Thanks (I think) to PTP for talking about this story in his April Fool's blog entry. The only problem is this is no April Fool's joke. The Toronto Star had a story about a horse name Backstreet Bully and how he was sent to a slaughterhouse for purposes of being turned into horse meat for human consumption. How his last owner owned him for 24 hours and signed an Equine Inspection Document (EID) fraudulently claiming the horse was drug-free for six months before being presented for slaughter, which he wasn't. How the owner falsely claimed he owned the horse for six months on the EID because "everyone else does it". How he claims his "only mistake" was that he left a halter which would identify the horse on it. That was his one mistake?
But pro-slaughter people claim there are strong enough controls in place to make sure horses unfit don't make it to the food chain; I guess as long as you ignore fraud it may be true. Just remember Canada gets most of its horses to slaughter from the United States This is why the Federal government must once and for all ban the exporting of horses for slaughter. It is time the government doesn't allow any horse owner the easy way out when it comes to end of life decisions. It is time to 'man up'. You own the horse and can't adopt it out? Do the right thing; no one should be able to have the cheap way out.
I don't know what bothers me more, slaughtering horses or how some people will do anything to make a dollar including deliberately lying about a horses health; most likely selling tainted meat for human consumption.
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1 comment:
Horse meat is unfit for humans to eat. Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 48, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 1270-1274
Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk
Nicholas Dodman, Nicolas Blondeau, Ann M. Marini
I have always said they don’t how many people they poison as long as they make a buck.
Here is the first warning to a horse killer from the FDA for falsified EID and the horse was positive for bute.
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2012/ucm313462.htm
Horse Owner Survey Shows NSAID Use Trends
In a recent survey, 96% of respondents said they used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to control the joint pain and inflammation in horses, and 82% administer them without always consulting their veterinarian. More than 1,400 horse owners and trainers were surveyed to better understand attitudes toward NSAIDs, in a project sponsored by Merial, the maker of Equioxx (firocoxib).
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14073
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - prohibited as well Phenylbutazone, known as "bute," is a veterinary drug only label-approved by the Food & Drug Administration for use by veterinarians in dogs and horses. It has been associated with debilitating conditions in humans and it is absolutely not permitted for use in food-producing animals. USDA/FSIS has conducted a special project to for this drug in selected bovine slaughter plants under federal inspection. An earlier pilot project by FSIS found traces less than 3% of the livestock selected for testing, sufficient cause for this special project. There is no tolerance for this drug in food-producing livestock, and they and their by-products are condemned when it is detected. Dairy producers must not use this drug in food-producing livestock and if it is found, those producers will be subject to FDA investigation and possible prosecution.
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