Chaos unfolding as Canada closes to slaughter ships; Mexico next?
 

http://www.drf.com/news/canada-stops...rses-slaughter

The United States market for slaughter horses was thrown into confusion Friday after slaughterhouses in Canada appeared to have closed their doors abruptly to U.S. horses, according to slaughter buyers, lower-market horse dealers, and the auctions they frequent.

U.S. horse auction officials said that the situation remained unclear, but it appeared the sudden closure might also apply to Mexico and could be related to European Union concerns over U.S. slaughter horses’ medication histories and veterinary documentation. As of late Friday night, slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico had not issued statements regarding their policies on U.S. equine imports, leaving auctioneers and slaughter buyers across the U.S. in limbo as auction houses canceled or postponed sales.

At the risk of sounding incredibly stupid here can someone please explain to me if this is a good thing? I mean that was my first reaction but by the time I got to the last paragraph... well I'm a little confused.


But Sugarcreek’s Leroy Baker countered that a slaughter shutdown would still be bad news for U.S. horses.

“These animal rights people want to save them, but all they do is prolong the agony,” Baker said. “They think they’re saving them. They think they saw starving, thin horses that weren’t [taken] care of before when people could sell them and get something? Just imagine: they will turn them out on the roads and in empty fields and everything now.”

Canada Stops Accepting US Horses for Slaughter
 

The United States market for slaughter horses was thrown into confusion Friday after slaughterhouses in Canada appeared to have closed their doors abruptly to U.S. horses, according to slaughter buyers, lower-market horse dealers, and the auctions they frequent.

http://www.drf.com/news/canada-stops...rses-slaughter

Mea culpa.

Was going to put in Paddock but it's a pretty specialized discussion so I thought to start it in the Aftercare Room. Worth having here though as it's an important story.

Long term, it's a good thing ONLY as long as there is a coherent post-career plan to handle the horses that are currently unwanted. Short term, it's a nightmare for the horses in the pipeline.

It means food prices in Europe will continue to go higher and more people will starve.

Yes 'Merica. Europeans eat horse meat.

:tro:

i have a horse breed book here at home-certain breeds exist in europe solely because of the meat market; i guess they are tastier?

It is amazing and scary that it has taken this long if indeed it is because of the medications given to horses that should not be in the food chain. I could never figure out why the anti-slaughter people didn't use the mediction issue.

Just think about some frog sitting in a sidewalk cafe in Paris eating his equine tartare not knowing that only a few months ago his meal had been injected with a boatload of medications and had salves with human that qualify as carcinogens that are never intended to be used in food animals.

What are the laws regarding euthanizing horses? I assume it is legal. I hope people don't start euthanizing their unwanted horses.

Right now in California they have a program where they take a tiny bit out of the purses and put it towards taking care of retired horses. But an owner can opt out of the program if he wants to. I don't think they should be allowed to opt out. I think it should be mandatory and they should take out even more money than they take out right now. All of these horses deserve to be taken care after they retire. I know it is expensive but it doesn't matter. It's the right thing to do.

Euthanizing horses is far more responsible and humane than shipping them to slaughter to endure unspeakable torture and abuse, I have FAR more respect for owners who choose this route, it shows they actually cared about their horse.

i agree. a bitter end, but far better than horrible transport, slaughter and consumption.

I would prefer euthanasia over starving and suffering for days and weeks while awaiting death. It's a hard truth you have to accept when you realize not every pretty pony is going to get a cushy forever home. Same applies to dogs and cats. Too many unwanted and too few homes.

Euthanasia is fine.. as long as we don't call slaughter euthanasia. I don't see how a US horse could ever meet the passport requirements that are supposed to take effect next year. Unless you raise it for meat and track it like a cow then the medication records will NEVER be accurate.

if Bute is on the banned substance list--no clear date for processing--that eliminates pretty much every horse ever raised for racing, breeding, showing, or companionship. I can't think of one that I have had my hands on who has not been administered Bute at least once in it's lifetime... whether for colic, castration, sore feet, fever, or any other bumps and scrapes... the only animal that doesn't get bute is the one that hits the ground intended for food. Those animal simply don't exist in the US outside of very small groups of animals bred for meat in Texas and Oklahoma (that i know of)...

Sounds like the plants have been re-opened to US horses as of today.

Exactly, I didn't get why they seemed to ignore this. It was an obvious issue. You can't just pump horses full of things never meant for human consumption, then dump them into our (well the horse eaters') food chain.

I really hope this ends up being a good thing. I don't want to cheer too early. Let's see if the right things happen.

Though interestingly, we have no problem with antibiotics in our food livestock.

The question I have about this is that I was under the impression that the horses being slaughtered here aren't likely to be sold for human consumption anyway, because most horses consumed by people are raised specifically for that purpose. I know horse meat is fairly common in pet foods and part of the diet of zoo animals that eat meat. Humans prefer their food animals a lot younger. I buy beef occasionally from a farm in New Jersey and I remember once they were selling cuts from a bull they had slaughtered. The meat was fine- the bull had spent his life living outdoors, getting it on with the lady cows, but, as the bull was the geriatric age of FIVE when they slaughtered him, they weren't allowed to sell the meat as food for human consumption. Because apparently beef for human consumption has to be from younger animals. So, while they could sell this perfectly fine meat, they couldn't sell it as food for people.

Of course, once you buy the meat, it's your own business what you do with it, as they made sure to point out. ;)

This is a long-winded way of saying I don't understand why the focus is on "human consumption" as I think it's a distraction from the real issue, which is too many unwanted horses and owners more willing to get a few last pennies of money out of their investment rather than pay the money to humanely euthanize them. And that's certainly not a problem limited to Thoroughbred owners.

Agreed

http://www.slate.com/articles/health...rous_than.html

on the dangers of eating horse meat.