Horse slaughter - what do you think?

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foxtrot

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As the title says....

just got thinking about the horse sales recently and the many horses that are being sold to slaughter...& how many horse owners are letting their precious pets be sold for this purpose because they feel they have no choice.
 
It is a real shame that people are struggling to hang on to their horses at the moment and that there isn't much of a market for selling to private homes but I suppose slaughter isn't the worst that could happen to the horse. At least it is relatively quick and painless for them. Better than finding their way in to the wrong hands.

Hopefully the economy will buck up some time soon and everything can get back to normal.
 
It has its place and hopefully will be quick and humane. Sad, in many cases, but a better close to an uncertain life than an uncertain future.

I'm hanging on to all mine, just in case this is what faces them one day. It's how I feel about the whole ownership thing. See it all the way through...
 
After seeing those couple of videos on here of those appalling World Horse Welfare cases in the last few days - the mare with overgrown feet and the 4 horses found starving and shut away - if someone chose that route, ie, to market and slaughter for their horses as the only way out of difficult circumstances I would rather that than think there's horses in a stable with no food, no water, soaked in their own excrement, in pain and being left to die for weeks on end.
 
I would not let mine go for slaughter but have no problem with slaughter of horses or peoples decisions.

But if someone sells there lame/old horse at a sale then IMO they are just passing the buck tbh. They are avoiding "that" decision and causing distress to the horse. I could sell my old chap for slaughter and make money rather than lose money paying to pts but he is a pet and I wont do that. I could also put him through the sales ring and make a few bob, probably less than I would get from potters if I was honest about his age (he is very obviously old!). But I would rather him go to slaughter than go through the sales ring at his age.

Not that that will happen. He is 34. Fingers crossed he will just pop his clogs in the field one day.:) If not he will be PTS and I will pay.

I dont have any issue with people who send their horses for slaughter in this country. Send them to the sales and they could end up anywhere tbh.
 
Personally I think it's awful that horses end up going for meat if the owners can't sell BUT it's better than being left in a field starving or get into a bad home.
I feel cut out the pointless breeding that's going on which will help. Why breed and breed often from sub stardard mares. Cut the breeding
 
If i couldnt keep and they were ill and infirm i would pts at home in front of me only for what these people get from the meat man is it worth it really ? I dont object to selling at sales etc but would put a reserve on well above meat money quite frankly i would rather permanently loan or give to a good home however nice my horse was rather than try and risk horse going to wrong home, i know you hear stories of horses going for nothing but this is not the norm usually old or unusable horss ponies and as i said at the beginning of my post if they were infirm ill and i should add problematic or not usable and i couldnt keep they would be shot in front of me at home and sent to the kennels i think that is the least we owe them.
 
personally all of my horses will never go anywhere (i have 3 ) they will be with me until they give up themselves or i have to make a decision....but i dnt have anything against slaughter, however what really gets me is the amount of good horses slaughtered because of the treatment thyv had frm humans
 
There are far worse things than death.

My only problem with slaughter is the journeys some have to go through before they are slaughtered . Would not be an issue if it was always a local abatoir.
 
Far worse things can happen than a well placed bullet.
No problems with slaughter of any animal. as long as it is transported on the hook, not the hoof.
 
I dont see a problem with horse slaughter so long as its humanely done, and horses arnt transported long distances!

Although i would rather horses were bred for it, rather than old "past their prime" riding ponies who have already given enough to people! :(
 
Agree totally with Groom 42.

With a business head on - any of ours that where ready to go, provided they were sound/well enough to travel, and travelled well, went to Turners.

Was always impressed with the way they handled our horses - but we took them direct. Think people that bung these horses through sales, with no reserve, knowing that they will end up being taken to slaughter are cowards.

Seems unfair to spend their last couple of days chucked out in a field with a load of strange horses before being transported to either Nantwich or Bristol.

But better this than being passed around from pillar to post or being neglected. Sadly, the more horses that go to slaughter the more likely the prices of horses are to increase to a more feasible level. Back to indiscriminate breeding. If people sent their old/lame/poor mares to slaughter in the first place, rather than breeding from them, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.:mad:

Would also be useful if a couple more abbatoirs started taking horses - perhaps in midlands and Scotland/Wales to reduce the travel.
 
This is an awful subject; but IMO I think its so sad and tragic to see adverts in places like H&H for older horses of say 18 years or so which have obviously been in the family for many years, and they're being sold for say a couple of hundred quid just to get rid of a difficult situation and pass the buck onto someone else (rant).

IF a horse has been with an owner for many years and been a good faithful servant, dont' we owe it to them to do the right thing if they're no longer capable of work?

If push came to shove, I'd far rather have the knackerman out to my yard to do the deed and then the carcase goes for meat, then to put a well beloved horse into the sale ring and know only too well they're likely to be sold for slaughter and transported god-knows-where.

I really can't get inside the head of someone who advertises an old horse for sale for a pittance, just to get rid of a decision. If I was strapped for cash and had no other option, I'd elect for the knackerman to do the bullet job on site in surroundings where the horse is relaxed rather than transport it miles, even if you didn't get so much money for it.
 
brighteyes said:
It has its place and hopefully will be quick and humane. Sad, in many cases, but a better close to an uncertain life than an uncertain future.

I'm hanging on to all mine, just in case this is what faces them one day. It's how I feel about the whole ownership thing. See it all the way through...
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dozzie said:
I would not let mine go for slaughter but have no problem with slaughter of horses or peoples decisions.

But if someone sells there lame/old horse at a sale then IMO they are just passing the buck tbh. They are avoiding "that" decision and causing distress to the horse. I could sell my old chap for slaughter and make money rather than lose money paying to pts but he is a pet and I wont do that. I could also put him through the sales ring and make a few bob, probably less than I would get from potters if I was honest about his age (he is very obviously old!). But I would rather him go to slaughter than go through the sales ring at his age.

Not that that will happen. He is 34. Fingers crossed he will just pop his clogs in the field one day.:) If not he will be PTS and I will pay.

I dont have any issue with people who send their horses for slaughter in this country. Send them to the sales and they could end up anywhere tbh.
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horseandshoes77 said:
personally all of my horses will never go anywhere (i have 3 ) they will be with me until they give up themselves or i have to make a decision....but i dnt have anything against slaughter, however what really gets me is the amount of good horses slaughtered because of the treatment thyv had frm humans
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MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
This is an awful subject; but IMO I think its so sad and tragic to see adverts in places like H&H for older horses of say 18 years or so which have obviously been in the family for many years, and they're being sold for say a couple of hundred quid just to get rid of a difficult situation and pass the buck onto someone else (rant).

IF a horse has been with an owner for many years and been a good faithful servant, dont' we owe it to them to do the right thing if they're no longer capable of work?

If push came to shove, I'd far rather have the knackerman out to my yard to do the deed and then the carcase goes for meat, then to put a well beloved horse into the sale ring and know only too well they're likely to be sold for slaughter and transported god-knows-where.

I really can't get inside the head of someone who advertises an old horse for sale for a pittance, just to get rid of a decision. If I was strapped for cash and had no other option, I'd elect for the knackerman to do the bullet job on site in surroundings where the horse is relaxed rather than transport it miles, even if you didn't get so much money for it.
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I think horse slaughter is sad and cruel. My two will NEVER go anywhere,they have a home for life. Even if I had to go without things to keep them.
 
sharon1959 said:
I think horse slaughter is sad and cruel. My two will NEVER go anywhere,they have a home for life. Even if I had to go without things to keep them.
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Sad - yes - but a necessary service.

Cruel? - No - would not agree with this - if they are taken to the abbatoir by the owner, travel well and are in condition to do so comfortably - then why is it any more cruel to let the slaughter man put them to sleep? They don't know what is coming, these men are professionals and do the job quickly and cleanly - after that - does it matter what happens to the carcass?

Am I cruel and heartless - I hope not. I would happily keep the same option for myself when the time comes....!
 
sharon1959 said:
I think horse slaughter is sad and cruel. My two will NEVER go anywhere,they have a home for life. Even if I had to go without things to keep them.
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:) Fair enough, but when you do decide that their time has come, however you dress it up, being pts is still slaughter.

There is a place for horse slaughter, if there wasn't, and God help the horses, the UK would be left with the dismal situation that the US made for its' horses by listening to the pink and fluffies.

As said, there are far worse things than a well placed bullet.
 
enfys said:
:) Fair enough, but when you do decide that their time has come, however you dress it up, being pts is still slaughter.

There is a place for horse slaughter, if there wasn't, and God help the horses, the UK would be left with the dismal situation that the US made for its' horses by listening to the pink and fluffies.

As said, there are far worse things than a well placed bullet.
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Agree but dont agree with horses trvelling hundreds of miles in cramped boxes,lack of food/water and only to die at the end of it,now thats cruelty.
 
sharon1959 said:
Agree but dont agree with horses trvelling hundreds of miles in cramped boxes,lack of food/water and only to die at the end of it,now thats cruelty.
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Absolutely. Which is why you either have the knackerman do it at home, in front of you, or you transport them to the abbatoir yourself. Even if the journey is hours long, at least you transport them to your own standards.
 
its sad to walk around the sales and see all these poor horses . and sad to read an advert of an old horse for sale for a few pound . iv had two pts and both were done at home . id never pass an old or lame horse on it would be unfair to them but people do sadley
 
When my two reach the end of their comfortable lives they will be going to the abertoire and made into pony pie, pony steaks and pony burgers. I love my horses dearly and will be their at the end. I do not see the point, when the horse is dead, in wasting the meat...

And before anyone horrified says anything about 'would you eat your pet dog?' the answer is no because they are carnivores and not a 'food animal'.
 
I personally dont see the difference between slaughtering a cow, pig, sheep or horse.
I think as long as they dont see it coming or know they are about to die, and its done humanely and quickly, I think its a necessary option for some.

Of course our horses are out pets, but if they have to be pts/slaughtered, then it has to be done and I dont think it really matters how as long as your horse doesn't suffer.

I personally think once dead they are gone, and its just a carcas left, so would have no problem them becoming meat, although my preference would be for them to go to the hounds x
 
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