Cyndi's Two Cents

Horse slaughter a contentious issue

Commentary.

Language that ended domestic horse slaughter and processing in the United States was removed from the Ag Appropriations bill approved by the House/Senate Conference committee. The bill passed and was signed by the President, so horses can be processed in this country today.

Brownfield’s Julie Harker produced 3 stories on this subject, drawing many comments to the Brownfield website. As a matter of fact, one of the other broadcasters jokingly accused her of trying to “blow up” the site due to the numerous and quite often lengthy comments posted there.

The poll question on the Brownfield Ag News website, “Should horse slaughter/processing be brought back to the U.S.?” drew responses from almost 800 people in less than 72 hours. That’s about 10 times more than we normally receive in response to a poll question in that time frame.

Horse slaughter is a contentious issue in the U.S. Whether you favor or are opposed to horse slaughter and processing, chances are pretty good that you are willing to, as Tom Steever says, “get up on your hind legs” to passionately voice your opinion on the matter. Many people in this country fail to see horses as livestock, but instead view them in the same category as a puppy or a kitten. They believe horses are pets.

I support lifting the federal ban on horse slaughter. I support it because I believe that horses are livestock and that livestock harvested at state and federally inspected processing plants in this country are killed in a humane manner. I believe it was inhumane to close those plants in the first place, as that action doomed many horses to abandonment and neglect.

Have you ever seen a horse that is dying of starvation? I promise you, it is not something you want to see.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on horse welfare and slaughter that confirmed significant problems with the current restrictions. Among other things, the report said the closing of U.S. domestic horse processing facilities in 2007 has caused the value of lower-to-medium priced horses to fall as much as 21 percent—and it says the economic downturn has caused another four to five percent drop in horse prices.

Anti-animal agriculture groups were behind the 2007 ban on horse slaughter as they have been behind so many other actions sold to the public as “more humane.” However, the GAO report points out the number of horses exported to Mexican processing plants rose 660 percent from 2006 to 2010. Mexico does not have the same regulations in place for humane slaughter of livestock that are in place in the United States.

Al Tank, former CEO of the National Pork Producers said years ago that activist groups are like lions hunting zebras on the Serengeti plains. They work together as a pride, to single out one animal and work together as a pack to take it down. We didn’t know at the time that horses would be the activist groups first “kill.”

Yet, here were are today with the opportunity to begin repairing the damages caused by the 2007 ban on horse processing in this country. If we continue to work together as farmers, as ranchers, as stockmen, as agribusiness and other supporters – we will not be singled out and taken down.

Cyndi Young’s 2 Cents 12022011