This is one of those things I go all Libra on. I can't decide whether this is a viable way to deal with stock one can no longer afford to care for or whether it's a harsh way to deal with one's pet. My prog Cappy Sun-Mars-ASC says pragmatically it is a practical solution to avoid more animals starving to death or being a huge financial burden to those who own them. Horses are not called walking vet bills for nothing.

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/29893201/detail.html

Good, Bad or Ugly? Or a little of all three?

Read the article, but it doesn't say enough about MT horse culture to tell whether these horses are being raised for food or they are talking about euthanizing abandoned horses?

Raising animals for food is fine with me, but I prefer they be raised and treated humanely during their life span. If there are old and sick horses unfit for consumption, there is treatment, shooting, or euthanasia as options.

However, I am very much against the horse racing industry that runs lots of horses into the ground during training, injecting them with loads of drugs, and continuous mistreatment and lack of care during their lifespans.

I just read about the ban being lifted the other day, and I am positively infuriated by this !!!  To me, this is financial reward to those who treat horses inhumanely, by giving them the means of disposing of them whilst being handsomely paid -- in one fell swoop. It is amoral, disgusting, and WRONG !  I don't care if those in the slaughter industry want to call me 'sentimental', as far as I'm concerned, they may as well be selling humans for meat; because I put eating a horse on the same par as that. Anyone willing to eat a horse is a ghoul and a cannibal, and I don't want to know who they are. They're sick.

I worked with a horse rescue organisation, and we had a standing court order that allowed for search and seizure of neglected or abused horses -- including those that were awaiting ILLEGAL slaughter. There were also issues with perfectly healthy horses being stolen, and then an attempt would be made to sell them for meat. I imagine that crimes like that will proliferate, at the hands of desperate people, willing to steal a beloved horse from it's owner; so they can make a buck. It will also be an excuse for further decimating wild horse populations. The lifting of the ban on horse slaughter has implications that many do not even consider.

I figured this would be a hot button issue for many and I was surprised to see the possibility of allowing horses to be slaughtered again. Whether or not this will actually happen is something else. We'll see. Has to do with money being made available for inspectors once more.

Where I live in rural eastern Washington, there has been many instances of people leaving their horses in other people's pastures because they couldn't afford to keep them any longer. And those who would rescue & care for them don't have the funds to cover the cost of their care either. Disposing of the body if your horse dies or needs to be put down is a really big problem now too. When I was growing up there was a guy who made his living taking large animal carcasses to a local rendering plant. Not an option for years. Very Plutonian problem . . . dealing with close to a ton of dead animal. Sad but true . . .

@Neith -- The instances in which an owner can no longer afford to care for their horse(s), is truly tragic, I'm just not sure that killing them and selling them for meat is the ideal solution. The horse is being punished for being what a horse is, and that's unfair to the animal. When humans are facing a problem that's bigger than they are, the best thing to do is look for a co-opted solution -- a crisis in one's ability to care for their horses is no different. My fear is, that a distressed horse owner would instead continue in isolation with their problem; with the only solution appearing to be slaughter, since that's on the table now. In any other instance, they might try to exercise an option that would preserve the horse's life and dignity.

It's a big problem for horse owners and breeders everywhere. In Europe now every horse has to be microchipped, and I think that's the way to go to ensure that horses are not stolen for selling on (or for ransom, as so many dogs are).

I wouldn't eat horsemeat, I'd as soon eat my dog; but I have no objection to other people eating it if the trade is properly regulated. The problem is that only fairly young horses in good condition are good for human eating, the rest are often only good for pet meat. And the trade is not that well regulated, esp in respect of transportation.

Most horses here in the UK which die in the field, at the vet's or in action (racing, polo, hunting etc) are removed and butchered by the local hunts for their hounds - it's a free service and much valued: there are hunts all over the country

But there's a big trade in horsemeat for the overseas market (France, Italy Poland and even further afield) and although efforts have been made - demos etc - to ensure that live animals are not exported these have so far failed (we have to follow European directives...!). In this day and age of refrigerated lorries there's no justifiction for carting horses, which are very sensitive creatures, on journeys of 100s and 1000s of miles; esp since undercover research has shown that truckers rarely follow the law in regards to water and rest stops. (there's no justification for trucking sheep either, though they are at least less likely to fall or panic). There are numerous horror stories, and fatalities.

Laws and regulation in respect of the US racing industry lag way behind those over here - in Europe all drugs are banned for a start, so it's impossible to disguise injuries and weaknesses the way that happens routinely in the US. There are very few rogue trainers in the UK - they'd prob be shopped by the staff! and a few have been - but we strongly get the sense that's not true of the USA. (The Irish are not famed for their humane treatment of animals, but horses are their national passion and most of the numerous Irish yards are well run).

A friend of mine used to train in Berkshire for the local horse knacker - he was an old guy in a wheelchair. He'd buy up crocked racehorses at the Sales then get the vet to have a good look at them. If he could, he'd save them! Then when he'd nursed them back to health he'd put them back in training... my friend won quite a few races with some of his horses!

There's now a minimum sale price here of £800 for a registered thoroughbred, which prices them out of the meat market. Before that, quite a few of them would end up with the knackers. A friend of mine is founding director of the biggest charity for the re-training of TBs after racing, and before the rule change she and her team used to go to the Sales and bid up horses to price them out of the meat market (mostly using funds donated by Sheikh Mohammed's I believe)

Kentucky Derby race days allow it race day drugging, I know. Not sure about Canada.

I've only been to the races in Hong Kong - it's huge and taken very seriously - and know a bit about the culture here and in Melbourne. As far as I know regulations go by EU standards, and there are rules about race-day drug use partcularly and if horses are found bleeding or ill they have lengthy bans and vet attention.

I can understand the draw, and love watching equestrian events, but what goes on behind the scenes before the races to other horses who don't make it...well I hope they get as much care and good training as they can.

BP - Happy to hear about you know people who love these horses enough to save them and train them!

Asian racing is entirely about gambling and horses are just commodities. When they stop winning they are slaughtered. Nowhere is as tough on horse welfare as the UK and most owners here really love their horses. I'd never sell one to Asia...There are some good trainers in Hong Kong but it's a very hard life for the horses, kept in that urban environment and only let out onto the track for the hourly training in the morning. They live in buildings like city highrise parking lots... If a horse isn't tough mentally it will go nuts; many do. In Singapore, they have to live in that massive heat and humidity... etc etc

I think Canada follows the US regulations, not quite sure. Australia is pretty tough on horses due the prevailing hard ground; I understand there are some hard trainers too! Aussies are not known for their sentimentality. I'm not sure what jurisdiction they follow in term of Rules of Racing, I presume they have their own for us and NZ. In the USA the drug use varies from state to state but its pretty prevalent - most horses run on Lasix and steroids are pretty ubiquitous which is very bad for the breed. There's also a huge attrition rate there which just wouldn't be tolerated here. And racing on dirt leads to massive levels of breakdown - I hate it. Here we only have turf and three polytracks, and one 'sand' track

Great feedback about horses in the UK, BP. Sounds like horse owners there are usually very responsible. I suspect here in the US we idealize the whole Wild West, cowboys and the idea of horses roaming free. One of the reasons I like the Sagittarius Rising Sibley chart for this country.

We lease pasture for our neighbor's horses during the summer months and they are "horse poor". She raises Arabs and does dressage riding. They usually have around 40 head of horses at any given time and are very responsible horse owners. However they rarely sell them for some reason. I have a very good woman friend who is an excellent horse trainer (Sag Rising & Mars in Taurus). She struggles to make ends meet and since she rents, it is always a challenge to find some place to keep her three horses.

The way horses are treated as a commodity for horse racing is horrific. Way too much money changes hands betting on the ponies . . .

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31903375/1940-08-24%20CBS%20March%20Of%20Time%20Wartime%20Recipes.mp3

Aug 24, 1940 wartime horsemeat recipes

I've eaten horse before when I was in Mongolia. I don't eat meat now, but meat is meat. 

I ate horsemeat in a fancy hotel in France when I was 15, without knowing what it was til after the meal. I wouldn't do it from choice but I know that's totally irrational.

I don't like to eat meat from animals with which I have a relationship - it's purely sentimental. I was a bit the same with our sheep - when we first had them we'd swap lambs with a neighbour when abbatoir time came round! Later we had more of them, and a consequentially less personal relationship with them. And less money! I still could never eat one I'd bottle fed

My Dutch friend (whose family moved here after WWII) told me of 2 places in my city that sell it. One of the places was a Dutch-owned butcher shop on the city border and another was a fancy food shop smack dab in the middle of town. It's not advertised.

Personally , I have no problem with horses being butchered for meat.... providing that it's done humanely , sanitary conditions , stored-transported-sold in spoilage prevention methods.

And , of course , assuming theres a market for it. No sense allowing the meat to go to waste.

Glenn the petmeat market is huge, there's no need for people to eat horses to ensure they are used...

Hmmm.... I knew a few people over the years who could barely be indistinguishable from animals.

Sorry cows, sorry chickens, You just aren't as personable. 

bok?

bok bok?

Sorry cows, sorry chickens, You just aren't as personable

Nota, I feel the same way about chickens I've looked after! If one died I had to feed her to the dog. I spent three days once trying to keep our cockerel alive... couldn't eat him when he faded. We'd been given him, he and a few of his wives had some disease, maybe TB

My Brazilian boyfriend on the island was once sent out to get something for supper. He came back with a live chicken, who became 'Susan' and lived in the tree outside the front door. She lasted longer than he did ;)  The dogs got her in the end - they were sighthounds and she was too tempting

I can't imagine feleing the same about cows. You don't groom cows, and ride them, and weep into their manes and tell them all your teenage problems... Nor do you sleep with them, and play with them, as most of us do with our dogs

Shhh... Demelza might hear you!

I love my fluffy chickens but got over the difficulty of eating critters with pet names as a kid. My urban mom insisted on giving all our cows & their calves names whether they were milk cows or beef cattle. Did disturb some of our city cousins. **snort**

Heh, lots of peoples ate dogs routinely or even other humans (Maoris for example). Guess it depends on how dire your need for quality protein is.

One friend who's a racecourse photographer just posted on FB after a trip to France "I couldn't believe watching all the lads at XXXX's yard heading for the local bistro after second lot [on the gallops] and tucking into burgers made of horsemeat!!!!"

During sieges everything gets eaten - in the Seige of Ladysmith during the Boer War the garrison and town steadily ate their way through every horse they had - by the end the horses were all but skeletons anyway. There are humourous prints joking aobut horsemeat recipes...

The Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War was notorious for the way the city kept going by selling all their pets to the butchers, catching rats etc etc http://www.heritage-print.com/dog_and_cat_meat_butcher_in_paris_franco-prussian_war_1871/print/1231498.html

There's a more famous print but the first site I found it on was about cat-eating worldwide and had some photos with info which are too upsetting to contemplate [Chinea and Korea]

ETA:  There were catmeat shops in late C19th London in poor areas - one of the 'Jack the Ripper' murders took place in a yard behind one of them, in Hanbury St. Apparently they stank... but I expect the whole city did and esp the East End which was horrendously crowded