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.