Introduction
IntroductionThis is about the human-to-animal relationship. If one respects the cat all other animals should be respected. Acting inhumanely towards one animal encourages inhumane behavior towards another. The converse is also true. We need to raise our standards. What do you think about cat meat? (Michael).
Horse Slaughter Plants Reopened
In 2006, the ban on funding of USDA horsemeat inspections resulted in the three remaining foreign-owned horse slaughter plants to close in 2007. In Texas, the two plants closed in March 2007 when a little known Texas law prohibiting horse slaughter for human consumption was upheld by the Texas court. The last remaining horse slaughter plant in Illinois closed in September 2007 after the Illinois state legislature passed a bill banning horse slaughter in its state. Unfortunately, the ban lapsed after five years under the Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which permitted horse slaughter plants to reopen.
Congressman JIm Moran said,
“Recent news reports of horse slaughter plants reopening are deeply troubling. As one of the nearly 80 percent of Americans who oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption, we must fight to prevent the resumption of this inhumane, unsafe, and unnecessary practice”
Reinstating the Ban on the Slaughter of Horses for Meat for Human Consumption
However, the all-embracing United States government pending bill divulged by top congressional negotiators this past Monday night is finally bringing the much needed exciting news to the 80 percent of the population in the United States who vehemently oppose the cruel and inhumane act of slaughtering horses.
With a small but powerful amendment that was added to the bill, containing language that removes the funding of horsemeat inspection by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) horsemeat inspectors once again effectively reinstates the ban on the slaughter of horses for meat for human consumption.
Although the news about the defunding language restored to the bill is greatly encouraging, this ban must be renewed annually. The only permanent solution to end horse slaughter in the United States and prohibit shipping horses outside the country bound for slaughter, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act must be passed. It’s only when this crucial bill passes that the doors of horse slaughter plants will be closed forever. The Humane Society international are asking the European Union to suspend imports of horse meat that original comes from America via Mexico and Canada.
Let’s hope the bill quickly passes officially in the House and the Senate and signed by President Obama, which includes the language prohibiting USDA horsemeat inspection. Its timing couldn’t be more critical since there are several horse slaughter plants already geared up and ready to begin killing our magnificent companion animals.
Additionally, according to “Straight from the Horse’s Mouth”, it also contains a “stipulation that funding not be restored until and unless the Food and Drug Administration makes a determination that meat from American horses can be made safe to enter the food supply.”
Horsemeat Unsafe for Human Consumption
But the truth is that horsemeat is not safe for human consumption. US horses have never been considered animals meant for food; they are kept as companions. During their lifetime they are treated with substances that are highly toxic to humans. Thus, it’s impossible to guarantee that slaughter-bound horses have never been given toxic drugs since the ages of these horses are varied and are gathered up from a variety of areas. They have are no medical records accompanying them proving they are safe.
And while there still are people remaining who claim that horse-slaughter is justified as a caring way in which the neglected, sick, injured and elderly horses who are no longer useful or wanted can be humanely “euthanized”, the majority of horses ending up in slaughterhouses are young and healthy. There is nothing humane about horse slaughter; it is an act of cruelty that I cannot politely describe.
What are your feelings about horse slaughter for meat for human consumption? Tell us in a comment.
Jo
- Photo credit – Horse in Hamburger Roll Americans Against Horse Slaughter – Facebook page
- Photo credit for Horse photo: Flickr User Scott Robinson
- video: Uploaded to YouTube by PBS
http://youtu.be/XtP5R06DT2Q
I was thinking the same thing. When I was doing PRN work in healthcare at many facilities in the country I’d hear about therapists owning horses and taking on more because they felt they had to. I was told that people will just give you a horse today because they can’t afford to care for them. One therapist told me about how she now has more horses than she really wanted, and how she manages to provide for all of them. She’s a very resourceful woman. Some of my friends from high school still live up north and I know that those who have horses would go without food themselves before their horses lacked anything. But it’s a very tough economy and not everyone puts the animals first when things get tough. Horrible things are being done. But the answer can’t be to do a different horrible thing.
Then in my opinion you are right at home here because cats are everyone else’s obsession too 😉
😉 *FLATTERY will get you everywhere* Well, writing is my craft and cats are my obsession.
I would bet my bottom dollar that you are right about most things. Your comments are very welcome and I’d like you to write an article for PoC on any subject that rocks your boat as long as the word “cat” is mentioned at least once 😉
I’m probably seldom right about much; that’s why I defer to a Higher Authority, but this isn’t a forum about that, is it? 😉
I will criticize plenty for you and me both, Michael. If someone bunged you into a frightening place where many lose their lives, you’d be defensive, too, just like a lot of the cats who find themselves, through no fault of their own, incarcerated. And a URI is NOT incurable, nor is a UTI or most of the other minor, treatable and probably stress-exacerbated maladies they lose their lives over. If you had a cold or a UTI, you wouldn’t expect to find yourself incarcerated at risk of losing your life, would you? Even now, in this crazy world. But that’s reality for these absolutely adoptable, wonderful cats.