6 Wild Horses Sold by U.S. End Up at a Slaughterhouse

[underpants]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/6wildhorsessoldbyusendupataslaughterhouse

RENO — Wild horses rounded up on federal land in the West and sold to a private owner have been slaughtered for the first time since a new law went into effect, a government official said Thursday.

"This is something we regret and are very disappointed this has happened," said Celia Boddington, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Washington

The BLM is investigating this month's sale of six wild horses to an Oklahoma man and their subsequent slaughter at a commercial packing plant in Illinois, Boddington said.

"There is no way this current system will work to protect horses," said Nancy Perry, the Humane Society's vice president for government affairs. "Until new legislation passes, our wild horses are going to be in jeopardy."

[CottonBear]

1. Goddamn those bastards.

:cry:

Guess where two of the three US slaughterhouses are located?
Texas.

:cry:

edit: to add from the link:

The new law, written by Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record) (R-Mont.), was passed at the urging of ranchers concerned about overpopulation of the horses and their effect on the range.


"Obviously we are required by law to sell these horses," Boddington said. "In the bill of sale there is a statement that says the buyer will provide humane care for the animals. But once the animals are sold, they are private property."


Previously, under the adoption program, buyers had to keep the horses for at least one year before they obtained the ownership title to the animal, Boddington said.


BLM has sold and delivered nearly 1,000 horses since the new law passed. About 950 more have been sold and are awaiting delivery

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/latimests/6wildhorsessoldbyusendupataslaughterhouse

[TX-RAT]

4. Guess where two of the three US slaughterhouses are located?

How was the slaughter houses, to know those were wild horses.

Or did you just feel the need to take a shot at TX.

[CottonBear]

8. Sorry. This is an emotional issue for me.

The slaughterhouses are foreign-owned and lawyers in Texas are working to have them shut down. Foreign owned companies operate under different rules than US companies. The horses' skulls are smashed with a sledgehammer and then their throats are cut to drain out the blood as they are hung by their back legs.

[achtung_circus]

24. Are you saying that

just because the ownership of a plant happens to be non-US the USDA does not provide meat inspection and does not enforce humane slaughter laws?

It sounds like you have been told stories.

[ailsagirl]

58. Me too, CottonBear-- it's absolutely appalling and I am furious

:cry: :cry:

And furthermore I've added a bunch of people to my Ignore List after reading this thread.

Hey, if you don't care, don't join in.

[The Stranger]

12. You can't tell a wild horse from one you would ride?

[UpInArms]

2. also from your link

In December, Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on slaughtering wild horses that run free across the West. The move has brought a backlash from activists who want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs.

Officials for the Humane Society of the United States learned of the slaughter Thursday and protested to the BLM.

and this jewel:

Perry said a man who identified himself as a minister in Oklahoma told the BLM he intended to use the horses in a program for troubled youth and bought them April 15. The man has not been identified.

:banghead:

[Village Idiot]

10. Politically incorrect statement:

"Perry said a man who identified himself as a minister in Oklahoma told the BLM he intended to use the horses in a program for troubled youth and bought them April 15. The man has not been identified."

Maybe it was a school lunch program?

[nine30]

3. Horses, Cows, Pigs..whats the difference ?

[Bryn]

6. Horses, Cows, Pigs, Humans, etc. are all People in different forms

no difference. Life is Life :)

[nine30]

14. Good point.

Cows give us milk. And to show our gratitude, we chop them up into little pieces. In a manner not different from what Hitler did to the Jews, or Saddam did to some of his political enemies.

Cows have babies (in fact they are FORCED to have,baby after baby, until they are weary and exhausted, so they act as perpetual milk machines. ). When they begin to wear out as baby machines or milk machines, they are mutilated into little pieces and show up in pet stores as "Pet Food".


Some of the babies are dragged away from their mothers and also chopped up into little pieces (called Veal), because many people prefer the tender delicate meat of children.

And the very same people then gather around certain clinics when a woman choses to have some tissue removed from her body, and preach "morality" to them

[Bryn]

26. Yours is Good Point Also

I have been a vegetarian for several years and trying to become vegan (eggs, milk, cheese, etc.) but I don't eat meat at all.

[Occulus]

65. You know, I like eating beef, but

if I owned *a* cow, it would be for milk and would be very well cared for.

Come to think of it, if I had a cow, I wouldn't kill it for any reason.

1) I don't know how to butcher a cow, and use all the various useful parts of the body in a useful way (if I'm going to kill it, I'm damn well going to have enough respect for the animal's remains to get as much out of it as I can)

2) Come on, after a time, the cow would see me as the Provider, and killing it would be just too huge a betrayal unless I was in absolutely dire straits... can one ride a cow? If there's trust between myself and the cow (!), using it as transportation might be possible, if unlikely...

3) Big lugubrious eyes. AAaaaaawwwwww.....

[CottonBear]

7. We don't eat horses here in the USA.

These animals are meant to be adopted as COMPANION animals. I have had to have a horse euthanized. The horse was very sick and surgery could not help even if it could have been afforded. Chipper, a beautiful bay Thoroughbred, was buried in the pasture where he had lived.

edit: Contact information for Sen. Conrad Burns:
Contact Information

Web Site: burns.senate.gov
E-mail: Contact Via 'Web Form.'

Washington Office:
187 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2603
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Main District Office:
222 North 32nd St., Ste. 400
Billings, MT 59101
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]



http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=362

[Daphne08]

42. What's the difference?

I find myself suddenly at a loss for words.

All I can say is...

until you've galloped bareback through the fields with your horse beneath you as if you and he were one,

until you've smiled as you've watched the brood mares establish their pecking order,

until you've buried your face in your horse's mane and told him all your troubles,

until you realize that the horse was born to be free and no matter how we humans attempt to train him and make him bend to our will,

his innate nature proves to us that he only to wants to roam free...

I could write a million more words, but I fear you still would never understand.

[tabasco]

49. We rode horses to discover this country.

I used to work at the vast White Sands Missile Range. Wild horses ran throughout the reservation, which is millions of acres. There was very little danger to the horses. In the rare event that horses would be in an impact area, a helicopter was sent to scare them away. The horses were beautiful, healthy, and had lots of space to roam free.

There seems to be plenty of room at WSMR for the horses. I am appalled at this callous and cruel treatment of these beautiful animals.

edit typo

[CottonBear]

52. I understand.

I will go to feed and care for my horse every day. I love her so. She is my sanity.

I am responible for her care because I am her "owner"/Alpha horse. She depends on me. She is a wonderful creature of nature. In fact, the MOST beautiful animal (at least in my mind...) I have a duty to care for her in this domestic animal situation, yet, she is still quite wild in her nature and instincts. She is my friend and my charge and my dream.

[ailsagirl]

59. You said it, Daphne08... thank you n/t

[nine30]

61. You are right, I don't understand

Let me ask you, have you ever "known" a cow, or cows ? I suppose not, because they are very carefully secluded from human interaction. If you did like I have(never mind how or where), you would realize that they are not any different from dogs or cats or horses and that in fact they bond very well with humans. But alas most people who greedily sink their teeth into cheeseburgers have never seen one, much less known one. A cow is after all just meat/milk/leather/bones on hooves waiting to be harvested.

How about pigs ? Just this morning I was walking down an isle at a local Walgreens. In the toys for pets section I found neatly packaged "Pigs' Ears" -- for all the cute little 'domestic' pets to gnaw on. You may be surprised to learn that many pigs have IQs higher than the people who raise/slaughter them, or even buy their ears for their pets.

These animals may not have the grace of horses, or the playfullness of dogs, or the cuteness of kittens, but if you look underneath you will find a creature as conscious, as sentient, and with as much emotion as any.

Here take a look at where your favorite horses are turned into meat along with their less celebrated, and ungainly, bovine cousins :

http://www.ca4a.org/info/slaughterhouse/

You are right. I probably would not understand.

[livinginphotographs]

69. The only difference you point out

is purely sentimental. As far as slaughtering an animal, whether it's a cow or a horse, there is no difference. People who get all up in arms about killing the cute animals should take a look at what is on their plate and how it got there.

[Ex_Catholic]

50. Why Horse Slaughter is VERY Different....

REASONS WHY HORSE SLAUGHTER IS "DIFFERENT":

1. The slaughter pipeline is uniquely contaminated by crime and horrific animal abuse not seen in the slaughter of other animals.

2. Countless numbers of stolen family pets are dying on the killing floors and their meat air freighted to Europe & Japan. The price of horsemeat is so high, that horse theft has increased exponentially in the past five years.

3. It is illegal to eat horsemeat in America; and in any poll, greater than 95% of respondents say they are opposed to horse slaughter.

4. Equine transport to slaughter is uniquely inhumane. Although outlawed, double decker transports are still in use with the upper level of horses urinating and defecating on the lower group. Secondly, unlike other feeder animals, horses must be trucked from all over the US to the equine slaughter houses in TX and IL, or alternatively to the Belgian scab operations in Canada. Average distance to slaughter >1,000 miles. This is because every state but TX and IL has refused the Belgian bastards permission to set up their killing factories.

5. Horses are killed by the same methods as pigs, sheep and cattle. The "captive bolt" stun gun doesn't work very well with long-necked, agile animals like horses. See any number of on line videos of the slaughter process for details.

6. The horse has a unique place in American history and in the hearts of the American people.

7. Equine slaughter is totally foreign controlled and operated. It is therefore a further rape of US resources on American soil with the permission of American politicians.

[CottonBear]

5. Just say whoa to slaughter

Let them be born without fear
Let them live a life of peace
and please God, when it is time.
Let them die as they have lived fearless, painless and peaceful.

What Happens if the Slaughterhouses Close?
One Man's Opinion
by Jerry Finch

The writing is on the wall. Recent closing and consolidations have reduced the number of horse slaughterhouses in the US from fourteen down to two, both located in Texas, and a new one in Illinois. Those Texas plants are now under pressure from both Texas and Federal lawyers to shut down their operations. How quickly it will happen is anyone's guess, but the future of legal horse slaughter is definitely looking grim. The question from people on both sides of the issue is, "What are we going to do with all these horses when the slaughterhouses close?"

The number of horses slaughtered in the US has decreased every year since 1989, when it reached a peak of 342,877. In 2001, the total fell to 56,332, less than one percent of the estimated US horse population of 7 million. In a 2001 Animal Sciences Research Report by the Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, titled, "Characterizations of Horses at Auctions and in Slaughter Plants," stated that slightly over 79% of the horses slaughtered were in good, fat to obese condition, while 88% had poor to excellent hoof condition. Based on these figures, it is estimated that 85% of those horses sent to slaughter are currently in usable condition, although they may require some degree of physical rehabilitation. In other words, in 2001 only 8,450 horses were in such condition that humane euthanasia might have been the best choice.

Far beyond the emotional reasons of the anti-slaughter forces, the closing of the horse slaughterhouses brings a number of benefits to the equine industry. Chief among these are the financial benefit of those directly and indirectly involved with horses. Currently, horses have a total impact on the US Gross Domestic product of $112.1 Billion, including $25.3 Billion directly and $86.8 Billion indirectly, according to the American Horse Council. This translates into an average of nearly $19,000 per horse. Had the 47,882 usable horses not gone to slaughter, the horse industry would have seen an increase in related sales of over $900,000,000.

With the closing of the horse slaughterhouses owners will be faced with the options, after euthanasia, of burial, cremation or rendering. The rendering of euthanized horses has become almost obsolete, since the sale of sick and injured horses to slaughterhouses provided a minimal dollar return. Without doubt, rendering operations will see a large increase in the demand for their services. The increases in this economic benefit alone will far outweigh the estimated payroll and tax base income of the two counties in Texas that contain the foreign-owned slaughterhouses.

John Hettinger, owner of Fasig Tipton (the second largest Thoroughbred Auction House), Chairman of the Grayson, Jockey Club Foundation, member of the Board of Directors of The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation and NY Racing Association Trustee, states that between 7,000 to 9,000 Thoroughbred Racehorses are slaughtered every year. With the closing of the major outlet for the overproduction of horses, it will make economic sense to both backyard and commercial breeders to curtail the current mass production of foals and become more selective in their breeding programs. The future decrease in foal production will eventually lead to an increase in the selling price of all breeds of horses.

The short-term effect of the slaughterhouse closings will have a negative impact only on those who profit from the disposal of unwanted horses. Many will be forced to look closely at their own financial motivations that currently contribute to the problem. Responsible breeding and horse ownership, when backed by the enforcement of current animal abuse laws, will benefit the majority of those in the horse industry. When the old adage of, "follow the money," points to an increase in financial return in years to come, we will look back on the horse slaughter days of yesteryear and seriously wonder why we let it continue for as long as we did.


Let them be born without fear
Let them live a life of peace
and please God, when it is time.
Let them die as they have lived fearless, painless and peaceful.

http://www.justsaywhoa.org/opinions/finch.asp

[Village Idiot]

9. Horse tenderloin...

is considered quite a delicacy where I am from (Chutes-Aux-Outardes, Quebec)...

[CottonBear]

13. I suppose eating equines is culturally acceptable in Canada,

however, it is not acceptable here in the US. The French also consume horses. The Chinese eat dogs and cats. We simply do not eat companion animals here in the US.

[psychopomp]

40. I have eaten horse

Raw, actually, and sliced into very thin slices which are then lightly dipped in sauce. It is quite good, with an earthy taste.

Me, I can't see the difference between eating a cow or a horse.

[Igel]

46. It could, but probably won't, become culturally acceptable here.

Pig vs. horse, not a big difference. In this case, cultural preferences are fairly arbitrary.

I've known families where the kids get a horse, a goat or chickens as pets to raise; then the animal's (or animals) are slaughtered, and they come to grips with eating it. In one family they had quail as pets; they'd let them scurry about. Once, after the son went hunting quail with friends, I was invited over; it was interesting to see the mother cooing over her pet quail as she ripped the legs off of the one she had on her plate and gnawed on them.

[gumby]

11. The Bush Culture Of Death

endangers every living thing on this earth, including ourselves.

[Ex_Catholic]

15. Equine Slaughter is a National Tragedy. Legislation Stalled...

No one does anything to stop the brutalizing and killing of over 100,000 US horses annually.

The horse made America. He should probably be our national symbol, not the eagle (who only flies around crapping on the ground).

Horse slaughter auctions like the New Holland, PA auction are hotbeds of criminal activity, horrific cruelty, and a favorite dumping ground for the Amish and race tracks.

Most horses that are killed for human consumption (a delicacy) in Europe & Japan are young horses; many just need some groceries. Many are stolen family pets.

No horse is safe. Even multimillionaire winners like Exceller, and Ferdinand end their days on the killing floors.

Two Belgian owned and operated equine slaughter houses operate in Texas; one in DeKalb, Illinois. Horses are shipped there from all over the US.

California outlawed the transport of equines for slaughter for human consumption some years ago. No other state has done the right thing.

Bills in the Congress to accomplish the same thing nationally have languished thanks to AssHole Bush and the BushBots.

Mary Nash lives next door to one equine killing factory. Check out her website:

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat/

Some more good sites:

http://www.hoofpac.com/
http://www.equineadvocates.com/slaughter.html
http://www.slaughterhallofshame.com/shame/index.php
http://members.tripod.com/p3_acres/id218.htm

[MisterP]

16. this plan was announced months ago: it fits with the Emperor's

Prime Directive: "Kill everything."

[Massachusetts]

17. NON STORY

[Massachusetts]

18. There are other things to WORRY about!

[cornermouse]

19. And your solution is?????

I'm capable of worrying about more than one thing at a time.

[drduffy]

23. there are...

many, many things to worry about. But among them, I also worry about horses, my Lab, cats, birds, even the stupid moles who tear up my lawn....well, they are not stupid, really... They do eat all those grubs for me. That's the problem with 'now'....I spend too much of my time worrying but see no alternative given the state of things.

[LostinVA]

38. Exactly -- what makes people truly compassionate is that they

are able to worry and want to help every creature, from a meadow full of wildflowers, to sick and homeless kitties, to wild horses, to Native Americans, to those effected by the Iraq invasion. This is what should make us truly human... and progressive.

"Bless the beats and the children."

[Megahurtz]

20. Slaughtered?

For what, dog food?:wtf: Fucking greedy bastards!!!

[Ex_Catholic]

51. Horse Meat is Too Expensive for Dog Food...Eaten by Humans

in Europe and Japan because it is illegal to do so in the US:

1. The slaughter pipeline is uniquely contaminated by crime and horrific animal abuse not seen in the slaughter of other animals.

2. Countless numbers of stolen family pets are dying on the killing floors and their meat air freighted to Europe & Japan. The price of horsemeat is so high, that horse theft has increased exponentially in the past five years.

3. It is illegal to eat horsemeat in America; and in any poll, greater than 95% of respondents say they are opposed to horse slaughter.

4. Equine transport to slaughter is uniquely inhumane. Although outlawed, double decker transports are still in use with the upper level of horses urinating and defecating on the lower group. Secondly, unlike other feeder animals, horses must be trucked from all over the US to the equine slaughter houses in TX and IL, or alternatively to the Belgian scab operations in Canada. Average distance to slaughter >1,000 miles. This is because every state but TX and IL has refused the Belgian bastards permission to set up their killing factories.

5. Horses are killed by the same methods as pigs, sheep and cattle. The "captive bolt" stun gun doesn't work very well with long-necked, agile animals like horses. See any number of on line videos of the slaughter process for details.

6. The horse has a unique place in American history and in the heart of the American people.

7. Equine slaughter is totally foreign controlled and operated. It is therefore a further rape of US resources on American soil with the permission of American politicians.

[MissWaverly]

21. America has been gutted for a quick buck

Where has all the money gone, and at what cost, the loss of our young men, wild horses that have been "harvested" for meat, how short sighted and small and mean, and yet children are going hungry and the country teeters on the edge of bankruptcy. America is a great nation, we don't have to stoop to trashing our wild horses, our wilderness, and the legacy of the land that was given to us in trust for future generations. We are not just financially at a loss, we are morally bankrupt. We need to turn this around. I saw on Tv that many drivers for Meals on Wheels are going to have to quit because they can't afford the gas bill. After the segment was played, the young commentatior, said "What's their problem, after all the meals are FREE! Yea, right, and what will happen when people can't afford to deliver them, we'll just let the old people starve. We really need to take stock and turn this around.

[cornermouse]

25. Not to worry.

They're cutting the Meals on Wheels out entirely in this state. I guess they have a strong desire to make elderly homebound people sink or swim.

[MissWaverly]

29. I hope the tide is turning

It's amazing how their greed is never satiated, there is not so much as a crumb given to the needs of others.

[Ex_Catholic]

54. Yes, the Rape of America....Here are Some Links...

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat /

http://www.hoofpac.com /
http://www.equineadvocates.com/slaughter.html
http://www.slaughterhallofshame.com/shame/index.php
http://members.tripod.com/p3_acres/id218.htm

[MissWaverly]

22. Here what Teddy Roosevelt had to say about this

I posted this on another thread but it belongs here.
TR was a republican!

"Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying the 'the game belongs to the people.' So it does; and not merely to the people now alive, but to the unborn people.

The 'greatest good for the greatest number' applies to the number within the womb of time, compared to which those now alive form but an insignificant fraction. Our duty to the whole, including the unborn generations, bids us restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of these unborn generations.

The movement for the conservation of wild life and the larger movement for the conservation of all our natural resources are essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method."
Teddy Roosevelt/A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open, 1916

[leftchick]

36. what a wise man

I am sure he is rolling in his grave at the death and the destruction upon our environment over these last four years.

Thank you for posting this. :(

[MissWaverly]

48. thanks

He was a great man, I think of GWB like the man who steals downstairs in the middle of the night to raid the fridge. He doesn't know that the roast beef is supposed to go in the kids lunch or that the cake is for a church supper. He just grabs everything out and devours it with no consequences, leaving an empty plate.

[Jose Diablo]

27. Little kitty cats need to eat too.

Does everyone think cat food is prime roast?

[MissWaverly]

30. No, but wild horses should remain on government land

The U.S. government should not become a supplier to the meat packing industry. What's next, grinding up the statue of liberty for scrap metal for a quick buck.

[Jose Diablo]

35. Well, copper is about twice what it was only 6 years ago

The sheathing covering the statue is copper. I doubt the iron skeleton has much scrap value though.

The real estate is island property, I imagine some corporation or another would pay top dollar to set-up a headquarters there. Seeing how it is in the middle of the Hudson, a case could be made that it is federal property, thus abating all local and state taxes.

On top of this, the statue was a gift from France, and you know how this administration feels about that frog prime minister. Didn't you see him kissing Condi's hand a couple weeks back? The old lecher. Even in front of Bu$h too.

That proposal you have for the disposition of the Statue of Liberty has merit. Why don't you e-mail it to the Dept of the Interior?

[LostinVA]

37. My kitties eat fish & rice food, they told me they would NEVER

eat a horse. Indeed, they think horses are like kitties, and give lots of people love and furry happiness.

[leftchick]

28. Screw that Doris Day Animal Action League!

She has been a huge animal rights activist yet endorsed chimpy** in 2004. She just sent out a new mailer about these poor horses. Is she that fucking clueless she can't make the connection between bush** policy and the deaths of ALL innocents??

:mad:

[LostinVA]

39. Did she really??? I'm so disappointed in her!

She's done so much for animals, she and Betty White both. I hate knowing that...

[leftchick]

41. I used to donate regularly to her group

up until this past summer when her newsletter showed a picture of her with the chimp**. It said she was supporting his run for re selection! I was shocked and have dropped my membership. How can someone who puts so much energy into animal rights be so blind? I still have an envelope and may send her a nasty little note as to why I dropped out!

:grr:

[LostinVA]

43. I would send her a note

Telling her why you quit donating. I may email her myself. How anyone who is for animals and the environment endorsed that moran is beyond me. I'm Pagan, and I know quite a few fellow Pagans who voted for him, too. I was like, WTF??? A man that has publicly denounced your religion, is anti-gay, is destroying the very deity you worship... people are just so blind.

[LostinVA]

44. I would send her a note

Telling her why you quit donating. I may email her myself. How anyone who is for animals and the environment endorsed that moran is beyond me. I'm Pagan, and I know quite a few fellow Pagans who voted for him, too. I was like, WTF??? A man that has publicly denounced your religion, is anti-gay, is destroying the very deity you worship... people are just so blind.

[Colorado Blue]

31. This SUCKS. nt

[anarchy1999]

32. See Crown in Kaufman, Texas and google Crown and The Dallas Observer

Very Non-descript looking place, you'd never know they slaughter horses every day to send to Europe, Belgium, specifically. They love their horsemeat. I knew the man that ran the plant. Hard to take, relationship did not last for long.

It's been going on a long time.

[anarchy1999]

33. AND HERE YOU ALL GO:

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat/DallasObserver10011998.htm

From dallasobserver.com
Originally published by Dallas Observer Oct 01, 1998
©2003 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.

A horse is a course
in Belgium, anyway. But some West-Coast horse lovers have Texas' meat men--the guys who supply the little-known equine slaughter industry--on the run.
BY THOMAS KOROSEC

On a gentle hillside 30 miles east of Dallas, out in the countryside near Kaufman, Bailey Kemp pulls his one-ton pickup and 40-foot stock trailer up to a steel-covered horse barn and begins to unload.

First he shoos from his rig 10 ordinary-looking bays. Then a palomino. Then he guides a white quarter horse out by a lead rope and halter. All are healthy-looking animals, although clearly not top stock. "Some people think I'm the worst fella that ever lived," Kemp says after he heads inside to settle up with the horses' buyer.

Sure enough, as one gathers from the posters around the buyers' office, this enterprise is unsettling, to say the least. On one wall is a colorful chart of horse breeds--chunky quarter horses, sleek thoroughbreds, boldly marked paints--above which is a handmade wooden plaque. It reads: "The best color for a horse is fat."

On two other walls are outsized pictures of meat dishes--a roast plated with vegetables, a kabob on yellow rice, a thick steak, and something that looks like a chicken-fried cutlet.

What's creepy is the little line drawing on the folded white napkin next to each plate. It depicts a horse that, if not quite smiling, is looking as blithe and cheery as Misty of Chincoteauge, the little pony of children's book fame. Around the meat pictures, in red, white, and blue print, are the words "U.S. Horse Meat. Eat and Drink American."

[NVMojo]

34. Yep, even our Harry Reid agreed to this shit.

Let's keep letting everyone else fuck over our public lands but the wild horses...as long as corporations can profit. Even those who sell horsemeat to the French....Why don't they just give the land back to the tribes of Nevada and let them decide which horses go to slaughter when it is time?

[ecoalex]

45. Where did you think old horses go?

There are many horse auctions around the country. The lucky ones return home. The unlucky ones go to slaughter, for human , and pet /wild animal feeding.

[MissWaverly]

47. there is a difference

harvesting horses on government lands for profit is wrong, it is the same as selling off choice areas of government park lands as prime real estate (this has been done under GWB), and selling drilling rights to the Alaskan wilderness, this all fits into this current administration wholesale plundering which is wrong. It's the same pattern in Iraq. What is surprising that Iraq is even more unstable now than 10 days after our initial entry into the country. That alone should tell you something.

[ecoalex]

55. Aren't there certificates for each horse

and the BLM follows up with a visit at the address that was given at the time of sale?The horses are not supposed to go to slaughter. New Holland Pa has a horse sale each Monday, all types of horses are sold. There are some butcher buyers, and usually at least one tractor trailer of horses goes to Quebec , where they are processed for sale in Canada and France.

[Ex_Catholic]

53. Any Horse Meat in Dog Food is Rendered, not Slaughtered Meat

Horse meat is much too expensive for animal good.

Any horse by products found in dog food are almost always from "rendered" animals (those whose carcasses are butchered after they have died elsewhere). The foreign owned equine slaughter houses in TX and IL send their meat exclusive abroad for human consumption as a "delicacy." So forget about horse meat being used for animal food or to feed the starving masses...

[CottonBear]

56. Thank you for pointing out the difference between

rendered and slaughtered. One does need to deal with the death of a horse and the disposal of the body. Burial, creamtion and rendering are all options. Humane euthanasia of an elderly or infirm equine is moral and humane.

[LostinVA]

57. Americans don't tend to eat companion animals

Cats, dogs, horses, etc. I think even most Americans aren't too thrilled about rabbits, even wild ones. I hit a wild bunny with my car the other morning, and it upset me for an hour...

[ailsagirl]

60. Call BLM and let them know how you feel... for those who

are interested.

Here's the number:

1-866-4MUSTANGS

There's a message machine. I didn't bother leaving my name but
I DID leave my opinion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[underpants]

66. National Wild Horse & Burro Program: 1-866-4MUSTANGS

http://www.nifc.gov/offline/

Ooops I went and got the number before I noticed you had posted it. Oh well the more the better.

[Jack_DeLeon]

62. Meat is Meats...

I've never eaten horse but I wouldnt hold it against anyone if they did.

[McGonigle]

63. Feral horses

are not native animals and they are very destructive to the landscape. If you're interested in preserving the Western environment, then you should be in favor of taking feral horses OFF public lands.

[VegasWolf]

64. Right, sure, okay, unhuh, and name something that is native. Silly

statement. Nature changes constantly. Let's kill all
animals that interfere with ranchers like rabbits, wolves, deer,
people, ..., etc.

[McGonigle]

68. There is a big difference between native

and non-native animals.

American bison, deer, and pronghorn are native grazing animals. The landscape and the ecosystem have co-evolved with these animals, and the grasses and forbs have evolved to grow well after being grazed by these animals.

It's all part of the web.

Cattle, sheep, and horses have not co-evolved with the ecosystem and the plants are not tolerant of the unique grazing methods used by these animals. It's the same for all non-native animals. In my other nom de plume, I have participated in the flamewars over feral cats, and I've taken the same approach: get these animals out of the wild and stop the damage they are doing to native animals.

Starlings, House Sparrows, feral cats, feral horses, feral pigs, Argentine ants, ripgut brome, filaree, kudzu, and hundreds of other non-native plants and animals have invaded the ecosystem all across the US, driving out native plants and animals.

I'm vegetarian, so I don't care about the wishes of ranchers. I care about ranchers insofar as I would like to see them get their cows off of public lands.

Nature is dynamic and is constantly changing, but humans brought feral horses here and we have a responsibility to curtail the damage they are doing to the landscape, as we have a responsibility to manage cattle grazing.

[livinginphotographs]

70. The word "feral" gets thrown around a lot these days

To justify all sorts of despicable acts. I guess "terrorist" is just so last season.

Nature did just fine for billions of years before humans came along to kill everything they deemed a "pest." If something's wrong with the ecosystem, I'd be willing to bet it is the fault of "feral" humans, and not "feral" horses.

[McGonigle]

71. Horses were not in America

before the White men in their infinite wisdom brought them here. So yes, it is the fault of feral humans.

Right now there are exotic crabs and mussles destroying estuaries all over the United States. Pike (which were probably introduced by the aforementioned infinitely wise White men) run the risk of destroying salmon species in California, salmon which were once the basis of survival for bears, eagles, and Native Americans alike. Brown tree snakes have completely destroyed the bird life on many islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Taking species out of the ecosystem, such as the extirpation of the wolf and the bison, can have devastating consequences. Similarly, introducing species, which is what the infinitely wise Spanish missionaries and conquistadores did when they introduced feral horses to North America in the early 1500's, can also wreak havoc on the ecosystem.

[Pepperbelly]

67. I'll shed no tears for horses. I despise them.

One tried to kill me once and damned near succeeded.

[MisterP]

72. they're not all the same, you know

I myself got mauled by an umbrella cockatoo recently, but I don't want them all turned into parrot kebab--or even the one that did it to me

[Pepperbelly]

73. perhaps you ...

are kinder than I or perhaps you weren't injured as badly.

Fuck horses.

Psycho beasts from hell. A big powerful animal with a mind of its own as well as its own agenda.

:evilgrin:

[FrankieBud]

74. I used to live in Belgium and many Belgians actually prefer

horse meat to beef. I ate horse meat there many times. Maybe it's like salmon. Wild is better.

[drduffy]

75. You can bet

that as the population grows we will be eating everything and anything. Bugs are a good source of protien. And then there is always Soylent Green.

[MissWaverly]

76. They're dumping horses to sell park land as real estate

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&e=4&u=/ap/forest_service_sale

Forest Service Trying to Sell Property

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Looking for a sweet home in Sweet Home? The Forest Service may have just the answer. Three houses in Sweet Home, a former logging town in Oregon's Willamette Valley, are for sale for $52,500, $69,000 and $78,000.
The properties, built in the 1950s for workers in the Willamette National Forest, are no longer needed — and frankly, the Forest Service could use the money.

Officials hope to bring in up to $175 million over 10 years, while reducing maintenance costs by as much as $90 million for an inventory of 40,000 properties nationwide.

Hurry, our heritage if for sale for a limited time only, this offer will not be repeated in stores!