I was sent an email today in regards to a new petition about reopening the slaughter plants for horse slaughter. The petition has some rather emotional statements intermixed with some facts. The problem I have with this petition is the assumptions made about starving horses and the reasons behind it. So I looked up the “end slaughtering of horses” petitions, I found only 2 of any substance (meaning they actually have signatures), and not surprisingly I found the same thing a lot of emotional rhetoric intermixed with some facts in their text explaining why you should sign the petition.
Now no matter which side of the aisle you are on, one has to admit that the current way that horses were slaughtered in the plant is not humane and is very cruel. So, in my opinion, if the plants are to be reopened the process will need to be change. Specifically in the use of the captive bolt. The head will NEED to be restrained, so a proper blow can be dealt to render the animal completely unconscious or dead, before being hoisted up and slaughtered.
The one thing I have noticed about this new petition for reopening the slaughter plants is that the petition is only two days old and it has 580 signatures already at the time of this writing! Now they have a long way to go as the largest petition that I have found for closing the plants has 16,805 signatures, no date as far as when that petition was started.
So here are the petitions for whichever side you are on (Click on the title of the petition to go to it)
For Reopening-
U.S. Horse Owners in Favor Of Re-Opening Slaughter Plants
For Keeping Closed -
An End To Horse Slaughter!
Americans Against Horse Slaughter
horse slaughter, horse slaughter petition
All animal slaughter needs to be better run. Did you see the live (down) sick cows on TV being shoved around with a forklift? The animals are not safe from torture at US slaughter houses and US meat is not the safest around either.
Dr. B, where have you been? Yes, there are quite a few petitions going around. Many don’t collect the correct info (full address, city & state) so they can’t be used because they are not valid without contact info to validate the signer. I believe the anti petition, which BTW has over 17,000 signatures now, was started early last year.
The plants won’t reopen. You saw what happened in SD. The bill was shot down before the ink was dry. Horses are not viewed as food animals in this country and slaughter of horses goes against our culture.
You are right on target with your comments on the captive bold and correct about the info in the petition. Most of the dribble in the pro petition is not accurate. The stories of abandoned horses are about as accurate as UFO sightings. We have investigated the articles with state agencies, local authorities, humane shelters and rescues. With rare exception, they were false. The comment on PETA is false because they have been relatively silent and not involved. I also find it deplorable that they take the responsibility of ownership so lightly. Why should anyone but the owner be responsible for caring for their horse? This petition is an insult to responsible horse owners insinuating they will commit crimes by abandoning their horses. Of course, no mention of the irresponsible breeding or taking ownership of an animal that they couldn’t afford in the first place. Horses were being abandoned and neglected when the kill houses were open so how do you justify slaughter as an end to that? Slaughter never stopped the cycle of breed and dump. How many more years of slaughter do we need to right everything? The agencies that report the data have indicated the number of cases has not increased since the closure of the domestic kill houses. You can google the same type of stories last year, when the kill houses were open. Every winter there is a hay shortage and they try to sell, moan about the prices and then in the spring, they buy more horses. Why not just buy what you can afford to care for all year round? I guess that would be too logical.