tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post6005418948292041477..comments2023-10-30T07:00:40.866-07:00Comments on Mustang Diaries: Summit of the HorseTraceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06369244473889348601noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-74606192382274926342010-12-12T08:59:34.044-08:002010-12-12T08:59:34.044-08:00Blackfeather, you bring up an interesting point of...Blackfeather, you bring up an interesting point of a quick, easy bullet. I would agree wholeheartedly! Yet I was speaking the other day with someone who said to me "All horses would rather die a humane death by injection rather than by bullet".<br /><br />How someone can believe that they know exactly how all horses would prefer to die is beyond me...but like you she is anti-slaughter. So is this black and white, then? No, we're still dealing with shades of gray.<br /><br />My own personal preference would be for the same folks who can come to my property and slaughter my lambs or pig or cow, to be able to do a horse right there on the spot as well. Not that I could eat my horse (I'd have to be mighty hungry), but as you said, it's a far more humane death. So why do we not allow it?Traceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06369244473889348601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-27626379242201425902010-12-06T18:59:23.835-08:002010-12-06T18:59:23.835-08:00To me it is black and white. These are sensitive, ...To me it is black and white. These are sensitive, sentient beings who have worked side by side with us to build this country. They give us so much in so many ways, and yet there are those who toss them away so thoughtfully and selfishly. If you don't see it or feel it yourself you don't have to anguish about it. No horse should go through the terror and cruelty of slaughter. I would rather see a horse quickly shot in the head in an open pasture it knows, than to go through such a brutal horror. It makes me sick to my stomach and I will never, ever consider it as a solution to anything.Blackfeatherfarmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03546615932272805349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-36646988157299522452010-12-05T18:17:25.566-08:002010-12-05T18:17:25.566-08:00I don't believe this issue is black and white ...I don't believe this issue is black and white either. There are lots of well meaning people on both sides of this issue but unfortunately there are those who are motivated by money too. Anytime you get those people in the mix what you have is a big mess and that's exactly what we have here. Finding what is best for the horse isn't going to be easy, that's for sure.Rising Rainbowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04239592070775412669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-14816477117526890702010-11-26T13:08:13.896-08:002010-11-26T13:08:13.896-08:00Vicki, I deworm my livestock (cattle and sheep rec...Vicki, I deworm my livestock (cattle and sheep receive the same dewormers horses do) and after 30 days they are safe to enter the food chain. No one here at my house has suffered any ill effect from eating a sheep who's received safe guard or ivermectin.<br /><br />However, you do make a good point in that we don't know if a horse (or any other animal, for that matter) has been chemical free for 30 days unless it stands at the feedlot. And I doubt many horse owners would send their horse to the local butcher like they do their cow, pig or lamb and have it return in little white packages.<br /><br />So somewhere in the middle there is a solution. How to provide a humane and reasonably priced option for the horse owner.<br /><br />Horses were often raised for food in years past. They were the poor man's meat.Traceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06045746044917443807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-51106974263997429872010-11-26T12:08:12.275-08:002010-11-26T12:08:12.275-08:00Actually, it is a black and white issue. US horses...Actually, it is a black and white issue. US horses are not raised as food animals. There are no production records and there is no mechanism in place to remove horses that have received medications prohibited by the FDA and EU in food producing animals. US are horses are given prohibited meds on a routine basis so they can do what they were raised to do. Among the long list of meds, two common drugs are wormers and bute. You would be hard pressed to find a US horse that hasn’t receive one or both. Whether it be racing, sport, performing, therapy, working, service or companion they don’t suddenly become food when their careers have ended. Once an animal has received a banned substance, they can never enter the human food chain. In order for closing the plants to have an impact on abandonment and neglect, slaughter would have had to end. It didn’t and nothing stopping anyone from sending their horse to slaughter. Did it ever occur to you that owners that can’t care for their horses are holding on to them because they are in fear if they give them away or sell them they’ll end up on a slaughter truck? If slaughter is the cure, why are Canada and the UK seeing an increase in neglect and abandonment?<br /><br />Horses going to slaughter are old, ill and dangerous is simply not true but the slaughter proponents keep repeating it. According to Temple Grandin and the USDA, over 96% of slaughter horses are young, fit and sound. If a horse is ill, dangerous or no longer has quality of life, call the vet and have the horse humanely euthanized as we do with all non food animals in the US. Sending an ill horse to slaughter speaks volumes on the lack of responsibility of ownership. <br /><br />If there are too many horses, how is slaughter going to fix that? You keep slaughtering and the breeders keep producing. It doesn’t reduce the number but ensures there will always be excess horses. It is a never ending cycle. It’s time for owners and breeders to be held accountable for horses they chose to own or breed. Put the blame where it belongs instead of on the horse.<br /><br />Promoting this “summit” is falling prey to the propaganda they spew. Check out who their supporters are, what they are doing with their donations and why they promote slaughter. It has nothing to do with horse welfare and all about breeders being able to breed and dump and scaring ranchers into believing the slippery slope myth that if slaughter is banned, livestock are next. There is no regard for consumer food safety (Wallis wanted to remove inspections in WY) and no understanding of the difference between food animals and non food animals. Calling horses livestock does not make them food animals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-66461954286880870082010-11-26T09:44:44.882-08:002010-11-26T09:44:44.882-08:00I live here in Canda and slaughter is an option, a...I live here in Canda and slaughter is an option, and I hope it stays that way, there unfortanlty are too many horses around and too many horses that are unsellable (older, not halter broke, not gelded) at least those horses are not suffering.Crystalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18035210092855895218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-88419206245930371702010-11-26T05:45:34.127-08:002010-11-26T05:45:34.127-08:00I have not said too much about it, hoping to stay ...I have not said too much about it, hoping to stay out of the maelstrom. It's just not a black and white issue. I agree with what you have said. I don't like the idea of slaughter, but who among us would not choose that end for our horses over starvation and disease?Leah Fryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18158981037468411293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1858836779457163540.post-85514406198811419542010-11-25T23:10:52.166-08:002010-11-25T23:10:52.166-08:00Excellent, thought provoking post.
I'm thankf...Excellent, thought provoking post.<br /><br />I'm thankful that here in Alaska we do have a humane option for disposing of unwanted or dangerous horses.AKPonyGirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02969589711581884433noreply@blogger.com