US Horse Slaughter Committee Reviews

Thursday, 17 November 2011 10:58

A committee discussing spending provisions in the agriculture market could pave the way for horse slaughter to resume in the US if cuts are made in the wrong places. Currently, the lack of federally employed inspectors means that horse slaughter cannot occur for the purposes of human consumption.

Currently, around 100,000 American horses are exported abroad each year to foreign markets, but if these cuts are made we can expect the slaughter to begin in the US before exporting the meat; this would mean that Americans would be taxed in order to subsidize these slaughter businesses. As around 70% of Americans are against the slaughter of horses for consumption, this is clearly not a move that would be favourable with those taxpayers – the horse slaughter business does not create viable job-making opportunities.

Horse slaughter generally causes the problems that it should be solving; by providing a definite means of disposal, it encourages a relaxed view on overbreeding. Such intensive methods invariably end up causing an overabundance of stock, and end up relying upon slaughter to solve the problem.  The problem means that the market is over-saturated by horses, and the only solution to this overbreeding is slaughter, causing a decline in the business overall.

The market for slaughtered horse meat for use in consumption is large overseas, so any attempts to stop this export can only help in the long run towards putting a stop to this barbaric process overall. Many equine charities and welfare groups have banded together in order to prevent this, and Animal Friends hopes that the horse slaughter industry can be stopped and the cruelties that accompany the business stopped altogether.