Re: Stop The Slaughter

"usual suspect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ANC Webmaster wrote:
> > Many U.S. horses are brutally killed in U.S. slaughterhouses to be
served on
> > dinner plates in Europe and Asia. And we are letting it happen, through
our
> > silence.
> <snip broken link>
>
> Most of those horses are old, sick, or injured. Euthanizing an animal
> still costs money, unless it's DIY with a bullet. While shooting one's
> own horse is something some people can manage, many others cannot.
> Hiring a vet to do it will run about $250. Hiring a backhoe to bury it
> will run about another $100. So it's about $350 out of pocket. Selling
> the horse to the slaughterhouse brings in money, say $500 in the pocket.
> Such small sums do matter, particularly in small farming/ranching
> operations. If you had a bottom line to consider and a horse that was a
> drain on resources, which end of that $850 spread would you take?
>
> Equine slaughterhouses solve two strong demands. Even if you can reduce
> by half the demand for horsemeat, there will still be many horse owners
> who need a way to dispose of their old, useless, lame animals.
>
> Shutting down the slaughterhouses only leads to blackmarkets for those
> who want horsemeat. Banning slaughter operations will only increase the
> likelihood and frequency of sound, healthy horses being slaughtered for
> food rather than old, weak ones. The biggest source of meat will be from
> stolen animals because quality becomes an even more important factor to
> consumers forced to pay blackmarket prices.
>
> Many times when "symptomatic relief" is sought, the solutions offered
> are actually worse than the problem. Shipping horses even further on
> crowded trucks, trains, or ships to Mexico or Argentina is even less
> humane. Nevermind shipping horses where it's illegal to slaughter them
> and where "back alley" blackmarket conditions prevail.
>
> If you really care about the welfare of horses, it's far better to
> prevent blackmarket conditions which would result in the slaughter of
> much healthier horses. Even as distasteful as it seems, the
> slaughterhouses may be the most acceptable interim solution until demand
> for horsemeat is reduced.
>
> Beltex and Dallas Crown Packaging operate the two horse slaughterhouses
> in Texas. Feel free to write their headquarters in Belgium. And don't
> forget to petition the EU to work on reducing European demand for
horsemeat.

By all means, and don't forget to exclude the UK from the petition.
The bleeding frogs will eat anything that moves, the wops come a close
second.
But the real guilty party is the US for allowing this disgusting trade to
proliferate in Texas.

Racist Ray.
>