"It 'twas the day before Christmas and all through the plant, horses are butchered for human consumption...".
Not as strange as you think as a US Appeals Court has lifted an emergency stay so in Missouri and New Mexico, horse slaughter for human consumption may very well return before Christmas.
A couple of years ago, the ban against the Department of Agriculture inspecting horses at slaughter plants was reversed and not vetoed by the Obama administration, a sacrifice to get a spending bill passed. Despite attempts to get the Safeguard American Food Exports Act passed, the bills languish in Senate and House committees, no doubt a victim of the current toxic atmosphere in Congress.
American horses are being sacrificed for money. Contrary to belief, it is the healthy horse which typically ends up going to slaughter, not the old sick and decrepit horse. I understand there are too many horses out there, the problem is not restricted to racing breeds although the AQHA has no problem with slaughter. The thoroughbred industry at least has a program in place in an attempt to keep their horses out of the pipeline, but the standardbred industry's attempts are poorly funded and with many racetracks allowing dealers on the backstretch after qualifiers, are in fact indirectly facilitating the slaughter of horses.
Hopefully, individual states pass laws like New Jersey did, banning the slaughter and/or transport of horses for slaughter elsewhere from the Garden State. If enough states do, it could cripple the industry but it would not be foolproof. Hopefully, Congress will once again ban the funding of inspectors at slaughter plants for horses but I fear it will be a long time coming.
Right now, if you are looking to make year-end donations, consider donating to anti-slaughter groups and press your representatives in the industry and government to stop or put an end to horse slaughter.
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