I have often read that the slaughtering of our American horses-
in both Canada and Mexico is cruel -but especially so in Mexico.
What are our horses doing in these countries anyway?
It would seem that we can thank an uncaring government whose
policies have led to the rounding up of the wild horses of the
west. I read that so far 74,000 of them have been rounded up
by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Many of us have been
writing the Minister of Interior, Ken Salazar, to have these
round ups stopped - to no avail
Writing President Obama hasn't made any difference either. We
all puzzled why he appointed a former rancher to this position
in the first place. No, the horses would not be protected under
either of these parties, and the wonderful compassionate "Wild
Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971" which Velma Johnston
worked so hard to get passed has been consistently watered down
by special interests groups in Congress.
For the past few years the Bureau of Land Management has been
using the cruel helicopter round-ups of our wild horses - often
in the throes of a hot summer, where these poor horses are forced
to run miles without water to avoid the whirring menaces. Some
of them and their foals would not survive the day. Those who
did were often sold at auction where the greedy "meat" men snapped
them up to send to Canada or Mexico.
Why were these wild horses rounded up in the first place? The
prevailing thought is that the powers that be decided that public
lands could be better used for private cattle interests. Of course,
that is wrong. Public lands should be used for public interests.
If you care about horses, I hope you see the connection of how
eating beef is linked to their suffering.
But in this regard, I think I know better. Knowing that our
horses are being divested of their land because of beef rancher
interests will probably not bother too many beef eaters.
Today on Care2 a writer shared a video called LA SURCONSOMMATION
ON VIMEO. It promised that those who would watch it would become
vegan in six minutes. You can find it on the internet too.
I smiled because I believe the claim was too grandiose, and I
could not help thinking - if only. But the reality is -that
despite watching all the cruel practices of CAFO farming from
seeing thousands of unwanted baby male chicks go through a
shredder alive -to viewing all the poor animals in cages, crates
and stifling confining barns - the only people who will think
about converting to veganism will be those who are compassionate.
Am I wrong? Do compassionate people eat meat?
Andrew Wasley on Alternet provided us with an insight into
what happens to our horses in a Mexican slaughterhouse. After
a terribly hard transport in crowded conveyances where they
are tightly packed together - given no water or food during
their long journey, they arrive at -in this case, a Mexican
abattoir.
They will soon be herded down a concrete chute. They are all
very different in color and size. Some are fat and some are
thin. Some are even lame. One by one they are herded into a
metal box whose metal trapdoor shuts down behind the one entering
it. The floor is covered with blood and filth, and the b uzzing
flies are having a field day.
In my opinion, I feel that the horse must smell death and that
he/she must be terribly afraid. The moment comes which does
strike terror in the horse. It is described here by Wasley:
"A man leans over the horse--the animal freezes at first, then
jerks forward slightly, obviously terrified...and stabs a knife
forcefully into the top of the horse's head. The horse crumples
to the ground and the man stabs it again. The side of the box
opens, discharging the body onto a stained floor. A metal chain
is hooked around a hoof, the horse swings up and onto a moving
production line. Men set upon each body as they come through,
slicing away skin and tissue and butchering the explosed flesh."
Reading about this cruelty makes me ashamed of our government-
from the President- to the Interior Minister - to the BLM -to
the congresspeople who helped water down the Horse and Burro
Protection Act of 1971 and to anyone of us who are complicit in
this happening to these beautiful majestic creatures. I know
that were "Wild Horse Annie" (Velma Johnston) alive she would be
working hard to abolish this cruel practice.
In the meantime, we can try to help stop this travesty by letting
our congresspeople and the president know that we object to this
happening to our horses. Let them know that you want the Horse
and Burro Protection Act of 1971 restored and be implemented as
well as any other acts which would protect our horses from such
a terrible fate.
Somewhere I read - we kill the animals and they kill us. Well,
it seems to be happening in Europe where the horse meat from
America is tainted with drugs. Whether this has caused any
fatalities, I don't know, but it certainly cannot be healthy
to eat drug-tainted meat. Hopefuly, this knowledge will help
dry the market, and Canada and Mexico will refuse our horses
for slaughter.
