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Monday, January 13, 2014 - 9:30pm
Horse leaning over a fence






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Kelli L Richardson

Kudos to all of those unselfish and dedicated folks who worked tirelessly to get the word out there and get this bill passed.. What a day what a day.... step back, take a bow and enjoy the applause!!!!


Ok I'm going to play devils advocate here. If there is no funding for inspections then what does that mean for slaughter plants themselves? Without funding for inspections (fyi, those are to ensure that animals are handled and euthanized as humanely as possible). Then doesn't that still leave the door open for slaughter to be reopened in the us? The fact is that they can still be shipped across the border where conditions and handling practices are barbaric compared to the us. Further more, that still leaves the hundreds of thousands of unwanted horses EVERY YEAR to what? Starve to death? Get tossed to the way side? Was that even discussed in the budget or by anti-slaughter advocates. Before anyone starts crucifying me for being pro slaughter I will go on record to say I DO NOT WANT HORSES HARVESTED FOR FOOD. It is not our countries culture as a whole. I just feel like its being very short sided to the real problem. You can't fix stupid, and it is impossible to regulate how people treat their horses or make decisions regarding them.


I live in Canada, and have closely watch the slaughter industry since the early 1960's. It is the height of American arrogance to say your plants were more humane. They were designed by the same people as the ones in Canada, and run by the same standards. In fact, your slaughter shill, Temple Grandin the Bloodthirsty designed our newest ones here.

Mexico upholds far higher standards than either the US or Canada. The border guards turn back horses that are emaciated, injured and pregnant. Neither Canada nor the US has ever done that.

You actually are pro slaughter, since every word you're spouting is pure lies published by the PR teams at the slaughter corporations. If you want shipping to other countries to stop, agitate for the SAFE Act.

The ONLY relationship slaughter has to horse abuse and cruelty, is that it creates it. When animals are considered disposable objects, profitable ones at that, they will be disposed of.

No, you can't fix stupid, as you said.

Teresa Piety

Horsewoman, You are correct there are no humane slaughter plants anywhere, rather it be in Mexico, Canada or the United States. It is very wrong to target just 1 country. I believe we all are to blame for this cruelty to our horses. I believe in stiffer laws against animal cruelty. Not just for the horses but for all animals in the world. I believe the thorobred association should be held responsible for the unwanted foals being born then tossed aside due to they dont messure up. If our goverments would just put into laws that the owners of these horses are to be held responsible for their actions, there would be alot less unwanted neglected abused horses in this world. And its not just the thorobred association. Its for all horse owners. Rather its a small time horse farm or a multi-million dollar industry. We as human beings need to stop breeding just to be breeding horses. We us the people created these problems. It started with the people, it needs to end with the people.

Suzanne Moore

There are laws against abuse and neglect - but they are toothless and seldom enforced. We need to get on that as well.


Horsewoman, You are so right, it makes no difference where a horse is slaughtered, the poor terrified horse suffers regardless of location. I will say that the horses must suffer longer if they are transported, but that really isn't the point. I think horse slaughter should be banned everywhere, in every country. And, Canada is certainly no worse than the US or Mexico. I live in the US, but anyone who thinks we are better than other countries in the care of our animals is sadly mistaken.

Jean Briggs

Horsewoman, of course you are correct to call any Americans arrogant who put themselves above Canada or Mexico on this matter, but you're wrong about one person, and that's Temple Grandin.
A great deal of her incredible work and her life have been dedicated to the humane slaughter of cattle, and now horses. You may be against any horse slaughter, but if you ever were involved with the raising of cows "the old fashioned" way, you know they have as different personalities as horses do (and have been ridden by many a child). If the US is going to send horses to slaughter, it has to be in the US, done humanely, including with humane transport. If we're not, we've got to come up with a plan to care for the hundreds of thousands of horses no longer young/good enough for Muffy to show, fast enough for syndicates to race, too expensive for people to care for, esp. after loss of a job or the death of an elderly partner, and any number of other reasons that hidden horses become sick, isolated, emaciated, and knee deep in their own manure every day in this country.



Jane Doe

My questions exactly!


It means that without inspectors the horse meat will not meet USDA standards for human consumption. Thus, processing plants that would have opened will no longer be profitable. Doesn't fix the entire problem but stops the processing of horse meat in the USA. By the way, the reason dog food must pass USDA inspection is because so many poor and elderly have to eat it. Sad commentary.