In 1986, a chestnut colt named Ferdinand overcame 17-to-1 odds and won the Kentucky Derby. Ferdinand came from Claiborne Farm, a blue-blooded home to such thoroughbreds as Seabiscuit. Claiborne’s burial grounds include the remains of legendary Triple Crown Winner Secretariat, who was buried whole (traditionally only the head, heart and legs of a thoroughbred are buried). Ferdinand went on to be named Horse of the Year in 1987 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
After earning $3.8 million, Ferdinand became a stud. Then in 1994, he was sold to a Japanese firm to father future champions there. It wasn’t until his home farm wanted him back did the horse community learn Ferdinand’s heartbreaking end. On Sept. 1, 2002, Ferdinand’s Japanese registration was annulled, which meant he was destroyed and most likely sold as food.
Sakura is the name for raw horse meat in Japan and is served as sashimi. France, Belgium and Italy consume horse meat as well: steak tartare in Brussels, pastissada in Italy. In France, a horse meat entrée can cost $40.
Even though Americans do not consume horse meat, much of the horse meat consumed internationally is American.
Currently there are three operating horse slaughterhouses in the United States: the Beltex Corporation in Fort Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown, Inc. in Kaufman, Texas; and Cavel International, in DeKalb, Ill. All three companies are foreign-owned.
According to David Sheon, whose public relations company represents these three U.S. plants, 100,000 horses were processed in these three facilities in 2005, up from 90,000 in 2004. Thousands more American horses are shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. The United States exported 18,000 tons of horse meat, valued at $61 million in 2005.
Sheon said that commercial horse slaughterhouses have been “in operation in the United States for 100 years” and that horse meat was consumed in the States during World War II.
James Tucker, general manager of the Cavel plant, said that his plant “takes in” at least 500 head per week, or 26,000 a year. “We have buyers at auctions. There are levels at auctions — riding horses, loose horses. We bid $300 to $500 a head.”
Since people in the United States do not eat horses, it can be assumed that the horses going to slaughter are not bred to be human food.
So how do these horses get into an auction and bought by slaughterhouses? Some are pleasure horses sold off by owners who could no longer afford to care for the animals. Hardly any are old or infirmed. According to the USDA Guidelines for Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter, 92.3 percent of the horse population arriving for slaughter is in “good condition”.
Other horses may be stolen, even though there are agents who try to check each horse’s status. Some are the “premarin” foals (the young of the pregnant horses used to produce estrogen for hormone replacement therapy drugs). Some are race horses. Wild horses, too, end up at these slaughterhouses. According to the Humane Society, since the 30-year moratorium of the slaughter of wild horse and burros ended in 2004, at least 40 wild horses have been sent to these slaughterhouses.
In 1998, California banned horse slaughter for human consumption, making it illegal to export any companion animal for the purpose of having that animal killed for food.
Currently The Horse Protection Act to ban the export of horse meat for human consumption is in both the House and the Senate. HR Bill 503 passed in September 2006 (Myrick and Watt both voted in favor of the bill), but it was not voted on in the Senate and so the cycle begins again with this new Congress. The bill must pass both houses to become law.
Those opposed to the bill say slaughterhouses provide a “humane” end for unwanted livestock. But proponents cite there has been no increase in horse abuse in California since the state law was enacted. Additionally horse theft decreased by 35 percent.
Opponents say a ban on these USDA-inspected plants would put zoo food at risk. Sheon said that currently “200 zoos buy horse meat for their large animals” from these American slaughterhouses. Yet proponents argue that tax dollars should not go to USDA inspectors at plants in the first place.
Those in favor of the legislation say horses are “companion animals” — in the same category as dogs and cats. They say that the captive bolt gun, which shoots a metal bolt between the horse’s eyes into the brain, leaves room for both human and technical error and thus is inhumane. Advocates go further to say that horses are part of our national heritage: Paul Revere’s ride, wagons west, and the cavalry. Then there’s Mr. Ed, of course.
In light of Ferdinand’s demise, thoroughbred breeders can now opt to add a “ship back” clause in the sales contract so the animal can return home at life’s end and not end up on a plate.
Any horse owner can make that same commitment to his horse. The Humane Society urges horse owners to limit reproduction, adopt rescued animals, and develop a fund to pay for a future humane euthanasia by a veterinarian, if necessary. Euthanasia and disposal range from $150 to $2,000. Rendering is a different course of action. Here the animal has died and then the owner pays $150 to $300 for the horse to be picked up and taken to a rendering plant where it is cooked to destroy all bacteria, and the carcass and byproducts are used for bone meal, meat meal and gelatin.
In his testimony before the House in July 2006, N.Y. Congressman John E. Sweeney said, “If another country, France or Japan, chooses to raise horses for food, then so be it. That is their choice as a sovereign nation to do so; however, they should not serve American horses, marketed as ‘eating an American champion,’ as Ferdinand was.”
The argument comes down to this: those wanting the slaughterhouses to continue want the economic freedom to dispense with livestock as they choose plus a concern over the welfare of unwanted horses. Those opposed to the slaughter are troubled by the double decker cattle/pig trucks used to transport horses and about the slaughtering process as well. They see horses as a symbol of America — a majestic companion animal used primarily for recreation, pleasure, and sport, not as dollar signs or a European entrée.
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This article appears in Jan 24-30, 2007.
The countries that consume horsemeat will continue to do so regardless if they ever recieve another pound of US horsemeat. They buy from many countries around the world. Mexico for instance slaughters over 600,000 horses a year.
One thing people fail to mention is that US horses are not regulated as are food animals in this country and cannot be due to the nature of horse ownership. They are not raised in herds on farms for their meat, they are raised individually to be ridden recreationally, and for fun competition as well as professional competition. Many, like mine, are kept as pets.
We all routinely give our horses medications that are banned from food animals. These drugs are banned for a reason. By exporting our horsemeat to the EU for instance, we are in violation of their laws because in the EU certain drugs can ‘never’ be given to horses that may end up in their food chain. One of these drugs is the most popular drug used in the US for pain, inflammation, etc, it’s the aspirin of the horse industry. Violating another country’s laws is a violation of US export regulations. We violate them with every shipment of US horsemeat. In the EU any horse that’s ever recieved the drug Bute in it’s lifetime is banned from human consumption. Yet in the US we use it ALL THE TIME.
There is no regular testing for drug residues, there is no holding period for slaughtered horses to allow drugs to pass out of their systems. In fact, the slaughterhouses boast of how quickly they “process” the horses they buy for slaughter.
The problem isn’t that there’s an overpopulation of horses or that there’s a bunch of “unwanted” horses. The problem is the auctions. They are a quick place to sell a horse and not the usual place the average horse owner goes horse shopping. That’s why there are more horses at these auctions than buyers. People are more likely to answer classified ads and other advertisements, shop around, try before you buy, before making such a purchase and commitment.
These auctions cater to the lazier type horse owners who do not want to take the time to advertise their horse for sale or show their horse to prospective buyers. This takes time and effort but it is something caring horse owner do, the majority of us.
We have over 9 million horses in the US, and most owners care about where their horse ends up when they decide to sell it. Horse slaughter and low end auctions cater to the smallest minority of horse owners, the lazy ones who don’t care about the welfare of their animals.
And I’d really like to know WHO has ever paid $2000 to euthanize and dispose of a horse. I like to see the receipt, but I doubt they exist.
There are alternatives and if someone has a horse that needs to be euthanized, a well placed bullet works well also and it’s practically free. I have used both, bullet and vet, and a backhoe to bury.
And the saying goes, if you can’t afford to humanely euthanize and dispose of your own horse, then you can’t afford to own a horse. Have you checked the price of saddles and other tack these days? Or boarding fees, etc? It costs less than a month’s boarding fee to euthanize a horse.
And just keep in mind that it’s the slaughterhouses that set the number of “unwanted” horses. The slaughterhouses have the capacity to slaughter so many horses a year, just like a factory has the capacity to build so many cars a year. Add another factory and the number of cars that are built goes up. Add another slaughterhouse and the number of “unwanted” horses will go up accordingly.
In the early 90’s we had several more horse slaughterhouses and they had the capacity to slaughter over 300,000 annually. Then the slaughterhouses started closing. Between 1992 and 1994 the number of slaughtered horses dropped by 138,000. Did we have horses starving out in the fields or abandoned on the sides of the road? NO! They were absorbed back into the horse industry just as the current number of horses slaughtered will be also. It’s a proven fact.
Those that argue to keep horse slaughter in this country have no facts, only crystal ball predictions, to base their arugments on. Those that argue to close horse slaughter have both facts and statistics.
Horse slaughter is not a “necessary evil” – it is just plain evil. And US horsemeat is unfit for human consumption.
My compliments on an excellent and factual analysis of the horse slaughter industry. I urge anyone to do an internet search for “horse slaughter” to learn more about this issue.
Also visit the http://www.hsus.org website and be guided through the necessary steps to contact your Representatives and Senators so we can support the three bills before Congress now– the Wild Mustang & Burro Bill, the House Bill to ban horse slaughter and the matching bill in the Senate.
Please take action to end this shameful practice. Let your voice be heard.
Horses should be free where they belong in the natural world where the evolved over the millions of years. We must treat them with respect.
Frankly, I’m fed up with those who feign concern over the so-called unwanted horses. If they really cared about their own horses that they surreptitiously dump at the auction, then that is exactly what they wouldn’t do–sell them at an auction! The reason there is so much outrage over this issue is simple. Our American horses are being tortured to death, first drug, pushed, kicked slapped into submission onto the semi-trucks, then forced down shoots to suffer frantically and mercilously till their last breath, all the while the rest of the horses are witnessing this vile act in utter fear!
So many people sit and talk about banning horse slaughter, talk about how great this bill is, and never even present that there is another side to the arguement. Thanks for letting it be heard!! If horse slaughter is banned in the US, regardless of trade laws, the horses will just be shipped over the border to Mexico and Canada to still be slaughtered. So how about instead of giving up all the control about how these horses are treated we pass laws instead to ensure they are treated humanely here. For example, banning the use of double decker trucks to haul horses, placing restrictions on how horses must be kept in pens, and requiring a holding period on each horse to prove it was purchased legally. I wish we could stop slaughter, but the fact is that an adult horse needs AT LEAST 1 acre of space to live comfortably for any period of time, and until somebody can tell me where we will put the the hundreds of thousands of horses that would be “saved” from slaughter over the next 10 years, I will continue to support legislation in favor of humane treatment in all parts of the slaughter process. Oh, and yes, I do own two horses, and no, I will never allow my horses to be sold to slaughter, but I can’t control what every other joe blow will do.
I think we need to prohibit selling horses to Japan.
If something like this could happen to Ferdinad could you imagine what is going on there!
NO AMERICAN HORSE SHOULD END UP IN japan.
This is a country with a different culture. Let them slaughter THEIR HORSES but not american ones.
I trully believe people of America will forse senate and congress to approve H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act!
If it’s not going to happen very soon WE DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO CALL OUR SOCIETY “HUMAN”.
Cincerely,
Alex Kaplun