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EQUINE JUSTICE a non-profit corporation "There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the insides of a man." Will Rogers |
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EQUINE JUSTICE a non-profit corporation "There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the insides of a man." Will Rogers |
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From the President's Desk |
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As I see it . . . On August 18, 2011 The Unwanted Horse It's popular now to fold in the "the unwanted horse" problem with the slaughter of horses. Many even suggest the slaughter of horses as a viable solution to that problem. But let's be clear, some of those who offer the sensless killing of horses as a solution are those who stand to gain financially from the slaughter of horses. Oh, they suggest that there are many solutions needed, such as education of owners and more rescues but they assert that there's is as good as those others. It isn't, especially when you look more closely at the unwanted horse problem and why so many horses are unwanted. Tom Lenz, DVM and Past Chairman of the Unwanted Horse Coalition, says approximately 138,000 horses were exported from the United States to either Canada or Mexico for slaughter in 2009. He has estimated that there are currently about 170,000 to 200,000 unwanted horses in the United States, most of which will end up at slaughter houses. There are many reasons given for this number of horses, including the economic downturn and indiscriminate breeding. But the number one reason, according to Dr. Lenz: The failure of the horse to meet it's owner's expectations. Think about that, please. Most horses on the feedlots awaiting purchase by "kill buyers" aren't lame, sick or crazy. The vast majority are very good horses with good training. They are sentenced to die simply because they didn't satisfy the owner. The American Veterinary Medical Association has decided that the methods of horse slaughter in Mexico are humane. The method "officially" applied is by a stun bolt to the head. The unofficial method, and commonly used, is by a knife plunged into the top of the neck behind the horses head. It sometimes takes more than one stab. Consider the days, weeks and even months that a horse is shuffled around, thrown into strange herds on feedlots where they have to fight to survive, and then crammed into a truck without food or water for a long ride to Mexico. Wyatt Webb wrote a book called "It's Not About the Horse" and in his programs he emphasizes that the way we relate to horses says more about who we are than who they are. So what does it tell us about us when nearly 138,000 horses are brutally slaughtered for their meat because an owner didn't like them? What comes to mind is a distasteful suggestion that ownership of an animal grants someone the right to be irresponsible toward an innocent life. We need to get a new perspective on the "unwanted horse" problem, lest we sacrifice our own humanity. For the horses . . . Margo Dockendorf
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