Oh goodness, no! That's not good at all

:( I know. These are some of the smartest horses in existence. :(

I knoww. It pains me to know that these horses are being slaughtered. I would own a thousand horses if I had the money or space.
But then I think of cows and whatnot. We slaughter them anyway, so I suppose what's the diffrence?

To me the difference in this is that cows are specifically bred for that. The different breeds of cattle are bred for specific muscle mass or dairy production etc etc. The different breeds of horse are set up for specific traits. Andalusians for example, are bred for their affectionate natures, massive statures, and intelligence. I believe that if people were starving to death and it was a massive continental or world-wide food shortage type crisis, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. These horses are only being slaughtered because their owners can't afford to keep them.

The point of this journal is to try and find like-minded folk to help me brainstorm ideas to -help- the animals. Not debate the morality of eating them.

Ahh, being slaughtered because they can't be kept? I mustve missed that part.
Q_Q
If there was a famine, I wouldn't hesitate to eat horse meat either. But I feel like just killing them is very selfish.

This is the same story as it is in America- save for the fact that we had horse slaughter plants within the US shut down. So, horses that were still going to be slaughtered for meat had to be trailered (which is stressful for 4 hours with one other horse or less, usually) with hundreds of other horses to Canada or Mexico to be taken to slaughter houses. I think the US slaughter plants are back open, so it's good to hear they will be placed in humane facilities for their last few hours.

Horses are getting harder to afford with our economy. Our area in particular had a bad drought. Hay bales have gone from $3-4 to $9-10 each. Many horse owners were unable to keep their animals this winter due to the lack of hay. It's a very, very sad reality. And did you know that even if they kill the horses, they might not be able to eat the meat?? There is a drug that we refer to as "bute" which is an analgesic for horses. If a horse has been given bute, it is not fit for human consumption. (I don't know a horse at my barn who hasn't had bute, so.....)

I get that people keep backyard breeding horses, and I personally am OK with horse slaughter just because there are so many owners who dont know when to say enough is enough and stop having babies they aren't sure they can take care and just ugh. Do I want all horses to have a good home? Of course. But it's really unrealistic of an expectation-- as much as I love horses.

So, while my heart goes out to them and their "specialness" because of their breed, this is something that's happening everywhere to American Quarter Horses, American Saddlebreds, Miniature horses, Appaloosas, Paints, Morgans, Tennessee Walkers, Hackeys, Drafts, Arabians, and all things inbetween. :( Really sad.