Right, I've decided to do the Article on Slaughter of Horses! Having read up on some of the horrific details! When I've finished it I will post it here!
One more thing before i go write this thing! Can anyone think of a catchy headline for it!?
Right... here goes...
An Old Friendship Ends in Slaughter!
Since 1980, well over 4 million American horses have been slaughtered in the U.S. The horse meat is then shipped abroad to France, Belgium, Holland, Japan and Italy. This demand for horse meat has been high for many years. Horses do not carry B.S.E. (Mad Cow Disease) or Foot and Mouth so the demand became much higher in 2001 when more than 55,000 horses were slaughtered in the U.S. for human consumption.
Sometimes these horses are sent to slaughterhouses by people who are no longer able or willing to care for them. Sometimes they are retired or injured race horses, riding school or show horses, federally protected wild horses, or stolen horses. Auction houses provide an easy way out for irresponsible equine owners to discard an animal they no longer want. Those purchased at auctions by individuals known as "killer buyers" are then shipped on double-deck trailers (meant for sheep) for several days without adequate water, food, or rest. They are squashed up so tightly that they can't even hold their heads up. The floors of the trailers are slippery resulting in the horses falling and getting trampled. Many of them arrive at the slaughter house already dead.
Foals born as a by-product of the Premarin industry are sent to the slaughter house also. Premarin is a drug used to treat menopausal symptoms in humans. It is made with estrogens extracted from pregnant mares' urine. In order to produce this drug, approximately 35,000 mares are kept in a stable for 6 months of every year with urine collecting apparatus attached to them. These stables must be narrow to prevent the mares from lying down or turning and breaking the apparatus. The stalls are generally 4 1/2 ft wide. Their water intake also is regulated and restricted, all of which can lead to swollen legs, sore hooves and other health problems. When they get old and tired they go to the slaughter house. Their foals are usually sent to the slaughter house as well. The females are allowed to grow up and eventually take the place of their mothers.
Once at the slaughterhouse, the workers take them a few at a time and, using long, thick fiberglass rods, poke and beat the horses' faces, necks, backs, and legs, forcing them through the facility into the kill box. Under federal law, horses are required to be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually with a device called a captive bolt gun, which shoots a metal rod into the horse's brain. Some horses, however, are improperly stunned and may still be conscious when they are hoisted by a rear leg to have their throats cut.
A lot of American people know that this cruelty goes on and have opened up appeals to their country asking for their help. Petitions to persuade the government to make a law against it. The Animal Welfare Institute is one of these companies who have opened up an appeal for these horses. One of the members, Christopher J. Heyde gives a rendition of his experience whilst visiting a slaughterhouse.
"Located at the rear of the nondescript facility was a double-deck trailer fully loaded with horses. They filled both rows and were unable to stand normally, forced to keep their heads low. Despite the fact that several of the horses I could see had cuts and blood trailing from their mouths and noses, all looked healthy and fairly young. Only a few horses at a time were removed from the truck so many were still on board when I left. When some were moved off the trailer, workers poked them with long fiberglass rods through holes on the side of the trailer.
"Once inside the building more callous workers, standing high on the railing that lined the stalls, beat the horses on the nose, forehead, neck, back, or hindquarters to get them to move. This continued until they entered the kill chute.
"Two egregious acts of cruelty took place right in front of me. Running across the floor of the barn was a grate-covered drain about three feet deep. A section of the grate was missing in one of the stalls through which horses were being forced. Because they were crammed into a space and panicking, each horse fell into the open hole, unable to get out since the floor was wet and slippery. Workers continued to beat the horses until they were able to throw their bodies out of this hole. Due to the overcrowding and panic, a large male got his leg hooked over one of the upper rails. Again, workers proceeded to beat him continually until the horse lunged forward gouging his leg open on the solid metal fence, which forced his leg free of the rail. Federal law requires the presence of a US Department of Agriculture inspector during slaughter, but an inspector was nowhere to be found."
http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/winter02/blindeye.html