Cannot believe it is not illegal for horses to be sold to slaughterhouses!

I totally agree , in the past me previouse pony had to be pts and i was shocked when i heard what happend , its soo sick , i think it should be illegal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
 
bono said:
I totally agree , in the past me previouse pony had to be pts and i was shocked when i heard what happend , its soo sick , i think it should be illegal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
Click to expand...

Sorry, what exactly do you think should be illegal? Ponies being put to sleep?
 
Horses/Ponies should be used as a meat source.

not only is it tasty, but sustainable.

Far too many are bred for a totally uncertain future.

I see no difference from eating cute ponies than eating cute lambs or cute piglets....
 
Spudlet said:
The US slaughter ban has been a nightmare for welfare. The horses haven't had their lives saved - they've been condemned to having to travel for thousands of miles, often in awful conditions, and a death that the US can no longer regulate. God help the horse that goes to a slaughterhouse in Mexico. Or they just get turned away to fend for themselves, and starve to death. It was a stupid ban, campaigned for by people with romantic notions of the Wild West and a distinct dislike of the real world.

Do I want horses to be slaughtered? No! I want all horses to live to a ripe old age in green fields and die in their sleep. Am I stupid enough to think that could ever happen? No! So I would sooner see a foal that was born yesterday slaughtered today, than see it end up somewhere like Amersham, and for some horses those are the only two options there are. Not all horses are loved. Not all horses have people that care enough to do the best by them. They may not be the pretty horses, or the talented horses, or the 'nice' horses. They may be the ones no one wants. But the very least all horses deserve is a humane end - and a good slaughterhouse will give that to them.

I live in the real world, and in the real world sometimes tough choices have to be made and emotion has to be taken out of the picture. Sometimes heart is not enough - you need to use your head too.
Click to expand...

Very, very, well said.

alligator40 said:
Horses/Ponies should be used as a meat source.

not only is it tasty, but sustainable.

Far too many are bred for a totally uncertain future.

I see no difference from eating cute ponies than eating cute lambs or cute piglets....
Click to expand...

Alli40 - unfortunately the general JoePublic is far too sentimental about beautiful horsies and ponies for this to ever be feasible. It's a shame, really, as it is on a similar plain to the old "veal calves" issue. People couldn't possibly eat veal.......so cruel, after all. Well, all these bull calves have to go somewhere, so they get shipped off to unregulated continental crates. Now we are just about persuading the consumer that "rose" veal is ok, there are more calves that get to stay here, in regulated conditions (not crates) and are spared the awful journey and misery the other side. Until we can rely on "hook", not "hoof" transport, far better ANY livestock destined for the pot is slaughtered here, humanely. As the majority of meat eaters in the uk prefer to believe their dinner has never looked anything other than an anonymous joint on a polystyrene tray (God forbid it ever bleated, or actually had a pulse) I don't think we have a cat's chance of creating a PP market.
 
bono said:
I totally agree , in the past me previouse pony had to be pts and i was shocked when i heard what happend , its soo sick , i think it should be illegal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
Click to expand...

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - I despair :(

Perhaps you should read some of the excellent posts on here, specifically Spudlet's and Sirena's!
 
brigantia said:
OP, your heart is in the right place and I think it's wonderful that you rescued that pony.

You might find more support for your viewpoint on the Fugly Blog: http://fuglyblog.com/

Cathy Atkinson, aka Fugly, is an American anti-slaughter activist who organizes horse rescues--they buy the horses at auction before the kill buyers can get them. She also writes very scathing blog posts about idiot breeders, trainers, and terrible horse owners. Her take is that slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia. The "solution" to slaughter is not breeding crap horses, training your horse so that it has a useful career and future, and, worst case scenario, humanely euthanizing older or unsound horses or horses with behavioural problems rather than selling them on to dubious characters or selling them to slaughter.

This doesn't seem to be a very popular viewpoint on this board where most people appear to support the horse slaughter industry.

Anyway, good luck with your pony!
Click to expand...

The OP's heart is most definately in the right place. I'm sure none of us would fail to be moved by the sight of some of these animals going off to their end at the abbatoir.

You are wrong about Fugly, I'm afraid - but I'll let you do your own research on that one.

As for not being a very popular view on this board re horse slaughter generally - you're missing, totally, the point.

It's not that people 'support' killing horses arbitrerally - it's that they recognise that there is a need to be met, a service that is required, and a recognition that it is better to have a horse dispatched cleanly and professionaly, rather than left to dubious other operations that could emerge should our slaughter houses be closed (again check out Mexico - the suffering is beyond belief).

For all of those of you who say it that the practice is abhorrant to you what is your solution. Where do you propose the unwanted stock should go?
 
I think you will find that Fugly is not anti slaughter, she has seen first hand what suffering a ban on horse slaughter has done to the USA equine surplus!
Click to expand...

Sirena, I've never found any evidence of this viewpoint on Cathy Atkinson's blog. If you have quote or a link, supporting your view that she is actually supports bringing back horse slaughter in the US, I would love to see it. Everything I've read on her blog would suggest otherwise.

I do understand the point that without slaughter, where would all those neglected unwanted animals go? I just think that both sides need to be represented in these debates. Not everyone who queries the ethics of horse slaughter is a naive bunny hugger.

On Cathy's blog, she argues that responsible breeding and horse ownership go a very long way to reducing the actual need for horse slaughter.

Unfortunately none of us have the resources to rescue every single horse on the planet. But I do believe we are ethically responsible for the welfare of our own horses and seeing that our own horses don't end up as unwanted rescue cases and so on that eventually wind up at the slaughter house.
 
kirstinw55 said:
As in the title really! After visiting york horse sales last friday i ended up coming home with a 3 year old untouched new forest gelding who was predomidantly purchased by the meatman! He had the sweetest face imaginable and the most loving nature however had clearly been neglected and had had his headcoller on for months on end to the point where he had sores all over his face and one look at him being miserably yanked round the ring i knew i couldnt leave that auction allowing him to be slaughtered. A few phone calls later the meat-man agreed to sell me him for twice the price he payed for him! Cannot beleive that this is legal, especially considering it was a youngstock and broodmare auction?! How can anyone justify slaughtering horses that lives have barely just begun, moreover how can people allow these people to buy their horses! I appreciate times are hard financially but i cannot accept that this is the answer?! Opinions please!
Click to expand...

Why did you not just buy it in the ring???
The meatmen know there is usually some bunny cuddler to buy the decent youngsters from them for way more than they paid.
 
Just wanted to add two links. These are from the archives.

This post would appear to state Fugly's anti-slaughter viewpoint fairly bluntly:
http://fuglyblog.com/?p=832

---

In this post she tries to weigh up the arguments in a more objective fashion, listing the idealist arguments (we can all join together to stop slaughter forever), the realist arguments (we probably won't be able to save every horse but we're still ethically obligated to save the horses we that can--ie to be responsible owners and not overbreed) and pessimist arguments (slaughter is a necessity--get over it!) She also links to a New York Times pro-slaughter article and says that the comments to the article contain some of the best anti-slaughter arguments she has come across.
http://fuglyblog.com/?p=833

--

Obviously her viewpoint is not universally shared, but she presents a viewpoint not often found in this forum. There is indeed more than one side to this complex issue!
 
There will always be horses bred solely for the purpose of going into the meat trade, the scrubby youngsters and TB,s who end up too slow or broken down also pet horses who mentally or physically cannot do their job safely need to be dispatched whether we like it or not. I would much prefer these horses/ponies to have a short journey to a british slaughter house and killed quickly and proffesionally, than for them to endure days in a container over crowded to a foreign one.
OP I wish you luck with your pony I really do, but your pony is just one pebble on the beach. Since man first tasted meat animals became our prey, I eat meat so not a bunnyhugger but lets make sure its been raised and slaughtered in a humane way.
 
When I was a young farmer I raised a meat calf to show at the local county show, then she went off to slaughter. She was just as intelligent, loving, gentle and sweet as any horse. She learned to come to call, I'd walk her on a halter and someone once commented that I looked like I was walking a really big dog. If you don't think cows are as intelligent and feel pain as readily as horses, then you really are quite ignorant.
 
use a name said:
Have to say good point
Click to expand...

serious question but if you had to choose, which would you chose to go live to slaughter over the other? A pig or a horse?


I only ask, since pigs are the fourth most intelligent creatures on the planet, how exactly are we supposed to differentiate between which animals are above live slaughter and which are beneath us giving a damn? After going to the sales myself I would far rather some horses go to slaughter as opposed to being bumped from one cr appy owner to another, with regular showings at the local sales.

It may sit badly with you but horses are actually used in the food chain, it doesn't exactly make me feel warm and bubbly thinking about it but it is a fact. There are many cultures that would wish we didn't slaughter pigs and cows.

Slaughter houses are actually (for the most part) professionally run establishments, it is not perfect but it is far better than the alternative, or do you propose we ship them out live?
 
To the OP
Can I ask if you have a dog or cat? If so, can you say with your hand on your heart that you never feed it anything made with horsemeat?
 
What is this, the tweenies???

Animals need to be slaughtered. Until every single animal in the UK is owned by a person who doesn't want to eat them and is happy to put them down via a vets/hunt...there is a NEED for slaughterhouses.

I can't belive I'm even reading this!
 
YasandCrystal said:
... The Gemans have it right - there is no indiscrimate breeding in Germany - all mares are selected and stallions licensed. They do not have this market problem with poorly conformed foals and youngstock then being sold for a few £s., which is upsetting for everyone...
Click to expand...

That is not strictly true, No continentals don't have scrubby ponies BUT they do breed substandard foals unfortunately it happens when you breed sometimes, what they have got right is that when a horse is produced that is sub standard it is refused papers and so they eat it end of story.

Unfortunately British dealers have long cottoned onto this and have while the going was good been buying up their MOT failures and bringing them to the UK to sell to those that would like a Warm-blood but can't afford a papered one! These horses end up at these substandard markets and join the washing cycle that a lot of our own horses find themselves in passing from home to home before the inevitable happens.

I don't like the thought of this happening to a horse of mine and have intentionally kept a youngster on until riding age as I don't want her going to someone who then cannot afford to keep her, but slaughterhouses especially in the current climate are ESSENTIAL without them you would be driving past dumped carcasses left all over the place, some of those would have been ineptly destroyed by a bungling amateur! Not everyone with inferior, old or infirm horses can afford to pay the vet or even the knacker-man nor are they able to dig a big enough hole if they were still allowed to!

We have had five carcasses dumped in Hampshire over the past 6 months imagine what would happen without a legitimate means of slaughter.

I would also like to point out to the OP that it's not only scrubby ponies that end up in the slaughter situation. Riding horses and even pet ones are prone to injury and sadly not everyone can keep them indefinitely till they pass peacefully away in their paddock, horses even miniature ones are expensive to keep from a feed and vet care perspective. Slaughter houses provide an alternative means of disposal with acceptable travel distances and also in a way encourage at least the continued feeding of horses from less desirable homes wishing to make some cash.

Yes it is happy ending for this one pony among the many that has been saved but to condemn Slaughter as a method of disposal of unwanted or sub standard animals is naive and in some ways irresponsible, there may in the end be less sub standard animals bred from but there will always be sub standard animals produced when you breed and for that eventuality you need a means of disposal.
 
I think you will find that Fugly is not anti slaughter, she has seen first hand what suffering a ban on horse slaughter has done to the USA equine surplus!
Click to expand...

I would still be very curious to see an actual link to support this. I have never seen her support slaughter in the US or anywhere on her blog.

No one in this thread has produced any actual evidence that a slaughter ban increases horse neglect, in the US or anywhere else.

The slaughter industry works for profit because there is a demand for horse meat. It doesn't exist with the sole purpose of helping people get rid of unwanted horses. If the demand for horse meat dried up, so would the slaughter industry.

You can also argue, as Fugly has on her blog (I supplied the actual links in my previous post), that the meat industry provides feckless breeders, hoarders, faux rescues, and irresponsible owners with an easy way out. If they breed or "ruin" too many horses, they can cut their losses by selling them to slaughter. If this option were not available and they had to euthanise and dispose of these animals at their own expense, they might be forced to make more prudent choices.
 
My Pony was a last gasp bid to stop him from going on the cattle truck by the lady we got him from, He is a very well bred pony from good blood lines etc and he has a lot of potential. He was bidded on as he looked to well made to be wasted. My little girl loves him to bits and we are planning our first trip to the show's this summer, he is well trained now and is coming on well in all areas that a young pony can.

The New Forest pony sale at Beaulieu Road Pony Sales is 1 a place where owners can sell there ponies for new owners to enjoy or a place where commoners sell there stock for whatever purpose the bidder wishes, They dont breed bad ponies or breed just to breed but the breeding is controled through Stallion licenceing and if you want a blood line you need to find the place to put your mare to mate the correct stallion. some look at it as a way of making a living so they look at them as cattle, not a future childs pony to be loved etc, they have no emotional tye to the ponies so looking outside the box unless you want a pony from a stallion dont go to the sales as they are upsetting for some knowing the fate of perfectly god horses/ponies. Some of the ponies are sold so that they can't be bidded on by the meat men, but the ones that are open to any bids are mainly from cattle stock not from the likes of us.

I think that it should be against the law to sell a domesticated/pet horse/pony for meat but if they are gathered from the forest (farmed as such) then it is the owners choice how they sell and for what purpose. I don't think that stud farms would sell any stock at these sales as they are bred for working life not to make a small living.

A strong subject but one you need to look away from your own horses and how you feel about them to seeing how a farmer would see any of there live stock.
 
I just feel that if you have take on the responsibility then you should be made to ensure that the long life of the animal is protected, If the animal then has a injury that will have a effect on the life then maybe sloughter is an option but a healthy horse that you have taken on should be protected from neglect and slougter is a form of neglect in my mind...

Just an opinion on the subject....:)
 
Slaughter is a form of neglect.

I didn't know you could neglect a dead animal.

Or is the the very thought of slaughter tantamount to neglect?? Or are the seconds before an animal is slaughtered, the neglectful part?

I'd love some more tutoring on your viewpoint FF..
 
Kitsune said:
Slaughter is a form of neglect.

I didn't know you could neglect a dead animal.

Or is the the very thought of slaughter tantamount to neglect?? Or are the seconds before an animal is slaughtered, the neglectful part?

I'd love some more tutoring on your viewpoint FF..
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one ^^^^ lol
 
It may be a fast way to end a life so not a form of neglect in the sence of not feeding over a long time but a neglect to the life it self. If I had a litter of puppies and sold 9 of 10 but could not sell the 10th and did not want it my self and it reached 3 months and still I had no new home would it be fare to take it to the vet and have it put down just because I did not want to give the time to find a good home for it? or if I got a Boxer with a tail and after a short time wanted a boxer with no tail would it be ok to have it put down just so i could own one with no tail?

My point on neglect is a neglect of responsibility..
 
FizzyFanta said:
It may be a fast way to end a life so not a form of neglect in the sence of not feeding over a long time but a neglect to the life it self. If I had a litter of puppies and sold 9 of 10 but could not sell the 10th and did not want it my self and it reached 3 months and still I had no new home would it be fare to take it to the vet and have it put down just because I did not want to give the time to find a good home for it? or if I got a Boxer with a tail and after a short time wanted a boxer with no tail would it be ok to have it put down just so i could own one with no tail?

My point on neglect is a neglect of responsibility..
Click to expand...

OK, but on the otherhand, say you had a 26 year old horse, you lost your grazing and job and couldn't afford to keep the horse, would you think it fair to rehome that horse, even if you thought it was a good home? To be with strangers and away from the previous life, or would it be kinder to end it's life?
 
I wasn't going to post, but I cannot resist

If you have livestock you have deadstock - its a matter of fact and an unavoidable truth.

Your responsibility as an owner is to respect your animal and treat it in a humane fashion

Horse slaughter in a UK approved abattoir is humane slaughter
Slaughter by a professional is humane slaughter (i.e. vet, huntsman)

The grey part is the use non regulated abattoirs (see lovely mexican slaughter houses), attempts to end life by amateurs and finally not doing anything when a horse is suffering

Now slaughterhouses - I have no issue with as they are usually better trained then a vet, however my loyal servants will not have to endure the "journey" which is what I object to. What happens to the carcass is irrelevant as the spirit has gone, but it should be respected - i.e. buried or fed to continue the circle of life.

If slaughterhouses were banned, we end up with black market slaughter going on - see the man in the paper who "killed greyhounds". Or even longer travel across Europe

So long may the UK have fantastic high welfare, high standard abattoirs.
 
I would MUCH prefer you took ANY animal to be humanely destroyed - than giving it somewhere unsuitable.

Sadly in this world we have too many animals and not enough people who can look after them properly.

Until that balance is re-addressed, slaughter is a hugely viable method of despatch!
 
I feel there would still be room for more like turners and potters in this country and i would have no problems sending one of mine to them if needed.
I have been fortunate that up unti now my horses have been pts at home and cremated, for sentimental reasons.
But if i ended up with a youngster from the sales to break and it was dangerous then i would have no qualms about the slaughter house, it is quick and they dont know what is happenening.
Sure that is better than years of neglect.
FF- neglect of responsibility is leaving an animal uncared for, being responsible is making the difficult decision to end an animals life in a quick and humane manner
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top