The alternative to slaughter

Humane euthanasia is the route that i would say more caring people choose. The word euthanasia is derived from Greek and it means good death. This by far would have to be the least painful way for any aninmal to go. The animal is usually pre-sedated, and that will cause the animal to usually fall to the ground and this is like what would happen prior to a surgery also. The animal is then pretty much gone, in the fact that he doesn't feel anything or really know what is going on around him. The final injecttion is a drug overdose which is delivered via an intravenous injection in the horse's neck. The veterinarian will use two 60cc syringes to administer 120ccs of the barbiturate to the average 1000 pound horse. The drugs used, (barbiturates, anesthetics), directly depress the central nervous system. The overdose leads to a depression of breathing and cardiac arrest. The horse is then checked after five mins or so to confirm death. The breathing, eyes, any other signs of life are checked at that time. I was able to find more information that explains the procedure in more detail on the website http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/rescue/euth.htm . Just keep in mind that the other option is being stabbed repeatedly and then having their throat slit while still concious, so euthanasia is the most humane option available. It also mentioned that once these drugs are administered, the animal is said to be contaminated and must be immediately disposed of because any animal that feeds on the carcass will more than likely die. I have experience or have at least seen a few horses be put down and they are later picked up by byproducts where they are used for various things. I would hope that they are not fed to other animals seeing as the article states that the meat is contaminated.

This webpage explains a lot

http://www.horsemanmagazine.com/2009/08/the-economy-and-the-horse-industry/

Pictures

These are just a few pictures that can give you an idea of the cruelty aspect of the whole thing.

Bills passed against horse slaughter

H.R.503 -- To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to... (Introduced in House - IH)
HR 503 IH

110th CONGRESS
1st SessionTo amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes.

January 17, 2007

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. LEE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. BEAN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. DICKS, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KIRK, Mr. CAMPBELL of California, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. WOLF, Ms. CARSON, Mr. WEINER, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, and Mr. LINDER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON SHIPPING, TRANSPORTING, MOVING, DELIVERING, RECEIVING, POSSESSING, PURCHASING, SELLING, OR DONATION OF HORSES AND OTHER EQUINES FOR SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

(a) Definitions- Section 2 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1821) is amended--

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) as paragraphs (2), (3), (5), and (6), respectively;

(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

`(1) The term `human consumption' means ingestion by people as a source of food.'; and

(3) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

`(4) The term `slaughter' means the killing of one or more horses or other equines with the intent to sell or trade the flesh for human consumption.'.

(b) Findings- Section 3 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1822) is amended--

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (5) as paragraphs (6) through (10), respectively;

(2) by adding before paragraph (6), as so redesignated, the following new paragraphs:

`(1) horses and other equines play a vital role in the collective experience of the United States and deserve protection and compassion;

`(2) horses and other equines are domestic animals that are used primarily for recreation, pleasure, and sport;

`(3) unlike cows, pigs, and many other animals, horses and other equines are not raised for the purpose of being slaughtered for human consumption;

`(4) individuals selling horses or other equines at auctions are seldom aware that the animals may be bought for the purpose of being slaughtered for human consumption;

`(5) the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture has found that horses and other equines cannot be safely and humanely transported in double deck trailers;'; and

(3) by striking paragraph (8), as so redesignated, and inserting the following new paragraph:

`(8) the movement, showing, exhibition, or sale of sore horses in intrastate commerce, and the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation in intrastate commerce of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, adversely affect and burden interstate and foreign commerce;'.

(c) Prohibition- Section 5 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1824) is amended--

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (11) as paragraphs (9) through (12), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph 7 the following new paragraph:

`(8) The shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of any horse or other equine to be slaughtered for human consumption.'.

(d) Authority to Detain- Section 6(e) of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(e)) is amended--

(1) by striking the first sentence of paragraph (1);

(2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) and as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and

(3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, the following new paragraph:

`(1) The Secretary may detain for examination, testing, or the taking of evidence--

`(A) any horse at any horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction which is sore or which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is sore; and

`(B) any horse or other equine which the Secretary has probable cause to believe is being shipped, transported, moved, delivered, received, possessed, purchased, sold, or donated in violation of section 5(8).'.

(e) Authorization of Appropriations- Section 12 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1831) is amended by striking `$500,000' and inserting `$5,000,000'.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.503:
 This is one of the bills passed.

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A BILL
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. R. 503

Context Statement 1

Horse Slaughter may have been banned in the U.S. back in 2007, but there are still people that are engaging in it. The horse meat is still desired in foreign countries and that is why the slaughter continues. It is an issue because a large amount of the horses that are shipped to the foreign countries are transported illegally from the U.S. to either Mexico or Canada for slaughter. This may not be an issue to many people but it can be for many others. Others have said that this is a horrible thing that is going on and I obviously agree strongly. No one really understands how these animals can be treated this badly but some may not realize that these are not the only animals that are slaughtered this way; they have just become more talked about. The biggest problem that I am seeing is the way that the horses are treated and I feel that it would make the event far less gruesome is they would humanely euthanize the horses and not treat them like dirt seeing as they can feel pain too. What is open to dispute is if they can make the event less tragic or just stop it all together. I do not have a complete thesis yet but my main goal is to find ways to improve slaughter or see if there are people that are getting close to ending it all together.

More Research..

I remembered to bring my articles with me today so that i could tell you a little more about my topic. One important article that i found was from the Animal Welfare institute. It is titled  Horse Slaughter Prevention and it informs the reader of just about everything they need to know concerning the topic. In the very first paragraph, it talks about the prevention of equine cruelty act which is aimed at the "end of horse slaughter of horses for human concumption and the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for human consumption". This was only introduced January 14, 2009 by two congressman and a second one had been introduced earlier that year on March 26, 2009 by two senators and a veterinarian. Although the act has not been put into full effect yet, horse slaughter has been banned in the U.S.  As almost everyone may know, horses have been a big part our history for many years and they play a big part in where we are today because they let us ride them here : ). They have not been seen as a delicacy in the U.S. but to the foreign countries they see them as some of the best meat. It was not until 2007 that the U.S. finally closed the last slaughter houses in Texas and Illinois and its sad that it took that long. Although they managed to close these, there are still people out there that go to auctions like the one in shipshewana and collect horses that they will later transport to Canada and Mexico where slaughter is still legal. The process by which these horses reach theses slaughter houses is often long and very painful to the animals. They are usually placed in double-decker trailers that are meant for cattle and smaller lifestock and are usually so packed in there that they can't move at all. These trailers are also dangerous because they have ceilings so low that the horses are forced to keep there heads in a very unnatural position. There has been a few cases in the past where trailers filled with these horses have crashed due to careless drivers. The more known one is called "Wadsworth Crash" and it occured in Illinois. Although some of the horses may be in pretty decent health, federal regulations allow the movement of blind horses, horses with broken legs and injuries, and sometimes heavily pregnant mares. Once the horses arrive at the slaughterhouses, they continue to suffer and are usually left for long periods in the trailers, are subjected the the harsh weather conditions, left without food or water of any kind, and sometimes downed horses are unable to rise and are stood on until the trailers are finally unloaded.
            "When the horses are hearded back through the plant to slaughter, callous workers use fiberglass       rods to poke and beat their faces, necks, backs and legs as the animals are shoved through the facility and into the kill box. Subjected to overcrowding, deafening sounds and teh smell of blood, the horses become more and more desperate, exhibiting fear typical of 'flight' behavior- pacing inprance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open".
Another quote that i found to be somewhat graphic but tells it how it is is, "Footage obatined by the papers shows horses being stabbed repeatedly in the neck with these knives prior to slaughter. Such a barbaric practice simply paralyzes the animal. The horse is still fully conscious at the start of the slaughter process, during which he or she is hung by a hind leg, his or her throat slit and body butchered. Death, the final betrayal of these noble animals, is protracted and excruciating". Now if that doesn't make you feel bad at least a little for these animals, i don't know what to tell you. I think that the whole process could be made less tragic and painful to the horses if they just used lethal injection. Yes it may cost a little more and take more time, but the kill buyers are getting these horses for maybe a few humdred dollars and usually more than doubling their profit when they turn around and sell the meat to these high-end resturaunts. I guess maybe a little extra effort would change the outlook of the whole process a little.

General Findings

I have been concerned with this topic for a while now and I didn't have much trouble finding information about it. I do not have the names of the articles, but i was able to find very informative on equine veterinary sites. They would go into detail about the process and how the people went about getting these animals. I was also able to view some videos on youtube.com that gave me a glimpse into the world of slaughter and really showed how these horses were treated. With this research opportunity, i would like to focus mainly on the ways that the process can be improved and hopefully stopped one day. The treatment of the animals is terrible and that would be the largest problem that i am having with the issue.

Reflection to topic

Like i said in my personal bio, I have a passion for animals and they somewhat influence how i feel about some things in the world today. A big issue that i have been dealing with is Horse Slaughter and the illegal transport that still occurs across the United States. Some people might just say that it's the same as slaughtering cows, pigs, and other farm animals, but i'm pretty sure that there is a major difference. I have personally been to a horse auction where i just went to see what it was like, and i was shocked by the conditions of the horses there and the amount that were being loaded up and sent to Mexico and Canada. If you aren't familiar with the topic, horse slaughter houses have been banned in the U.S., which is a plus, but they are now being shipped out of the country. I'm sure that i won't be able to change this, being one person, but maybe I can make a little difference by informing people of the dangers and terrible nature of this.

Personal Bio

Hi my name is Kari and i am currently a Freshman at Purdue University North Central. I am studying Pre-Vet currently and i hope to transfer to Purdue University in a year or two so that I can pursue my career in Veterinary medicine. To most people, I come off as a quiet person but once you get to know me that changes. I do have a voice and i like to speak my mind if given the opportunity. I have lived in Indiana my whole life and was born in Mishawaka, Indiana. I currently have two horses, two dogs, and a hamster. My two horses have a very large impact on my choice of careers and are very important to me.