There are those that believe the slaughtering of horses is a practice that must be stopped and that horses should be allowed to live out their lives and allowed only to pass of natural causes. At the same time, there are situations where the horse is "unwanted" that merit ending a horse's life, particularly in the cases of neglect, abuse and failing health. In our opinion, horse slaughter is an acceptable way to respectfully end a horse's life and often in the best interest of the horse and horse owners.
Click here for a collection of the latest news articles on unwanted horses and horse slaughter.______________________
Idealism or food production?
The image of unwanted horses roaming the open land may be the choice of preference for some, but should that idealism take place at the expense of our food production system?
Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has made known her intentions to adopt most or all of the 30,000 horses and burros kept in BLM-run federal holding pens. The Pickenses just a few years ago led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the U.S.
Pickens is looking for land in the West that would be an appropriate home for the horses. This is land currently being used for the production of beef cattle.
The news that Pickens and others intend to adopt the wild horses and burros has been celebrated by animal rights groups.
On the other side of the debate, proponents of horse slaughter are of the opinion that a better use of the unwanted horses and burros, which are costing the federal government some $20 million each year, would be as a protein source to feed the world's hungry.
Click here to listen to my discussion with Pickens about her plans and her "solution" to the unwanted horse problem.
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Uncle Sam not a good horseman
By Trent Loos
AS a responsible animal owner, the government gets a failing grade. It has been a while since I've visited the issue of wild horses in the U.S., but a recent Government Accountability Office investigation has once again brought the topic to the forefront.As a quick recap, the U.S. government owns more than 33,000 horses that run in 11 western states. The problem with its management style is that the government spends 74% of its budget on the 24,000 horses that have been removed from western lands and are considered unqualified for adoption. These horses are all considered unable to be adopted and are simply warehoused on ranches in Kansas and Oklahoma.
You have likely heard the horror stories about horse owners who can no longer afford to feed their horses and have no outlet for marketing them. Well, Uncle Sam now belongs to that group.
First off, I have no problem with the horses in the Nevada range, which is home to 50% of all Bureau of Land Management (BLM) horses. I think they should be managed more appropriately, particularly in ways that could benefit the ecosystem, but the government can't afford to manage them in such a manner because all of its funds are wasted on the warehoused horses.
In fact, a friend of mine who ranches in the Flint Hills of Kansas told me that ranchers tending government horses in his area just received a pay raise, and these horses are now costing the government more than $2 per day to keep.
Incidentally, that bill goes directly to taxpayers if you stop to think about who funds the government and its lack of fiscal responsibility.
The latest report suggests that BLM needs to consider euthanizing wild horses or selling many of them to reduce spiraling costs of keeping them in long-term holding facilities. The report also noted that the agency has the authority to euthanize or sell large numbers of horses without restrictions but has not done that because of fear of outrage from the public or Congress.
Fear of not being able to explain the cycle of life to 304 million American citizens seems to be a common excuse for the government's inability to make tough choices.
Furthermore, euthanasia is not a good choice because there are a growing number of hungry people in the world. What kind of a moral person kills a horse simply to pay to bury it when people are dying every day from starvation who could benefit from the meat? ... Click here for the rest of this article
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Unwanted horses: Uncle Sam cries 'uncle'
7/11/2008 - Feedstuffs FoodLinkBy Trent Loos
RISING feed and energy costs are putting pressure on all involved in the U.S. livestock sector, including the U.S. government.The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in fact, recently made this announcement:
"Rising energy prices have increased costs. In one year alone, energy costs for transportation and feed have increased almost $4 million. It is clear the agency cannot continue current removal and holding practices under existing and projected budgets. Neither can BLM allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster. That's why BLM is exploring options to exercise its legal authority to: (1) sell older and certain other un-adopted animals 'without limitation' to any willing buyers and (2) euthanize those wild horses and burros for which no adoption demand exists. We know this is not a popular option, but we are at a critical point where we must consider using the legal authorities allowed us."
BLM has 33,000 horses running wild on federally owned lands in the West. In addition, the agency has another 30,000 horses in long-term holding facilities that cost thousands of dollars per day for feed and care. The horses were gathered with the hope that someone would adopt them, but instead, they have been piling up costs that amount to about three-quarters of the agency's total $37 million budget for the whole program. So, it was inevitable that something must be done.
I must admit that it is gratifying to see that the government, which likes to make mandates that contribute to record-high feed prices, feels the same pain we do, but more importantly, I am somewhat surprised that BLM is attempting to make a logical decision about culling the herd in order to help corral the runaway cost of the program.
As one would expect, the reaction from the general public in the past week has been that of disbelief about how the government could kill these horses. In one news report, they were even referred to as "the same horse that Paul Revere rode in the Revolutionary War."
In my opinion, these horses should not be euthanized and simply buried or incinerated; rather, they should be viewed as the true resources in the cycle of life that they are. There are hungry people in the world who would welcome the opportunity to supplement their diet with a bit of horse protein.
Unfortunately, before these horses could help starving children around the world, they would have to be shipped to Mexico or Canada. Our elitist American society is above harvesting horses for human consumption and no longer has an operating harvesting facility.
Certainly, there are zoo animals that could also benefit from the extra protein.
What happens with a pile of 6,000 dead horses that have been killed by a lethal injection of some drug cocktail? How does that affect the soil and groundwater in the area where they are to be buried?
If you believe, as I do, that it is a good idea for Uncle Sam to finally implement some of the same animal husbandry standards most livestock owners use, don't sit back and do nothing. The fact that BLM made this announcement in the manner that it did indicates to me that it is testing the waters: "Let's see how bad the wound might be if we cull 6,000 horses, and then we will make our final decision."
The vocal minority will control the outcome of this situation, and our screams need to be loud, long and elevated.
Horses, in my opinion, are livestock rather than companion animals. In fact, the most dangerous thing about the current relationship between humans and horses is that many no longer consider them as such.
There is even a movement underway to get the government to reclassify the horse as a companion animal and this makes little sense.The horse needs to continue to be recognized as livestock and to remain under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Agriculture if we are to maintain control of such diseases as West Nile.
It is time that Uncle Sam, the largest horse owner in the U.S., and the general public recognize the unintended consequences of banning horse slaughter. It deprives our world's hungry of an important protein source, creates potential soil and groundwater contamination concerns and, most importantly, increases the potential for horse cruelty, abuse and abandonment.
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Horses abandoned
HERE'S one example of the types of events going on as a result of higher feed prices and the removal of horse slaughter as an option for horse owners:
"I have had and heard about so many horses being free due to the price of horses decreasing drastically and the market being flooded. I have seen many emaciated horses due to people not wanting to feed them anymore because they can't get rid of them. Animal controls and rescues are either unwilling or unable to 'deal' with these animals. Either they don't have the resources or money to take care of them, or they have been overwhelmed with unwanted horses and are at or over capacity.
"I have a client who woke up one morning to find four horses in their pasture. The neighbors said they saw a truck and trailer on the side of the road late at night and they thought it was the owner returning from a show or trail ride. Instead, it was someone abandoning their horses!
"In my opinion, I would rather see a horse go to slaughter and be used (for food, byproducts, etc.) then starve to death or be neglected or abused." -- Letter from a veterinarian in Michigan
Situations like these are expected to escalate this winter, when pasture and hay become less available.
Click here to find out more about the current state of horse welfare in the U.S.
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The horse industry, lawmakers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture came together in late June to work on identifying the current circumstances surrounding our unwanted horse problem. The discussion centered around whether there are in fact unwanted horses and, if so, how many, the causes of their being unwanted and the possible solutions and available options to help them.
Of course in any discussion of unwanted horses one needs to consider the role legislative action has played. Since all U.S. horse slaughter plants have been forced closed "out of concern for the welfare of the horse" there are anywhere from 75,000 to 150,000 horses that have to be dealt with by other means. Dr. Nat Messer of the University of Missouri put it well, in saying: "It is important for all of us to remember that, in all likelihood, it only matters to us, and not the horse, what happens to them after they are gone." I must agree. As long as the horse is properly cared for throughout its lifetime and its life appropriated ended through an approved method of harvest, what difference does it really make what is done from there. Click here for more from the forum.
Click here for proceedings from the Unwanted Horse Forum.
Click here to listen to my Rural Route show with Robin Lohnes of the American Horse Protection Assn. as she talks about the unwanted horse problem and legislative initiatives.Unwanted children vs. unwanted horses - Click here to listen
Finally, there is a new report just released by the Alberta Equine Welfare Group that looks specifically at the use of horses as food-producing animals and spelling out the impact of closing the horse meat plants in the U.S. The report is available at www.albertaequestrian.com.
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Horse issue too heavy of a load
By TRENT LOOS
I JUST spent two days in Indianapolis, Ind., at the 2008 National Institute for Animal Agriculture meeting. The theme of this year's meeting was "Animal Welfare & Well Being."Indeed, I believe the discussion was timely, and most of it was right on. No matter the topic or species discussed, the current status of harvesting horses for human consumption came up in conversation.
I am going to qualify the following comments by saying that I didn't hear anyone say, "Yes, I think we will get back into the horse harvesting business on U.S. soil very soon." I will tell you, however, that I feel the tide has turned in understanding that the unwanted horse scenario is very real.
Everyone I've visited with recently seems to understand and accept the need for horse harvesting, but I believe that now, many of the officials we were trying to convince about the fact that unwanted horses would become a real problem if we shut down U.S. operating facilities are starting to believe us.
In the past month, the best and most balanced mainstream media story about the situation ran in USA Today. The title of the article actually tells the story in itself: "U.S. shelters saddled with unwanted horses."
In talking with Dr. Tom Lenz of the Unwanted Horse Coalition, he told me he receives a couple of stories every day about unwanted horses showing up in undesirable places.
I just received data from the Illinois Department of Agriculture graphing the claims of horse neglect dating back to 1995 -- and the numbers have tripled.
Most importantly, there have been two spikes in the past 13 years. The first occurred in 2002 and the second at the end of 2007. As you may have concluded, in March 2002, the Cavel International Horse Processing Plant burned down, and in July 2007, the plant was closed by state legislation.
An issue that should be even more concerning to all Americans is the complete waste of taxpayer dollars spent on unwanted wild horses.
The Bureau of Land Management reported on its web site that the wild horse population in 11 states is nearly at 30,000 head. It rounds up between 7,000 and 8,000 head each year for potential adoption and successfully adopts out about 5,000 head.
The bureau has what it calls short-term and long-term holding facilities. The short-term holding facilities house the horses in preparation for adoption. There are currently about 9,000 horses in short-term holding.
Once a horse is designated as "non-adoptable," it goes to long-term care. In excess of 21,000 horses are being warehoused in long-term holding facilities.
Current law requires that these horses be provided an elevated nutritional supply, which doubles their life expectancy and costs more than 55% of the total $38 million budget for the entire wild horse and burro program.
At some point, common sense must prevail in recognizing that it doesn't make a lick of horse sense to worship these old horses that have no useful future.
There are hungry people around the world and zoo animals in this country that need the protein these horses should be providing. Instead, we continue to discuss the merits of unwanted horses, while the horses are the real losers.
Those who believe there is no such thing as an unwanted horse need to get out their checkbooks and start buying feed for these animals.
Unprecedented feed costs, drought in certain regions and high transportation costs have all contributed to the ever-growing problem of unwanted horses showing up in unusual places.
No one who endorses horse harvesting as a viable option for unwanted horses is attempting to tell horse owners that they must sell their horse to be eaten by the French, but the very rights that we, as Americans, have had for 229 years are being restricted by those who want to eliminate that option for me.
Even more disheartening than the erosion of personal property rights is the fact that the true experts in the horse industry continue to share their concern about the increasing number of unwanted horses and what will become of them without horse harvesting as an option.
The burden of this legislation is simply more weight than any horse should have to pack across the prairie.
Other sources of information:
- Dr. Janice Siegford, Certified associate applied animal behaviorist and assistant professor, Michigan State University Video
- Dr. Julia Wilson, associate professor, large animal medicine, University of Minnesota Video
- Horse Welfare Committee
