what people are saying about horses being mistreated when shipped to other countries, I think the recent lifting of the ban is ok. I would rather have a slaughter house be FDA inspected, than horses who were going to be butcherd anyway shipped to Mexico.
... said Jessica R on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:21 PM | link
Sandor, I like that argument. It doesn't seem to scale quite right, though. Why aren't guinea pigs on the menu in the U.S.? It's even hard to find rabbit in restaurants these days. I'm trying to image a herd of bunnies pulling a plow but it's not quite happening. Cows are sometimes used for the same work as those horses and mules but McDonald's isn't switching to goatburgers anytime soon. I would love such a simple explanation to be true, though.
... said B on Dec 12, 2011 at 2:36 PM | link