Is it legal to eat horse in the UK

[meandmyself]

Dont start that one!! its a shite argument... it is different horses dogs are our faithfull servants and have been with us and helped on mankind's rise through history in battle, exploration and for working the land and transport our rise is thanks to the horse, cows pigs goats and sheep have mostly only been domesticated for food fur and hide .. I strongly belive people who think its ok to eat horse or dog have no soul ......

Speaking of rubbish arguments...

Oxen have been used in the same way as horses. As draught animals and in battle.

I can think of a religion that thinks cattle are sacred, but I can't think of one that thinks horses are sacred...

 

[meandmyself]

This^

Although I have to admit that I have never eaten horse. I wouldn't have any qualms about eating it.

Dogs are different though. Dogs are carnivores. I'm sure there's a reason why we don't eat carnivores.

You can eat carnivores, but they can transmit parasites and give you some icky diseases.

 

[rhino]

Speaking of rubbish arguments...

Oxen have been used in the same way as horses. As draught animals and in battle.

I can think of a religion that thinks cattle are sacred, but I can't think of one that thinks horses are sacred...

Amazing what a bit of social conditioning will do

 

[meandmyself]

I wonder if it would come out yellow like corn fed chickens lol

It's amazing how many commonly used horse medications makes your horse unfit for human consumption!!... bet most of your horses are unfit! X
Bute being one of them I think??

Bute is nasty to humans. It can cause aplastic anemia.

 

[HarlequinSeren]

I've dug out my notes from my breed welfare and development classes as the domestication thing has come up:
The first animal domesticated was the dog, though no-one is exactly sure how long ago (estimates range from 30,000 years to 15,000).
Next came sheep, roughly 13,000-11,000 years ago.
Pigs became domesticated around 11,000 years ago too, and then goats around 10,000 years ago.
Cows too were domesticated around 10,000 years ago.
Cats became pets about 9,000 years ago. This tied in with the beginning of agriculture (stored grain attracted mice, so people began keeping cats to catch the mice).
Chickens were domesticated around 8,000 years ago, and guinea pigs and donkeys were 7,000 years ago.
Horses, ducks, honey bees and dromedary camels were domesticated around 6,000 years ago.

I also have a list of dates etc for animals after that, but I'm not going to write it all out as the important bit here is when horses were, and what was before them.

So for those of you saying how horses have served us as our trusty and noble steeds for such a long time, they haven't. Cows have been domesticated far longer than horses (approx 4,000 years longer, so we've had them around 40% longer than we've had horses) and cows were our beast of burden for many of those years, both as a pack carrier and a mount (dogs were the original beast of burden - evidence of small sled's the right size for early dogs have been found). Yes cows are now meat animals, and they always have been, the same way in some countries where riding isnt popular meat is the only purpose there is for horses there.
It all comes down to the habits of society. In this country the vast majority of us consider it taboo to eat horse meat, dog meat, guinea pig meat etc, yet we are perfectly happy to eat cow, pig and sheep as standard.
In India though for example cows have holy status and most Indians would find our diet of beef distasteful (no pun intended).
In Peru they quite happily eat guinea pigs, which we find abhorrent as to us they are cute fluffy pets.
It all depends on the animal's status within a country, and to a degree personal preference.
Sorry for really long badly written post, I'm on my phone and can't see it all in one go!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I agree, though, that we shouldn't eat carnivores - animals in the wild don't, and they know best!

erm hang on animals in the wild dont eat carnivors???


erm

bears do
crocodiles do
sharks do
snakes do
piranhas do
big cats do
to name but a few

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

So do you not think all animals are beautiful?

This little fella meant as much to me as any dog or horse

where did I post that other animals are not beautiful ??
actually I love goats cant eat a whole one tho.
I was merely saying I cant eat such a beautiful animal as a horse , this was by no means disrespectful of other animals.

and FYI I couldnt eat a goat either .

 

[rhino]

where did I post that other animals are not beautiful??
actually I love goats cant eat a whole one tho

You said you wouldn't eat an animal as beautiful as a horse, so I was wondering how you felt about others

He was in a batch of 15 I used to help raise each year (all boys so would have been destroyed at birth otherwise thanks to the market for goats milk/cheese). The rest went on at about 6 months and there was never any difficulty in 'rehoming' the meat.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

You said you wouldn't eat an animal as beautiful as a horse, so I was wondering how you felt about others

actually i wouldn't eat any animal as i love all animals thats y i am vegetarian 36 years .

oh BTW your goat is cute

 

[rhino]

actually i wouldn't eat any animal as i love all animals thats y i am vegetarian 36 years .

oh BTW your goat is cute

Thanks. Only 17 years for me

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

woops just checked it out on computer its actually 34 years
you said meant does that meant he is over rainbow bridge ?

 

[rhino]

woops just checked it out on computer its actually 34 years
you said meant does that meant he is over rainbow bridge ?

No, he's still well as far as I know (haven't checked up on him in a wee while). Think he's about 5/6yo now

 

[karen_c]

Yep, that's right, it's only OK to eat ugly animals

Hahaha..thanks CC, just spluttered wine all over the keyboard

So do you and others believe then it is perfectly acceptable for these 'horses' to be raised with the acceptance of headcollars/halters, to be led around and trust gained. Sometimes even ridden or used to pull carts? To be groomed, feet trimmed, maybe even shod and yet still sent for human consumption?
I personally find this a lot less appalling than the scenario described in the paragraph below


However I do object to the kind of treatment that is witnessed abroad with the tethering and working of horses before cramming them onto over crowded vehicles with little food, rest or water and then enduring rough treatment once more until they are finally dead.
I suspect most people would object to this

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

thats good, met some lovely goats in Switzerland. Think they are all cute they had like a neck thing on scuse the pic its over hum hum hum years old

 

[meandmyself]

I threatened to eat one of my guinea pigs today. We were swapping them into a new hutch with an attached run because of what happened to my rabbit and the little sod bit me. I think he was annoyed because it was tea time and I was keeping him away from his veggies.

 

[DanceswithCows]

So Xenophon was writing about cows 23 centures ago !!!!???LOL and how the west was won cowboys rode cows, waggon trains all the pictures were fakes, the pony express, bugger what a travesty to have John Wayne on a horse and the indians they stole and traded with the spanish conquisdors for there oxen to ride , must be a troll from a paralle universe rewriteing history

23 centuries? Cows were domesticated 70centuries ago and ploughing 50centuries ago.

Yes, the waggon trains were more commonly pulled by cows - like I say they were the first draught animals exported to america because people knew they were thrifty and tough for the new environment, horses followed. Oxen were favoured to pull the waggons later because they were less likely to be stolen by Indians/Native Americans. The reason we don't think this is the case is because hollywood casts the more glamourous horses in the role.

As I never mentioned conquistadors or pony express I'm hardly rewriting history? But the fact that went on doesn't erase the millennia of hard work put in by cattle, even to the present day - they outnumber working equids worldwide 3:1.