In case you’ve been in a hole and haven’t been paying attention, we’ve been discussing the current state of the horse industry. So you can catch up and join in the discussion, you might want to start at the beginning:
Introduction
Part One
Animal Rights v. Animal Welfare
Part Two
Part Three
Part one: Grass Isn’t Infinite
We’ve been going through the paper written in a collaborative effort through the University of Utah. Today we’ll look at the Fourth Argument in favor of closing the U.S. Run Horse Processing Facilities.
Argument 4. Owners have other methods to deal with unwanted horses, such as euthanasia, burial, sell the horse, or send to rescue facility.
While many options have been available to horse owners, more of these are becoming less available and more expensive. According to Dr. Temple Grandin 25 percent of horse owners are low income owners (Grandin, 2007) and according to the American Horse Council low to moderate income families make up 45 percent of horse owners with an annual household income between $25,000 and $75,000 (Ahern, 2006). “More than two million Americans own horses, and more than a third of those owners have a household income of less than $50,000 (Prada, 2008). Any type of disruption of income can tip the scale when it comes to being a responsible horse owner. Many times these owners could count on making a little money at a sale but now the price for middle to lower end horses has severely dropped. Horses that a year ago would bring $400 – $500 now might bring $50 – $100 or might not sell (emphasis mine because I have horses that are gentle, well bred and I can’t give them away). One auction company stated that “a few years ago unwanted horses may have gone for $200 -$300. Now they are around $50 -$100 (Byrns, 2007) (*or $5-10/head in 2009- ask the local kill buyer in South Dakota). Devin Mullet, owner of Kalona Sales Barn, Iowa, said that for the “first time in my life I’ve seen livestock that has no value” (Einhorn, 2008). This drop in U. S. horse value after the processing plants closure was predicted two years earlier by North et al. (2005, p.14).
Due to high feed and hay prices many people can’t or don’t want the burden of continuing to feed a horse and others, including rescue facilities, can’t afford to take on any more horses due to the market and feed costs.
Chemical euthanasia by a veterinarian is a choice for horse owners in disposing of ill or chronically lame horses. This is expensive for the owner. Veterinary cost of euthanasia can range from $60 – $100 followed by the expense of disposing of the body. In many instances, due to environmental regulations, horses cannot be buried on site, but if allowed, the owner may well be looking at an additional $300 or more in costs if a backhoe is required (Ahern et al., 2006 p 7,8). According to Ahern et al., (2006) and North et al., (2005, p. 4) landfills have taken carcasses in the past but some are now banning carcasses or charging a fee. Rendering plants will remove carcasses but some now are charging a substantial fee or will not pick up individual horses (Ahern et al., 2006, p.8).
Rescue facilities across the country are feeling the pinch. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette indicated “every horse rescue and farm animal rescue that I deal with currently has a “no room in the inn” sign on their barn doors. They all have waiting lists” (Fuoco, 2007). The San Antonio Express News indicated that “…rescues struggle with too many horses, too little money and no national standards” (Sandberg, 2007). Dr. Mark Lutschaunig also confirmed there are not enough rescues and retirements facilities out there to handle these horses; most are full and cannot take in any more horses not only due to space but partly due to the expense (2007). Research by Utah State University also shows the similar results. Brian Dees, President of the Georgia Equine Rescue League, stated that “the number of unwanted horses has gone through the roof; the number of requests to take horses off a person’s hand has gone up by as much as 5000 percent”. Dees stated not having the harvesting facilities is one of the worse things that has happened to the U.S. horse industry (B. Dees, personal communication, January 3, 2008). According to Morgan Silver, Executive Director of the Horse Protection Association of Florida, a bigger mess has been created by the closing of the houses before the real problem of excessive breeding was addressed (M. Silver, personal communication, January 3, 2008). Bill Whitman, co-owner of Horse- Angels Ranch, Indiana, indicated contacts to his facility are up four fold. They are seeing younger horses people don’t want to take care of anymore and they don’t know how to deal with them (B. Whitman, personal communication, December 8, 2007). In an article Whitman stated last year “8,000 horses were sent from Indiana to Illinois for slaughter, but now slaughtering horses has been banned. With that avenue closed and more unwanted horses, “it’s going to be a nightmare” (Vierebome, 2007). Kathleen Schwartz, Director and Founder of Days End Horse Rescue, Maryland, said that they get 3 – 5 emails a day from people looking to get rid of their horses which their rescue has to turn away. While she gives them the names of local rescues, she knows they are already busting at the seams (K. Schwartz, personal communication, October 16, 2007). Jenny Edwards, Director of Hope for Horses, Washington, echoes other rescues by saying her rescue is full. She also noted in the past the horses they were involved with were usually in good condition when they received them. Now they are seeing horses that are more sickly which increases time of stay and ultimately rescue costs. Horses that would have gone to slaughter in the past now languish longer in pastures and are in poorer condition when rescues receive them, making it harder on rescue facilities (J. Edwards, personal communication, October 25, 2007). Jennifer Williams, Director of Blue Bonnet Equine Humane, Texas, voiced concerns over groups supporting the antislaughter bill when they say the market will correct itself and then they walked away. Rescues now have to take care of the problem which she felt was very short sighted (J. Williams, personal communication, November 13, 2007). According to North et al. (2005, p.14) “if these horses are not euthanized, caring for each horse will cost rescue facilities approximately $2,340 per year, depending on location.”
Not discussed in the above paper are the numbers from the Animal Welfare Council’s February 2010 report:
This report shows that horses are now valued at around 40% of the worth they had in 2005. That’s a pretty steep price decline. This same report- by industry experts and veterinarians- said that the industry was warned that the closure of the plants would lead to an increase in abandoned and unwanted horses, and would severely strain rescue facilities as well as sheriff’s departments and local municipalities. According to the report “over 90% of those polled indicated the number of neglected and abused horses is increasing.” Furthermore, “Experts said the closure of the USDA-regulated plants would lead to increased equine neglect, abuse, and malnourishment. It did. There are many reports documenting the rise in neglect, abuse and abandonment including one from the Colorado Department of Agriculture stating that the number of equine cruelty investigations in Colorado rose 60 percent from 2005 to 2009.”
The idea that we will never have unwanted horses and will never need to have a processing facility, is Utopian in theory at best; the trouble is, there will always be horses that are unwanted. Despite the best training, despite education, even despite some who have the idea that we should charge a fee to breed every mare. I’m not even sure where or how you’d regulate that, but that’s not the point. The point is the current situation. We’ve not saved a single horse from slaughter. We’ve made them take a longer trailer ride; we’ve put them in at least one country where there is little, if any regulation, where those people don’t have the same respect and regard for our animals as we do, and in many instances we’re prolonging their life, because it costs a person money to feed them, and they’re not feeding them well, or at all, so when they are “rescued”, they’re in terrible shape.
Something else to be noted- even if you can afford to euthanize the horse- is the additional kill rate of animals that consume the euthanized horse and ingest the poisons (page 10).
If a person can’t sell the horse, can’t give it away, and can’t afford to feed it, prey tell, how do you expect that person to be able to afford to euthanize it and dispose of the carcass? And to take it further, why would a person want to euthanize a perfectly good horse? At the very least with the processing plants open, they had the option of feeding someone who chose to eat it and if their horse was ride-able, gentle, even if it was grade (unregistered) it had a decent value. Today, a horse like that is a dime a dozen and pretty much worthless. And in case you forgot- we ate a lot of horse meat in this country during World War II and during the 70s. So don’t go there. With a horse having little to no value, unless it’s a bang up rodeo horse, reiner, cutter or hunter (for example) what does the person who makes up the majority of owners in our industry do with their horse they can’t sell, give away, feed, or afford to euthanize?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- we’re so concerned with what happens to the horse at death we have forgotten to be concerned with it while it is alive. This series is about to wrap up, and as always I’m open to discussion, but if you can’t be nice, don’t bother.
You’ve raised so many good points. I had no idea of a lot of this, like horses now leaving the country to be “processed.” People only hear one side of this story and get all righteous.
Thanks for writing this.
I agree. Around here people who can’t afford to feed or euthianize their horses, are driving to the middle of the reservations or state land and just dumping the horses off to fend for themselves.
Seem we have all heard this pro slaughter lies before.. Ive said this once and will say it again. Slaughter is an incentive to reward irresponsible people.. Should these horses be children I wonder what your thoughts maybe..
Horses are only consider livestock because of the tax breaks they get on large areas of land. During the slaughter operations foreigner owned and operated by illegals. Auctioneers and killers should be held accountable for the abuse and neglect that happen daily. Instead these irresponsible people were paid for there horses at meat.
Why dont you ever hear stories of Killers or Auctioneers setting of fees etc that would go directly to there locally own horse rescues. Why doesnt the AAEP and the AVMA that took an Oath in office to protect the horses set fees to assist horse rescues. Why didnt the government shut these foreigners down Imediately when found out to be operating against a 1949 law in Texas. Money the only reason slaughter ever existed.. Now the economy has taken a dive and Pro slaughter once again are promoting lies to profit. They dont care about Mexican plants being inhumane the Mexican plant owned Beltex in Texas. They remained open should Texas shut beltex down. Why not post about helping horse rescues. Hmm rather support these irresponsible people.. Italy has finally posted the banning of horsemeat and the EU is now complying a strict 90 day quaranteen for horses intented for slaughter.. to let the drugs flow completely thru the system. For years USDA ignore these drugs they knew but once again the MONEY rules not health to people.. for more info visit the facts at http://www.SaveDaHorses.org
First of all Tommy, you’re pretty brave, coming onto a site where clearly I’m all for lifting this ban on slaughter. But secondly, you’d have a lot better luck getting your own message across if you’d learn to communicate effectively through writing, spelling and grammar.
I’m also not completely sure to what “tax breaks” you refer.
That said, Horses are not pets. They’re too big and too expensive to be pets. Their upkeep alone is more than most in the world can afford, clearly- or we’d not be having people abandoning them. They’re cost prohibitive, space prohibitive and are simply not a dog or cat. They’re also dangerous- too dangerous to be treated like a dog or cat. I’ve seen people get concussions, be trampled and stepped on by their horses because they have treated them like a dog. The horse of course has no idea it’s hurt the human, as it was only doing what horses do- but disrespect on the ground, translates to poor riding under saddle. It’s all related.
I believe that the AAEP and the AVMA are doing their job to uphold and protect horses- they’ve done research that shows that a horse can feel no pain when the cerebral cortex is stunned, or knocked out. Do people make mistakes when they slaughter horses- I’m sure they do.
But I am also sure those mistakes are fewer and farther between than you’d have us all to believe. Further, I don’t know a single pro-slaughter advocate that is in favor of sending these horses to Mexico, but the fact of the matter is that people’s priorities change, rescues are full, and there’s only so much grass to go around. None of us like the idea of processing horses- but there is a need for it, and if I can feed another person in the process, all the better.
In my opinion, your comments are a great example of someone who really hasn’t done the research or studied the facts. The facts are there are more horses being abandonded. The facts are that the horses rescues are seeing are in poorer condition than ever. The facts are, animal abuse cases when it comes to horses are up. The facts are many rescues across the country are full. The facts are you can’t even give a registered horse away right now. I know this, because not only have I personally tried, but I know upwards of 5 people that have also tried. All you people that believe you’re saving horses have done, is prolong the life of horses, shove them into trailers for a long and longer ride to Canada or Mexico. No one that is pro-animal welfare is in favor of those things. We’d rather have things the way they were- though I’m sure we’d like to see more ergonomically designed facilities.
It’s all flowers and roses to say that we shouldn’t slaughter horses- that we should save them all, but the fact is, by slaughtering them, we are saving them. End of story.
Horse are livestock. They are not a lap dog. Their purpose is to work. I disagree with you when you say Money is not the only reason for horse slaughter. Horses are being abandoned all over the place to fend for themselves. Most of these horses are used to being in taken care of. Food and water placed right in front of them. They are starving to death.
oh dear it really is a controversial subject, your points are so valid & unfortunately the banning of horse slaughter in America has had a terrible side affect of these horses being transported over long distances without food or water & often hurt. I do not agree with horse slaughter, but deep in my heart I know as you said that it would often cut short the suffering that some of these horses are currently enduring. Until the cause of the excess horses is addressed they should not have banned the slaughter houses. Supply & demand. Reduce the supply & we reduce a lot of the problems. Back yard breeders & the racing industry have a lot to answer for when it comes to horse welfare. Here in Australia the racing industry breeds approx 200,000 horses each year. A huge amount of these will never see a track. They are either sent to the local sale yards, picked up by doggers, & often end up in rescue centres because they are a lot of work to turn into an everyday riding horse. If they didn’t breed so many we wouldn’t have such a problem. This goes for dogs, cats & a whole range of other animals. The people on properties are using their horses for working. The people in the city regard them as pets or they are for pleasure, it is this reason that a lot of the conflict arises. Each side of the discussion just doesn’t understand each others point of view. Life & death on a property is a lot different to that of a suburban back yard.
Love your blog!
Okay people, slow down. Horses are not livestock, they are considered domesticated animals legally. I have even contacted my local police department and I would not be breaking any laws or ordinances by having a horse in my backyard because of this. You get “tax breaks” for livestock, and you can not get them from horses. Cattle, donkeies, goats, but not horses. I am going to vet school, but I have a problem. I want to practice large animals, including horses. But I either have to double specialized with large animals and equine, or I must do mixed animals. Due to the new look toward horses not being just any ‘ole livestock, they were removed from the large animal curriculum and put into the domesticated animal curriculum right along with your dogs and cats.
HORSES ARE NO LONGER CONSIDERED LIVESTOCK. No tax breaks, or protection that comes with being livestock. If your area floods or a fire breaks out, you can take your cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats, but you must leave the horses behind with all the other domesticated animals. A sad sad sad thing indeed if you ask me.
In my area, horses don’t even get a single bid unless they can spin or something like that in the ring. Even dead broke and kid safe ponies, and show minis- which almost always sell well. A horse last weekend sold $10 to the kill buyer, while it’s broke and safe counterpart didn’t get a single bid. Many people around here turn horses loose, let them starve to death, put the dog on them, turn stud with stud out to fight, or shoot them. I have been given 7 horses in the last couple of years, some in so bad condition I had to pull them off the trailer. I kept them untill the died, and gave them a good life while they waited. I only sold 1 of them, as I kept him for 2 years and put training on him- and he had no broken bones or anything.
Something must be done, and I think it’s reopen slaughter. My state is working on legislation that goes around the ban (which just stopped federal funding for inspectors). I think it will do well, the only problem is we don’t have a facility.
Keep writing, don’t stop.
NOT true, Tracy. They’re ag exempt in many states, my former home-state of Texas being one.
Tracy, while I agree with your overall sentiment, I must correct you and say that most states still consider horses livestock (at least in the midwest and western states) and can be tax exemptable. Most livestock is domesticated, I think the term you were looking for would be “companion animal” which is another way of saying pet.
Missouri is also working on getting around the USDA ban on inspectors. The MO House passed a bill on April 2nd setting up a funding through the MO Dept. of Ag. that would pay USDA inspectors.
Bret – The proposed slaughterplant in Missouri (or any U.S. state for that matter) continues to puzzle me. Effective 1/31/2011, the EU (where much of the horsemeat goes) has new restrictions on allowable drugs in equids destined for slaughter. All such equids will have to travel with the equivalent of a medical passport which details every drug, wormer, steroid, etc. administered to the horse. Some drugs (Bute, for example) makes a horse permanently ineligible for food in the EU. Proof of the passage of full withdrawal time for the others will have to be proven by entries on the “passport.” As a result of these new (or, really, newly enforced) EU rules, the CFIS has issued it’s own parallel rules (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/meavia/man/ch17/annexee.shtml). Slaughter facilities handling equines in Canada will need at least a six month history of medication use for equine brought to the facility starting July 31, 2010.
Does this Missouri slaughterhouse have a facility to quarantine slaughter-bound horses for 6 months?
I don’t know how these new rules will affect the U.S. horse market, but I would assume it will depress it even further than the general economy has already done?
Personally, I am 100% opposed to horseslaughter, and it infuriates me that individuals – “low income” or no – who chose to take on the responsibility of the animal as long as it was worth money now (at least many people on here insist) dump or underfeed the horse because it costs too much. I guess the character trait “Responsibility” is supposed to have a price tag? People that dump their horses or do not feed them appropriately – in lieu of setting aside the funds and paying to have them humanely euthanized and their carcasses disposed of – are animal abusers and nothing more. They deserve to be charged with by their County prosecutors. Here in Michigan (and this is only anecdotal to my experience), abuse of horses around me seems to depend on whether or not the owner gives a damn and NOT on income level. I have seen way too many skinny horses owned by people who most definitely had enough money to properly feed them, and way too many low income people who make sure their horses, their livestock, and their pets are all properly fed, watered and bedded down before they sit down to their own dinners to think the slaughterhouses were anything other than a convenience.
Great Article, more thoughts at: http://www.haltershorsetack.com/488/is-there-to-many-wild-horses/