Mr. Ed Back on the Chopping Block--A Good Thing (Plus, unintended consequences!)

[roo_ster]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/obama-congress-restore-us-horse-slaughter-industry/#.Ttb8PAjQaB4.facebook

President Obama last month quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry, just a few months after a government investigation said the ban on slaughtering was backfiring.

The domestic ban didn’t end horse slaughter but instead shifted the site of butchery to Mexico and Canada - which meant increased abuse or neglect as the horses were shipped out of the country and beyond the reach of U.S. law.

The ban had been imposed in 2006 when Congress defunded the government’s ability to inspect plants that butchered horses for consumption. Without inspections, the meat couldn’t be sold, and the industry withered.

Anyone with half a brain could have told them this was going to happen.  But, not, blissninnines thought it was all unicorns & rainbows all teh way down.

Also, isn't it grand how one stroke of a pen can destroy an entire industry?  Thing is, the story gets it wrong when it says, " a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry."  It doesn't restore the industry that was destroyed, it just removes the legal barriers to running one.  No word yet on whether anyone will open a Mr. Ed slaughter house soon.

[T.O.M.]

  No word yet on whether anyone will open a Mr. Ed slaughter house soon.

Why would they do that?  It probably cost more to run a plant here than it does to ship horses south, get someone to slash and chop in an uninspected plant for a few bucks a day, and then ship the product back here.

[roo_ster]

Why would they do that?  It probably cost more to run a plant here than it does to ship horses south, get someone to slash and chop in an uninspected plant for a few bucks a day, and then ship the product back here.

Probably right. 

How many horsey's can you stuff in a cattle horsey semi-trailer with a cattle horsey prod if you aren;t too worried about injuring them?  And transpo is a periodic cost with less installed plant, requiring less capital planted in the ground.  And two of the major horse-slaughterers were already in Texas.  Drive a bit further...

The more I think on it, the more I think that industry ain't coming back.  Congress & POTUS(GWB) screwed the pooch horse on this one.

[T.O.M.]

Probably right.  

How many horsey's can you stuff in a cattle horsey semi-trailer with a cattle horsey prod if you aren;t too worried about injuring them?  

Probably want to a bit careful with packing and prodding. Horsehide is very valuable.

[wmenorr67]

I actually read that there are a couple of companies looking to open plants somewhere in the midwest, Nebraska being one state I remember being mentioned.  Once processed then most of the meat will be shipped overseas, mainly Asian countries.

[Tallpine]

What part of the Constitution allows the fed.gov to require meat inspections, anyway

Great thing - require a fed inspection/whatever, and then refuse to fund it 

I see FFL NICS verifications going this way, eventually 

[S. Williamson]

What part of the Constitution allows the fed.gov to require meat inspections, anyway

Probably Interstate Commerce. 

[Jamisjockey]

While I'm glad to see leviathian get out of the way and legalize things that should be a free market choice, a couple of things:
1) I doubt they've removed any onerous regulations that will make the opening of such plants difficult and expensive
2) Like tallpine said, expect that they will require more inspections and have to meet certain standards....and then the USDA won't recieve the funding to make inspections possible.
3) PETA and the like will sue the snot out of the .fed and the companies before any plant is allowed to open, expect long protracted legal battles.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Probably want to a bit careful with packing and prodding. Horsehide is very valuable.

Very valuable, especially in the US. Horses make fine jackets, but most stateside manufacturers go with cowhide or others, since they have to get horsehide shipped from Canada.

[charby]

I actually read that there are a couple of companies looking to open plants somewhere in the midwest, Nebraska being one state I remember being mentioned.  Once processed then most of the meat will be shipped overseas, mainly Asian countries.

Europeans eat a lot of horse also.

Its a good thing that horse slaughter may be legal again, better to send a healthy horse to the horse auction then to let one starve in a pen because the owners couldn't afford to feed it. When horse slaughter stopped there were a few years of folks in central Iowa just letting their horse go when they couldn't afford to feed it.

[Ben]

If wishes was horses, we'd all be eatin' steak.

[gunsmith]

Horses make fine jackets

There are some wild horses hanging out on the other side of the fence, they are not making anything - just eating stuff all day, stupid lazy horses!

[MillCreek]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/01/143017558/to-kill-or-not-to-kill-horses-that-others-may-eat?ft=1&f=1001

There have been a number of articles in our local media about abandoned horses because the owner can no longer afford to feed it.  I wonder what a vet charges to euthanize a horse, and would it be illegal to just shoot your own horse on your own property?

[T.O.M.]

Very valuable, especially in the US. Horses make fine jackets, but most stateside manufacturers go with cowhide or others, since they have to get horsehide shipped from Canada.

My understanding is that horse hide makes some really good holsters also...

http://www.kramerleather.com/

[Jamisjockey]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/01/143017558/to-kill-or-not-to-kill-horses-that-others-may-eat?ft=1&f=1001

There have been a number of articles in our local media about abandoned horses because the owner can no longer afford to feed it.  I wonder what a vet charges to euthanize a horse, and would it be illegal to just shoot your own horse on your own property?

I'd bet unless the horse is dying, shooting a healthy animal is considered animal cruelty.

[Tallpine]

I wonder what a vet charges to euthanize a horse, and would it be illegal to just shoot your own horse on your own property?

I think it was supposed to be $150, plus a mileage fee split because she had some other clients in our neighborhood that day (~90 miles one way!).

I actually did have to shoot her (the mare, not the vet) because she couldn't get the IV started even after several trank shots.  

Depends on where you live, but we had plenty of room to bury the mare.

Ranches with lots of land could theoretically take an animal way out and shoot it and let the coyotes do the rest.

If you drug them, you have to bury them right now or else eagles, etc will get poisoned from the carcass.  The vet won't do the job unless you have a hole ready.

[Tallpine]

[Probably Interstate Commerce. /quote]

The local markets may not sell locally butchered meat unless it is federally inspected. 

If it's your own animal - game or livestock - you can have them butcher it for you without inspection.

[MillCreek]

I actually did have to shoot her (the mare, not the vet) because she couldn't get the IV started even after several trank shots.  

If you drug them, you have to bury them right now or else eagles, etc will get poisoned from the carcass.  The vet won't do the job unless you have a hole ready.

So the moral of the story is if you are going to shoot the vet, have the hole ready? 

[Jamisjockey]

I think it was supposed to be $150, plus a mileage fee split because she had some other clients in our neighborhood that day (~90 miles one way!).

I actually did have to shoot her (the mare, not the vet) because she couldn't get the IV started even after several trank shots.  

Depends on where you live, but we had plenty of room to bury the mare.

Ranches with lots of land could theoretically take an animal way out and shoot it and let the coyotes do the rest.

If you drug them, you have to bury them right now or else eagles, etc will get poisoned from the carcass.  The vet won't do the job unless you have a hole ready.

But in your case you're referring to a sick animal.  The question is as to euthanizing a healthy animal you can no longer care for due to financial or other restraints.

[Tallpine]

But in your case you're referring to a sick animal.  The question is as to euthanizing a healthy animal you can no longer care for due to financial or other restraints.

If it's a fairly young and healthy horse, there shouldn't be too much problem selling it (at a loss, probably) or at least finding a home to adopt it.

People do need to plan ahead a little, and start exploring other options before you have absolutely no resources to care for it anymore 

But a 20 yo horse, with some issues that prevent riding it much or at all - then it's hard just to keep feeding it when times are lean.  The horse might live another 8 years, but it's not much use except as a pet or a companion to another horse.

Now myself, I would never want to send a horse to slaughter if I had another option.  I would just put it down if I couldn't keep it or find another home for it.  Montana is still pretty reasonable in that no one will question your decision to euthanize unless you abuse it otherwise.

Before we put the first mare down, we adopted a 17yo arab mare that had never been ridden.  The owner had died and the survivors weren't taking care of her feet.  Almost six months later, we have her feet almost healed and she is carrying moderate weight in packs.  Hopefully, Ladypine will be riding her by next summer.

We don't make a practice of rescuing horses, but the timing was right. 

[Tallpine]

BTW, the slaughter market sort of set a "floor" on the horse market, because a horse was always worth at least X amount (usually several hundred dollars) for the meat market.

[gunsmith]

a reclusive ranch owner in our area died & his horses were always wandering around near the side of the road, They had a foal & I guess they joined the wild horse herd nearby. They were real friendly creatures but I know nothing about horses & lacked the moolah to care for them.

[Gowen]

Now we can finally take care of the wild horse problem here in Nevada.  The bleeding hearts in the state carry on as if the wild mustangs were native, not that any horse in No. America is native.  The original stock was from horses bred for WW1, they turned loose after the market fell out after the war.  Now these horses compete for food with native mule deer and prong horn.  I don't hate the wild horses, I just don't want to see the animals starve and a good many that are caught are desperately malnourished.

[Northwoods]

BTW, the slaughter market sort of set a "floor" on the horse market, because a horse was always worth at least X amount (usually several hundred dollars) for the meat market.

Yep.  My FIL has been involved in horses on some level his whole life.  He was quite pissed when they stopped the slaughter of horses.  Caused a growing oversupply that made horses not specially bread for competition all but worthless.  Lots of otherwise good horses, literally, could not be given away.

One of the unintended consequences of the PETA types winning that battle back then was the suffering of far more horses than those they "saved" from the slaughter.

[gunsmith]

Now we can finally take care of the wild horse problem here in Nevada.  The bleeding hearts in the state carry on as if the wild mustangs were native, not that any horse in No. America is native.  The original stock was from horses bred for WW1, they turned loose after the market fell out after the war.  Now these horses compete for food with native mule deer and prong horn.  I don't hate the wild horses, I just don't want to see the animals starve and a good many that are caught are desperately malnourished.

I've been told that ranchers used to round up wild horses periodically select good ones for training, cull sick & malnourished ones and release some strong healthy ones to keep local herds strong. ... I like having wild horses around, they eat the "cheat grass" that catches fire real quick .

They're gonna slaughter the Mustangs alright, but they're simply declaring them "strays" - as if every single wild horse isn't a stray?  My guess is the cute ones will be Mustangs and the not so cute ones will be labeled strays

It would be better if local ranchers around Nevada managed the wild herds-having a bunch of big city easterners & San Franciscans dictate is worse then useless.