Get Ready - Here Comes Horse Slaughter!

Here - you can listen to this while you read this. A little pep in your step.



It seems that horse-slaughter starting up in the U.S. is not as far off as it may have seemed.

Valley Meat Company in Roswell, New Mexico may only be weeks away from accepting horses for slaughter. The plant has submitted its application for federal meat inspection services under the "equine" option according to reports.

There are several positive outcomes from Valley Meat Company re-opening their doors for horse slaughter:

1. Job creation - The plant would create approximately 100 jobs for Roswell area residents and during an economic recession when so many folks are wishing for a decent job - voila! Reopening plants will increase the number of jobs and boost local economies.

2. Exports - the U.S. slaughtered 94,000 horses in 2005, the last full year of horse slaughter before federal inspection funding was repealed in 2007. Without a slaughter plant in the U.S., more than 197,000 horses were exported to other North American countries last year for slaughter. That's double the number from 2007 slaughter exports. What does that mean?

3. Animal Welfare - It means thousands of horses have endured excruciatingly long drives to Canada or Mexico on trains or trucks that aren't exactly the most welfare-friendly. Opening a slaughter plant in the U.S. would prevent thousands of horses from being improperly transported across U.S. borders.

4. Horse meat is a delicacy - maybe not to you or I, but in several other countries around the world horse meat is consumed quite often and is a staple in many diets. The U.S. is missing out on valuable export dollars and that meat by not opening horse slaughter plants. For example, between January and November of 2012, the UK imported ~$80,000 worth of horsemeat into the UK. That doesn't include the rest of the EU, Japan, China or the Asia-Pacific region. In short, this could provide a boost to the total agriculture GDP. Every little bit helps right?


Unfortunately, there are those who aren't involved in animal agriculture or the horse industry (as I am) who wish to quell horse slaughter once and for all. This article reports that four lawmakers from the states of Louisiana, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Illinois introduced legislation to ban horse-killing for human consumption in the U.S. and prohibit transporting the animals outside the country for slaughter. Furthermore, USDA said it encouraged Congress to reinstate the ban on funding inspections.

This just confuses me - I don't understand why so many people are against a federally regulated and inspected humane slaughter process for horses. If the ban goes through, I can almost guarantee more of this.

Those are my thoughts and you know I'll keep you updated on what's going down with horse slaughter (see what I did there?). In the mean time, what are your thoughts? Think horse slaughter is a good idea?

For more of my posts about horse slaughter check out the posts below:

Legislation to Help Horse Slaughter
Horse Slaughter Funding Reinstated 
Who Are We to Judge Horsemeat?
HSUS and PETA - Lover's Quarrel 


Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Horse Slaughter Funding Reinstated

A few days ago, some news was announcd regarding the equine industry which, as you know, is very near and dear to my heart.

In 2006, horse slaughter in the U.S. was effectively 'banned' because the funding for plant inspections was cut. All slaughter plants in the U.S. must be inspected by USDA/FSIS and if there is no funding available then there is no slaughter.

Recently, news broke that the Department of Agriculture had reinstated federal inspection money in a November 18 bill. Hallelujah!

Not suprisingly, there has been an uproar from anti-agriculturalists and people who are unfamiliar with the equine industry. Allow me to take the opportunity to lay out some facts:

- Although horse meat is not widely consumed in the U.S., it is consumed and described as a delicacy in countries like France, Canada and Mexico. We (the U.S.) comprise a very small percentage of worldwide population and shouldn't assume that if we don't like something, it's therefore taboo for everyone else. It takes all sorts of minds to make a world go round, folks.

- Horses are expensive - just like other livestock. Expensive to feed, expensive to own and very expensive to have euthanized by a veterinarian. By selling a horse to the slaughter market, an owner could save some money on a euthanasia injection but also contribute to feeding people in France, Canada, etc.

-  When horse slaughter was stopped in 2006, horse welfare drastically decreased. Where there was once a market for horses who were past their useful lives there was now an abyss of no hope. It wasn't smart to take your trailer to the salebarn and leave it unlocked because you'd likely find yourself with a few more hungry horse mouths to feed. Others were unlucky enough to walk outside in the morning and find a few horses left in their pastures. And most horrible of all, there were  instances where the hide that contained the brand had been cut off, and the horse had been set free - all to prevent the horse from being returned to the owner.

Link to article about horse in Nevada whose brand had been cut off

- This reinstatement of funding is holistically a great thing in many ways. Horse welfare will improve and jobs will be created. Job creation? Yes, that's right. Every slaughter plant that opens will employ several hundred people, if not a thousand, essentially stimulating the economy in that region.

These are all points that I have seen time and again be misrepresented or misquoted in the comment stream on horse slaughter articles. Many of those comments are outrageous and unfounded however there is one such mindset that needs to be addressed. On an article on Huffington Post, several comments have touted irresponsible breeding as the culprit of poor welfare. I hope that horse owners view the previous five years as a wakeup call. Equine people, if you can't afford to feed and care for a horse, please don't continue to breed them. If your child only wants one to ride occasionally, please seek out leasing options or buying an older horse - not contacting a breeder to have one specially bred just for your child. These are all strategies that have partially created the situation we are in. This is what a friend of mine said on Facebook and I can't say it any better myself:

 "I couldn't be more supportive of the reinstatement of funding for horse slaughter in the U.S. It is desperately needed for our industry. However, those of us that own horses shouldn't just see it as a "garbage disposal" for our unwanted horses; we have to approach the problem up front. This means prudent and responsible breeding practices. Just because you think you want a foal, consider whether this horse will contribute to your lifestyle please! There is a lot more work that goes in to making a well-trained, confident, good horse than you may realize. I support horse slaughter and I support breeding GOOD horses, it's time to focus on the latter."  - A. Wilson, cowgirl and responsible horse owner

All in all, this is a fantastic thing for agriculture and the equine industry, in my opinion. What are your thoughts?

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

ILC 2011 - Calgary

Hello all!

It's me - Buzzard. You've probably forgotten who I am since I haven't blogged in almost a month. Cripes.
So take this as my sincere apology for sucking at blogging.

Ok - moving on. Last week I had the amazing opportunity to attend the International Livestock Congress in Calgary, AB, Canada. Myself and 19 other students from across the world (U.S., Australia, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela) went on tours of the beef business in Alberta. Monday and Tuesday involved tours of an embryo transfer facility, Feedlot Health Management Systems (where I met a fellow K-Stater), the Cargill beef processing plant and Harvie Ranching.

Remember Jill Harvie? She is a member of the Five Nations Beef Alliance - here is a look at their video from 2010. I finally got to meet her - she and her family are doing such great things at their ranch and in the beef industry.



On Wednesday, the ILC group attended the Canadian Cattlemen's Association annual conference. We heard a lot of commentary on the economic situation of the United States and Canada, foreign relations between Canada and the EU, and new ideas for marketing beef products in grocery stores. It was a very informative session but I have to admit, there was a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy.

I would highly encourage any students (senior in undergrad and up) to apply for the ILC program next year.

Feels great to be blogging again!

Until next time,
Buzzard