I need to step away from the issue of rescue horses for a moment. I believe with all my heart that they way to reduce equine "abuse" is to educate novice horse owners about what it really takes to keep a horse well and safe. If education can be achieved, and issues of the economy aside, perhaps horses will not suffer at the hands of ignorant people. I do not mean that in a rude manner. Ignorance, then embarassment for hurting the horses, and then anger becuase people do not like to be told , or arrested...
For every horse owner you meet there are 100 opinions about how to care for horses.
The problem is only exacerbated because the internet provides so much information that sounds plausible and sensible for people who want to do the right thing.
Professional horsemen are always learning and comparing and trying things to make their operation the most efficient and keep the horses the most healthy. I do not understand why some people resent horse trainers or individuals trained/expereinced in horse husbandry. I have been told on more than one occasion, "You trainers are all alike, you hoard the information and Lord it over us, dole it out for a fee. I can just get the information on the Web, and it contradicts what you tell me."
However, the irony is lost on those 5 or 6 people out of the 300 some people I have had as clients, when they are telling me about their anger as they have the horse on the trailer to come back to me because what they were told by two more internet trainers did not fix a problem....
I cast this out to the blogosphere..
How about a novice horseman series of classes this winter at a nice covered barn area or an indoor pet/feed store...Or a list of reputable horsemen that novices can turn to for information before, and during the first years of horse ownership. Boarding horses is a great option, but I ran across several Pony Clubbers who did not even know what their horses ate every day and what sort of feeding schedule. This type of horse ownership does not create lifelong horsemen.
I seem to be controversial in these last few posts, and it troubles me. I guess it is because I see so clearly that proper education and practice would help children and their parents keep horses smarter, cheaper, and more efficiently, and reduce the number of horses dumped on the market in harder times....or turned loose in the woods...
Your opinions are welcomed.
cadencecenter@hotmail.com or comment here. You need a blogger account to comment.
I don't teach about horses, the horses do the teaching...if only we would listen to them.
Donna DeNoble
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Slaughterhouse closures fuel horse abandonments
By WILLOW WILLIAMSON,
AP
Posted: 2008-06-21 13:17:56
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - Royal Gigolo, or Gig, wandered slowly around the yard, sniffing for a bit of grain, his skin hanging lankily over his ribs. Chunks of his hair have fallen out, and his hooves, though recently trimmed, show the cracks of neglect.
Gig's new owners, Garen and Don Albert, have wrapped his legs and used a salve to help heal the scabs on his ankles.
The Alberts, who own 11 horses that are mostly adopted, recently took in Gig. Garen Albert believes Gig's previous owners could no longer afford to take care of him.
Buhler Police Chief Bill Tracy said the department had received several calls about this horse. However, he was told by officials from the Reno County Sheriff's Office, which has jurisdiction in area, that Gig was just a case of an old horse who could not eat very well.
"I haven't put a thing under his nose he hasn't eaten," Garen Albert said.
Though officials from the Reno County Sheriff's office were unavailable to comment specifically on Gig, Wayne Baughman, patrol captain at the sheriff's office, said officers often receive neglected animal reports and when they check on it, the animal is just old and looks unhealthy.
He said if the reports turn out to be a true neglect or abuse case, they take action.
"Around here, for the most part, people take pretty good care of (their horses) even in the winter," Baughman said.
Gig's previous owners allegedly told police he was 30 years old, which could account for his poor condition, but Garen Albert believes the horse is about 15 years old - still relatively young for a horse.
"It is a very tough call between is this horse neglected or is this basically a rundown old horse," said Dr. Ron Keeler, with Ninnescah Veterinary Service.
Keeler, who often checks on possible neglect cases, said he does a series of tests, which will hopefully show whether a horse is unhealthy because of its age or because of neglect.
Don Albert said it can be difficult for anyone to afford a horse with the rising prices of feed and fuel.
"There's more pressure on the average income," he said.
The Alberts said it costs nearly twice as much to care for their horses than it did five years ago. Grain alone costs them about $60 per month per horse.
Along with the feeding prices, Keeler said, his clinic, like most other businesses, has raised prices. He said it costs about $300 per year for typical medical care that every horse should receive, such as vaccinations.
Jane Harder, director of Reins of Hope, a therapeutic riding school in Hutchinson, said she has felt the pinch of the rising prices.
"It's tough because feed prices are going up," she said. "We depend a lot on donations."
Harder said she has had enough money to continue running Reins of Hope without program cuts, but some students have been unable to continue the program because of high fuel prices. She also has seen other horse owners struggle with higher prices.
"Feed prices are going up," she said. "People can't feed their horses, and the horses are starving."
Though the prices for certain food items are high, such as corn and grain products, there are some alternatives.
Greg Farney, manager at the Farmers Coop in Hutchinson, said he works with livestock nutritionists to create feed mixes that are healthy and less expensive. Farney also raises, breeds and trains horses, but he has cut back because of high prices and because the horse market is down.
"We've got a decent market built, but the horse market's been in a definite lull for several years now," he said.
The economy is hurting the market, but Farney said the recent closure of all U.S. horse slaughterhouses in the past two years is another reason for the market's lag. The American Quarter Horse Association reported there were roughly 90,000 horses sent to the slaughterhouses each year.
"There is a population of horses out there right now that normally would have been sold in the slaughter market that are now just waiting in a pasture to die," Keeler said.
Keeler said he has also seen an increase in the number of horses being euthanized in his clinic, which he said could be linked to the number of horses and the financial difficulties of horse owners.
The Alberts said they were aware of more people having trouble caring for their horses, and they pointed out there are many people who will adopt horses, as long as owners take the time to look and advertise.
"If you can't feed them, give them away," Garen Albert said.
"These animals didn't ask to be born. They didn't ask to be on this earth."
Information from: The Hutchinson News, http://www.hutchnews.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
06/21/08 13:15 EDT
AP
Posted: 2008-06-21 13:17:56
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) - Royal Gigolo, or Gig, wandered slowly around the yard, sniffing for a bit of grain, his skin hanging lankily over his ribs. Chunks of his hair have fallen out, and his hooves, though recently trimmed, show the cracks of neglect.
Gig's new owners, Garen and Don Albert, have wrapped his legs and used a salve to help heal the scabs on his ankles.
The Alberts, who own 11 horses that are mostly adopted, recently took in Gig. Garen Albert believes Gig's previous owners could no longer afford to take care of him.
Buhler Police Chief Bill Tracy said the department had received several calls about this horse. However, he was told by officials from the Reno County Sheriff's Office, which has jurisdiction in area, that Gig was just a case of an old horse who could not eat very well.
"I haven't put a thing under his nose he hasn't eaten," Garen Albert said.
Though officials from the Reno County Sheriff's office were unavailable to comment specifically on Gig, Wayne Baughman, patrol captain at the sheriff's office, said officers often receive neglected animal reports and when they check on it, the animal is just old and looks unhealthy.
He said if the reports turn out to be a true neglect or abuse case, they take action.
"Around here, for the most part, people take pretty good care of (their horses) even in the winter," Baughman said.
Gig's previous owners allegedly told police he was 30 years old, which could account for his poor condition, but Garen Albert believes the horse is about 15 years old - still relatively young for a horse.
"It is a very tough call between is this horse neglected or is this basically a rundown old horse," said Dr. Ron Keeler, with Ninnescah Veterinary Service.
Keeler, who often checks on possible neglect cases, said he does a series of tests, which will hopefully show whether a horse is unhealthy because of its age or because of neglect.
Don Albert said it can be difficult for anyone to afford a horse with the rising prices of feed and fuel.
"There's more pressure on the average income," he said.
The Alberts said it costs nearly twice as much to care for their horses than it did five years ago. Grain alone costs them about $60 per month per horse.
Along with the feeding prices, Keeler said, his clinic, like most other businesses, has raised prices. He said it costs about $300 per year for typical medical care that every horse should receive, such as vaccinations.
Jane Harder, director of Reins of Hope, a therapeutic riding school in Hutchinson, said she has felt the pinch of the rising prices.
"It's tough because feed prices are going up," she said. "We depend a lot on donations."
Harder said she has had enough money to continue running Reins of Hope without program cuts, but some students have been unable to continue the program because of high fuel prices. She also has seen other horse owners struggle with higher prices.
"Feed prices are going up," she said. "People can't feed their horses, and the horses are starving."
Though the prices for certain food items are high, such as corn and grain products, there are some alternatives.
Greg Farney, manager at the Farmers Coop in Hutchinson, said he works with livestock nutritionists to create feed mixes that are healthy and less expensive. Farney also raises, breeds and trains horses, but he has cut back because of high prices and because the horse market is down.
"We've got a decent market built, but the horse market's been in a definite lull for several years now," he said.
The economy is hurting the market, but Farney said the recent closure of all U.S. horse slaughterhouses in the past two years is another reason for the market's lag. The American Quarter Horse Association reported there were roughly 90,000 horses sent to the slaughterhouses each year.
"There is a population of horses out there right now that normally would have been sold in the slaughter market that are now just waiting in a pasture to die," Keeler said.
Keeler said he has also seen an increase in the number of horses being euthanized in his clinic, which he said could be linked to the number of horses and the financial difficulties of horse owners.
The Alberts said they were aware of more people having trouble caring for their horses, and they pointed out there are many people who will adopt horses, as long as owners take the time to look and advertise.
"If you can't feed them, give them away," Garen Albert said.
"These animals didn't ask to be born. They didn't ask to be on this earth."
Information from: The Hutchinson News, http://www.hutchnews.com
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
06/21/08 13:15 EDT
Horses and the Economy Continued
The shock value of the last few posts were, I admit, perhaps, over-the-top. The point I was trying to make was that the problem of too many horses and what to do with horses that are no longer useful is many-faceted. There are no easy solutions. I was wondering if it would be worth starting a group in the Central PA area to assist pleasure horse owners down on their luck. I saw a segment in the news today about a young girl who started a movement, freekibble, to feed dogs who are victims of natural disasters.
Why couldn't we start something like that for horse owners who have lost jobs or homes...You know, be part of the solution? That might protect good family horses from ending up in the auctions.
As far as the broken racehorses, lame horses, old horses and horses abandoned I am still horrified with enormity of the problem.
Feel free to comment below each blog post. I would like a discussion to develop.
Also, think about an equine "food bank" idea. Anyone have extra hay to donate, stockpile for winter months?
I guess one of the lessons herein is: do not have a horse if you can not afford to keep it up. Average horse maintenance costs run upwards of $3000 per year if done right with foot care every 7 weeks, proper nutrition, dental care once a year, blankets, worming, shots...Perhaps it is up to those of us who sell horses to new people coming into the industry to educate new families BEFORE selling the horse to them about how much each horse requires.
So, fellow horse lovers, ponder these postings and let me know how you feel.
Why couldn't we start something like that for horse owners who have lost jobs or homes...You know, be part of the solution? That might protect good family horses from ending up in the auctions.
As far as the broken racehorses, lame horses, old horses and horses abandoned I am still horrified with enormity of the problem.
Feel free to comment below each blog post. I would like a discussion to develop.
Also, think about an equine "food bank" idea. Anyone have extra hay to donate, stockpile for winter months?
I guess one of the lessons herein is: do not have a horse if you can not afford to keep it up. Average horse maintenance costs run upwards of $3000 per year if done right with foot care every 7 weeks, proper nutrition, dental care once a year, blankets, worming, shots...Perhaps it is up to those of us who sell horses to new people coming into the industry to educate new families BEFORE selling the horse to them about how much each horse requires.
So, fellow horse lovers, ponder these postings and let me know how you feel.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Ok So here is the other side-Caution, Graphic
Found this on Craigslist. Humane slaughter? So what is the answer? Stop breeding, stop owning, Wow I am overwhelmed. Again, be cautious if you have a weak constitution. I am not sure that is what really happens but I have a tendency to believe it is so.
horse facts get them straight before you post !! (california)
Reply to: sale-732743564@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-06-25, 5:22PM PDT
Please get your facts straight before you post
First of all The women is pleaing for money or the horse goes- The husband is planning to buy another race horse, or will trade for a truck . How is that going to feed the baby?? \
There is no increase of neglect or abuse related to the slaughter ban, in fact the horse theft and neglect cases went down (look it up) . The increase in horses being dumped is due to a poor economy , those trends have also been proven . There is also an increase in other pets being dumped , surely you have heard that on the news as well.
Learn about horse slaughter before you guess about horses being used to feed zoo animals, or dogs or poor people. Horses are not able to be put down at the slaughterhouses the same way cattle were ,its not the right equiptment. Those foreign slaughterhouse owners refused to obey the US laws to make it humane and left . Horses are very different than a cow , pig or chicken. They are built different react different and fight and have been raised (most) to trust humans , if horse owners can't be responsible and find a new home or spend the money to put it down humanely then they should have never owned any horse. Its all about squeezing that last 50 bucks out of a horse they probably ruined themselves or didn't have the intelligence to plan ahead for . They live a long time , eat a lot if you can't get a second job to support it- no matter what_ don't get one in the first place , but don't just dump it .
The below is prior to the foreign owned slaughterhouses leaving because they could not comply with our laws on transport or humane slaughter. They paid a whopping $5 in taxes to the US and ruined sewer systems as well as operating poorly managed places where many workers were injured . Its crappier in Mexico and Canada and some argue a longer trip even though the only ones in the US were Illinois and Texas so longer trip depends on where the horses started. The pro slaughter people will say its all about the horses they will starve. People in favor of slavery said the same thing. That seemed to have turned out ok . You know what, there have always been neglect and starving animals its worse in crappy economies such as the one we are in. Always will be no matter what. There is also rapists, child abusers, murders etc. Should we go back to allowing the foreign owned companies to kill our horses ignore our laws or should we use our heads to think of a better way, oh wait we already are so why on earth do people want to bring slaughter back, so they can have an easier place to dump their mistakes . There are humane euth programs, shelters, rescues. Or here is a novel thought make owners responsible , stop breeding crap horses, stop ruining them at young ages. Stop saying I can't afford to put them down but go out and get another one once you got your $50 bucks from the auction
The Trip To A Slaughterhouse
Video www.kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat/reclaimingtheamericanhorse.wmv (This video takes 1 1/2 minutes to load, it's worth the wait.) Its early in the morning when you arrive, the corrugated metal building of the plant is already operating in full swing. Sounds and smells roll from the structure and crash against your senses like a wave. The sound of horses can be heard across the parking lot -- not the pleasant nickering or occasional whinny that greets you when you enter your barn at home, but a rapid, frantic neighing. You can almost feel the panic, fear and discomfort in the sound of the horses. Soon enough you will see the cause of the terror that is almost palatable in the air around the plant.
Each horse awaiting slaughter in the chute leading to the "kill stall" is suffering symptoms of terror that few ever witness, but are the routine at these facilities. Another sound mingles with the cry's of the horses and pierces into your soul, the strange muffled whine that can only come from a saw cutting bone still encased in flesh.
You had tried to prepare yourself for this, but now realize that you are not prepared for what you are about to experience. Nausea, your companion for the duration of your stay at this facility, engulfs you as you catch the first whiff of the oddly sickening odor of newly slaughtered flesh. Carcass after carcass, row upon row, steaming as it hangs in the freezer storage area. You had thought you were prepared a little bit for the visual experience, but you are caught blindsided by the almost unbearable smell that permeates the entire plant. Choking back the bile, as it rises in your throat, you enter the structure.
You enter the same room the horses do, the "kill shed". The kill shed consists of one room in which various operations are performed by one of six butchers at four stations within the room. An inspector from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is also present to examine parts of every horse who goes through the kill shed.
The first station is the killing station. One man works the kill chute, his job is to herd the animal into the killing stall, slaughter him or her, and begin the butchering process. This stage of the process takes about ten minutes for each animal, and begins with the opening of a heavy steel door that separates the killing stall from the waiting chute. The man working this station goes into a corridor adjacent to the waiting chute where the panicked horses are trembling violently and urinating on themselves, prodding his next victim into the killing stall with a high voltage electric cattle prod.
The building rings with the cry's of the horses, the sounds echoing off the surrounding walls. This is the most time-consuming part of the operation because the horses are fully aware of what lies ahead, and are determined not to enter the killing stall. They thrash around, trying to reverse their direction, trampling over any smaller pony, foal or weaker animal in their desperate effort to escape. The physical symptoms of terror are painfully evident on the faces of each and every animal you see either in the actual killing stall or in the waiting chute. During the 40 seconds to a minute that each horse or pony has to wait in the killing stall before losing consciousness, the terror becomes visibly more intense.
The animal can smell the blood, and see his or her former companions in various stages of dismemberment. During the last few seconds of life, the horses thrash about the stall as much as its confines allow. The first horse whose deaths you witness is a sorrel mare. A mare, maybe seven or eight, mane freshly pulled, new shoes, and a coat that gleams from a curry comb, she is prodded into the killing stall, slipping and sliding on the blood, urine and feces from the previous victims. She strains frantically, futilely, and pathetically rearing towards the ceiling -- the only direction that is not blocked by a steel door. Death comes in the form of a pneumatic nail gun that is placed against her head and fired. The horse's bone fragments are driven into the animal's brain along with the nail.
The gun is designed so that the nail never completely leaves the gun, but simply is blown into the animal's head and then pulled out by the butcher as the animal collapses. Sometimes , it does the job on the first try but this mare struggles a good deal and collapse only after the third blow. After she has collapsed, the side of the killing stall is raised, and a chain secured to the right hind leg. The mare is then hoisted by that one leg, still alive, to a hanging position. At this point, the butcher drains the body of blood by slitting the mare's throat.
When the blood vessels are severed, an amazing torrent of blood so profuse that the butcher is unable to step aside fast enough to avoid being covered with it. This steaming torrent of blood lasts only about 15 seconds, the crimson flood mingling in the copper hairs of the mare's coat and spilling to the floor. The only task left to the man at the first station is to skin her and remove the mare's head. This he accomplishes rapidly. The air is thick with the acrid, salty odor of fresh blood, you can almost taste it in your mouth as you inhale the fetid air.
At the second station in the kill shed, the headless animal is dropped to the floor. The body is propped up on the back and relieved of hooves and milk sack and udder. At this time, any urine and feces that didn't drain from the body during the first few seconds of death now pour freely onto the floor. The body is then slit down the middle, and the hide is peeled partially away. A yoke is then hooked to the stumps of the hind legs, the body is lifted upwards, and the rest of the hide is pulled past a roller secured to the floor and peeled off, the once gleaming hide crumpled in a barrel with others to be "processed". The animal's body is now at the third station of the kill shed where it is gutted and then sawed in half, becoming two "sides of beef" or rather "sides of horse".
The sides of horse are sprayed down, to rinse the congealed blood from them and weighed at the fourth and final station. The sides are placed in the cooling locker where the residual warmth of life steams away slowly in preparation for the deep freeze storage locker. From the cooling locker, the meat goes into a main storage area where it is kept for as long as a week. This locker exits to a butchering area where the sides of horse are reduced to parts for the supermarket which end up on dining room tables.
The Slaughterhouse
In the last 10 years more than three million American Horses have been butchered in the U.S. for human consumption abroad.
Sadly, horsemeat is considered a delicacy in some countries. France and Belgium buy most of America's horsemeat, but Canada, Mexico, and Japan are also consumers, and all of America's Equine slaughterhouses are foreign owned.
Here's what they do
After being lead into the killing stall, a pneumatic bolt gun is placed against the head and fired. The horse's bone fragments are driven into the animal's brain along with the bolt, which then retracts back into the gun. Unfortunately, even after several applications, this torturous procedure often leaves them totally conscious.
Horses that are supposed to be unconscious at slaughter can be seen writhing - fully conscious - in terror as a conveyor belt carries them towards their gruesome death.
These still aware horses are then hung by their heels, their throats are cut, and they are bled to death. This live torture is executed in order to meet our United States Department of Agriculture's guidelines
All this is even more shocking when you consider that most American's consider the horse as a pet and companion animal. They have a status in our society comparable to dogs and cats. We believe they are not an agricultural commodity!
The pipeline that supplies the slaughterhouses is very clandestine. Typically, when owners give up a horse, they assume it will end up in good hands. But when that animal enters "the market" it goes into a different world, a world of price for pound and auctions, horse traders, and slaughter houses.
The women is pleaing for money or the horse goes- The husband is planning to buy another race horse, or will trade for a truck . How is that going to feed the baby??
horse facts get them straight before you post !! (california)
Reply to: sale-732743564@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-06-25, 5:22PM PDT
Please get your facts straight before you post
First of all The women is pleaing for money or the horse goes- The husband is planning to buy another race horse, or will trade for a truck . How is that going to feed the baby?? \
There is no increase of neglect or abuse related to the slaughter ban, in fact the horse theft and neglect cases went down (look it up) . The increase in horses being dumped is due to a poor economy , those trends have also been proven . There is also an increase in other pets being dumped , surely you have heard that on the news as well.
Learn about horse slaughter before you guess about horses being used to feed zoo animals, or dogs or poor people. Horses are not able to be put down at the slaughterhouses the same way cattle were ,its not the right equiptment. Those foreign slaughterhouse owners refused to obey the US laws to make it humane and left . Horses are very different than a cow , pig or chicken. They are built different react different and fight and have been raised (most) to trust humans , if horse owners can't be responsible and find a new home or spend the money to put it down humanely then they should have never owned any horse. Its all about squeezing that last 50 bucks out of a horse they probably ruined themselves or didn't have the intelligence to plan ahead for . They live a long time , eat a lot if you can't get a second job to support it- no matter what_ don't get one in the first place , but don't just dump it .
The below is prior to the foreign owned slaughterhouses leaving because they could not comply with our laws on transport or humane slaughter. They paid a whopping $5 in taxes to the US and ruined sewer systems as well as operating poorly managed places where many workers were injured . Its crappier in Mexico and Canada and some argue a longer trip even though the only ones in the US were Illinois and Texas so longer trip depends on where the horses started. The pro slaughter people will say its all about the horses they will starve. People in favor of slavery said the same thing. That seemed to have turned out ok . You know what, there have always been neglect and starving animals its worse in crappy economies such as the one we are in. Always will be no matter what. There is also rapists, child abusers, murders etc. Should we go back to allowing the foreign owned companies to kill our horses ignore our laws or should we use our heads to think of a better way, oh wait we already are so why on earth do people want to bring slaughter back, so they can have an easier place to dump their mistakes . There are humane euth programs, shelters, rescues. Or here is a novel thought make owners responsible , stop breeding crap horses, stop ruining them at young ages. Stop saying I can't afford to put them down but go out and get another one once you got your $50 bucks from the auction
The Trip To A Slaughterhouse
Video www.kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat/reclaimingtheamericanhorse.wmv (This video takes 1 1/2 minutes to load, it's worth the wait.) Its early in the morning when you arrive, the corrugated metal building of the plant is already operating in full swing. Sounds and smells roll from the structure and crash against your senses like a wave. The sound of horses can be heard across the parking lot -- not the pleasant nickering or occasional whinny that greets you when you enter your barn at home, but a rapid, frantic neighing. You can almost feel the panic, fear and discomfort in the sound of the horses. Soon enough you will see the cause of the terror that is almost palatable in the air around the plant.
Each horse awaiting slaughter in the chute leading to the "kill stall" is suffering symptoms of terror that few ever witness, but are the routine at these facilities. Another sound mingles with the cry's of the horses and pierces into your soul, the strange muffled whine that can only come from a saw cutting bone still encased in flesh.
You had tried to prepare yourself for this, but now realize that you are not prepared for what you are about to experience. Nausea, your companion for the duration of your stay at this facility, engulfs you as you catch the first whiff of the oddly sickening odor of newly slaughtered flesh. Carcass after carcass, row upon row, steaming as it hangs in the freezer storage area. You had thought you were prepared a little bit for the visual experience, but you are caught blindsided by the almost unbearable smell that permeates the entire plant. Choking back the bile, as it rises in your throat, you enter the structure.
You enter the same room the horses do, the "kill shed". The kill shed consists of one room in which various operations are performed by one of six butchers at four stations within the room. An inspector from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is also present to examine parts of every horse who goes through the kill shed.
The first station is the killing station. One man works the kill chute, his job is to herd the animal into the killing stall, slaughter him or her, and begin the butchering process. This stage of the process takes about ten minutes for each animal, and begins with the opening of a heavy steel door that separates the killing stall from the waiting chute. The man working this station goes into a corridor adjacent to the waiting chute where the panicked horses are trembling violently and urinating on themselves, prodding his next victim into the killing stall with a high voltage electric cattle prod.
The building rings with the cry's of the horses, the sounds echoing off the surrounding walls. This is the most time-consuming part of the operation because the horses are fully aware of what lies ahead, and are determined not to enter the killing stall. They thrash around, trying to reverse their direction, trampling over any smaller pony, foal or weaker animal in their desperate effort to escape. The physical symptoms of terror are painfully evident on the faces of each and every animal you see either in the actual killing stall or in the waiting chute. During the 40 seconds to a minute that each horse or pony has to wait in the killing stall before losing consciousness, the terror becomes visibly more intense.
The animal can smell the blood, and see his or her former companions in various stages of dismemberment. During the last few seconds of life, the horses thrash about the stall as much as its confines allow. The first horse whose deaths you witness is a sorrel mare. A mare, maybe seven or eight, mane freshly pulled, new shoes, and a coat that gleams from a curry comb, she is prodded into the killing stall, slipping and sliding on the blood, urine and feces from the previous victims. She strains frantically, futilely, and pathetically rearing towards the ceiling -- the only direction that is not blocked by a steel door. Death comes in the form of a pneumatic nail gun that is placed against her head and fired. The horse's bone fragments are driven into the animal's brain along with the nail.
The gun is designed so that the nail never completely leaves the gun, but simply is blown into the animal's head and then pulled out by the butcher as the animal collapses. Sometimes , it does the job on the first try but this mare struggles a good deal and collapse only after the third blow. After she has collapsed, the side of the killing stall is raised, and a chain secured to the right hind leg. The mare is then hoisted by that one leg, still alive, to a hanging position. At this point, the butcher drains the body of blood by slitting the mare's throat.
When the blood vessels are severed, an amazing torrent of blood so profuse that the butcher is unable to step aside fast enough to avoid being covered with it. This steaming torrent of blood lasts only about 15 seconds, the crimson flood mingling in the copper hairs of the mare's coat and spilling to the floor. The only task left to the man at the first station is to skin her and remove the mare's head. This he accomplishes rapidly. The air is thick with the acrid, salty odor of fresh blood, you can almost taste it in your mouth as you inhale the fetid air.
At the second station in the kill shed, the headless animal is dropped to the floor. The body is propped up on the back and relieved of hooves and milk sack and udder. At this time, any urine and feces that didn't drain from the body during the first few seconds of death now pour freely onto the floor. The body is then slit down the middle, and the hide is peeled partially away. A yoke is then hooked to the stumps of the hind legs, the body is lifted upwards, and the rest of the hide is pulled past a roller secured to the floor and peeled off, the once gleaming hide crumpled in a barrel with others to be "processed". The animal's body is now at the third station of the kill shed where it is gutted and then sawed in half, becoming two "sides of beef" or rather "sides of horse".
The sides of horse are sprayed down, to rinse the congealed blood from them and weighed at the fourth and final station. The sides are placed in the cooling locker where the residual warmth of life steams away slowly in preparation for the deep freeze storage locker. From the cooling locker, the meat goes into a main storage area where it is kept for as long as a week. This locker exits to a butchering area where the sides of horse are reduced to parts for the supermarket which end up on dining room tables.
The Slaughterhouse
In the last 10 years more than three million American Horses have been butchered in the U.S. for human consumption abroad.
Sadly, horsemeat is considered a delicacy in some countries. France and Belgium buy most of America's horsemeat, but Canada, Mexico, and Japan are also consumers, and all of America's Equine slaughterhouses are foreign owned.
Here's what they do
After being lead into the killing stall, a pneumatic bolt gun is placed against the head and fired. The horse's bone fragments are driven into the animal's brain along with the bolt, which then retracts back into the gun. Unfortunately, even after several applications, this torturous procedure often leaves them totally conscious.
Horses that are supposed to be unconscious at slaughter can be seen writhing - fully conscious - in terror as a conveyor belt carries them towards their gruesome death.
These still aware horses are then hung by their heels, their throats are cut, and they are bled to death. This live torture is executed in order to meet our United States Department of Agriculture's guidelines
All this is even more shocking when you consider that most American's consider the horse as a pet and companion animal. They have a status in our society comparable to dogs and cats. We believe they are not an agricultural commodity!
The pipeline that supplies the slaughterhouses is very clandestine. Typically, when owners give up a horse, they assume it will end up in good hands. But when that animal enters "the market" it goes into a different world, a world of price for pound and auctions, horse traders, and slaughter houses.
The women is pleaing for money or the horse goes- The husband is planning to buy another race horse, or will trade for a truck . How is that going to feed the baby??
Back in the Saddle, so to speak
Well, it has been a long while. Most of you subscribers have given up, I am sure. But is am back for good. There is so much to talk about. I have learned so much in the last few months.
One thing that really worries me is the economy and the shape of things to come in
the horse industry. You know what I am talking about. Some of us are marginal horse owners, at best. What I mean is, we used to be in the socio-economic middle class, but the downturn is making our dollars stretch less far. But we have horses that we may have had for years, and they are family. We struggle to keep them as we always have, but the cost of feed is rising at an alarming rate.
My friends in Washington State met last week to try to determine how to solve the problem of unwanted horses, or those that can no longer be kept by families falling on unfortunate times. I spent some time lurking on WA blogs about how horses are being purchased as "dealer" horses and being sent to Mexico to be killed. The issue of slaughter in the USA is a difficult one. If the horse is in pain or cannot be used, perhaps it should be destroyed. If you just Google bad equine rescue
you will discover a whole plethora of so called rescuers who are nothing but hoarders or dealers...of poor horses that are in pain or otherwise unsuitable for the beginners who are "saving" them from death.
Tough subject.
Let me hear your thoughts.
One thing that really worries me is the economy and the shape of things to come in
the horse industry. You know what I am talking about. Some of us are marginal horse owners, at best. What I mean is, we used to be in the socio-economic middle class, but the downturn is making our dollars stretch less far. But we have horses that we may have had for years, and they are family. We struggle to keep them as we always have, but the cost of feed is rising at an alarming rate.
My friends in Washington State met last week to try to determine how to solve the problem of unwanted horses, or those that can no longer be kept by families falling on unfortunate times. I spent some time lurking on WA blogs about how horses are being purchased as "dealer" horses and being sent to Mexico to be killed. The issue of slaughter in the USA is a difficult one. If the horse is in pain or cannot be used, perhaps it should be destroyed. If you just Google bad equine rescue
you will discover a whole plethora of so called rescuers who are nothing but hoarders or dealers...of poor horses that are in pain or otherwise unsuitable for the beginners who are "saving" them from death.
Tough subject.
Let me hear your thoughts.
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