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

[brigantia]

And the argument that people can't afford to have their horses PTS at home also grates with me. If you've been able to afford to keep the horse for years, keep it fed and taken pleasure from the animal, the least it deserves is to end it's days at home.

This is what grates on me, too. One would think that especially the multi-billion pound racing industry would be able to afford to euthanise their surplus horses instead of selling them to slaughter.

Re the argument that it is hypocritical to treat horses different from any other livestock, I don't think I would object as much if the horses who went to slaughter were actually raised as livestock, ie not trained as riding animals but kept organically and allowed to graze in peace until their time came.

But from what I understand, this is not profitable. More money is to be made by training horses and selling them on as riding horses, race horses, whatever. Then the broken down and discarded horses get sent off to slaughter. This is what I find so sad. If they've worked for us and if the riding and work they've done for us has actually ruined them, to just sell them to slaughter seems very disrespectful to the animal. But I realise not everyone shares my viewpoint.

 

[Natch]

This is what grates on me, too. One would think that especially the multi-billion pound racing industry would be able to afford to euthanise their surplus horses instead of selling them to slaughter.

Re the argument that it is hypocritical to treat horses different from any other livestock, I don't think I would object as much if the horses who went to slaughter were actually raised as livestock, ie not trained as riding animals but kept organically and allowed to graze in peace until their time came.

But from what I understand, this is not profitable. More money is to be made by training horses and selling them on as riding horses, race horses, whatever. Then the broken down and discarded horses get sent off to slaughter. This is what I find so sad. If they've worked for us and if the riding and work they've done for us has actually ruined them, to just sell them to slaughter seems very disrespectful to the animal. But I realise not everyone shares my viewpoint.

See, I'm a confused soul who wouldn't send my own horse to slaughter, but that's mainly for my own benefit, as well as feeling that I want my horse's last moments to be at home if possible, around people they know, and not to transport them on an unnecessary journey, to a place which smells of death, especially as there is a good chance they won't be feeling 100%.

I find it distasteful that anyone would send their pet horse to slaughter for the same reasons, but I still don't have a problem with slaughter of "unviable" horses, especially if the alternative is likely to be prolonged suffering.

Racing is a commercial venture: horses are treated as assets not pets, so its a no-brainer to the people who make the decisions to get a few bucks back on a horse, rather than pay out for it to be PTS. In a very crude way, at least the horse's carcass is going towards a purpose, and not being incinerated and adding to carbon emissions.