Not Your Typical Ending Slaughter Thread

BuxtonReins · 02-01-2006, 11:18 AM

Great posts. Wonderful thread.

luvs2ride79 · 02-01-2006, 03:21 PM

For the record, I do NOT like PETA or any of those other animal rights extremists. I am NOT an animal rights activist, I am an animal WELFARE activist. I work on many other fronts besides horses, so don't ask me "What about the cows"... I'm working on getting slaughter more humane for accepted food animals here in the USA. However, horses are not accepted food animals and slaughter is NOT a necessary part of the USA horse comminuty. Here is why.

(I wrote this based on my own research of government sources, other unbiased sources, and even some pro-slaughter sources. I started out pro-slaughter, but my tune changed as my research progressed.)

In 2004, just under 66,000 horses were slaughtered in the USA for human consumption overseas (nearly 20,000 were exported live to Canada, Mexico, and Japan for slaughter). Their meat is exported to France, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. Horsemeat is generally considered a delicacy in these countries and is higher priced than beef. France alone consumed 300,000 horses in 2003, Italy 350,000 horses. The French numbers may change however. French government officials have suggested to stop the sale of horsemeat in restaurants due to health concerns. Many medications and topical treatments that are commonly use on horses are never to be used on animals intended for food. There is no withdrawal period. (the US numbers are from the USDA, the world numbers I got from a pro-slaughter news article written in 2004.)

The 2005 population of horses in the US is approximately 9.2 million horses (from the American Horse council's census). The 66,000 slaughtered horses represents 0.7% of the total population. It looks like we'll hit about 120,000 horses this year (2005), which is 1.3% of the total population. In 1990 over 315,000 horses were slaughtered in the US. The number of horses slaughtered has steadily dropped in the last 14 years while the number of foals being born has increased (with some major fluctuation of the number slaughtered). Drops in the number of horses slaughtered have been almost 80,000 a year at times. During those years we did not see a huge influx of "surplus" horses or a large drop in the price of horses. The number of horses slaughtered every year follows the demand for their meat, not the overall horse population. This illustrates the lack of a need for the slaughter industry to regulate horse population.

Also, the number of horses slaughtered has been increasing over the last 3 years. If the pro-slaughter argument that slaughter helps the price of horses were true, we'd be seeing an increase in the bottom price of horses. Over the last 3 years, we have seen the opposite... Prices for horse meat have dropped siginificantly and auction horse prices have suffered. This illustrates that horse slaughter is NOT needed to bolster the horse economy.

The American Horse Council estimates that 10% of the horse population dies every year, either by accident/injury, illness, or natural causes. That means 920,000 horses will die this year. That HUGE number (800,000+) of horses dying from ways other than slaughter has not createed a bad enviornmental impact, like the AMVA and AQHA would like you to think. The number of horses that will die outnumbers those that will be slaughtered by 9:1. Statistically speaking, the number of horses slaughtered every year is insignificant. (the American Horse Council, which is an arguably pro- slaughter organization.)

California passed legislation banning horse slaughter and transport to slaughter in 1998. Since then, horse thefts have dropped almost 40% and continue to drop every year (based on police reports filed for stolen animals). Horse prices have remained steady. Abuse cases in California have not risen at all, and have declined in areas, while the national average is on the rise. Also, during the years that the Illinois slaughter facility was closed, abuse numbers leveled off and even began to fall. Ironically (or maybe not), Texas has the highest rate of horse abuse in the nation. This illustrates that ending slaughter will not encourage the mass neglect and abuse of horses.

The method of transporting horses to slaughter is inhumane. Horses often travel 36 hours or more without rest, food, or water in cramped double decker trailers (this is standard operating procedure, ask any killer buyer). These trailers are built for shorter animals such as cattle and pigs; most horses cannot lift their heads. Horses often slip and fall in these trailers arriving at the plants dead or severely crippled. Transportation reform laws were passed in 2002 but they have not done any good. Even proponents of slaughter like Dr. Friend of Texas A&M agree that the transportation of horses to slaughter is inhumane.

The slaughter itself is also inhumane. The chutes that hold the horses are made for cows. Horses are much more flexible with longer necks. They are also more intuitive than cows and have a skittish nature in stressful unfamiliar environments. They thrash about making the captive bolt operator's job very difficult. The operator often has to stun a horse 3-4 times before rendering the horse unconscious. Sometimes the horse is slaughtered while still alive. USDA considers a 95% rate of unconsciousness before being butchered very acceptable. That means that 3,300 horses (at best) were slaughtered last year while they were still fully alive. The captive bolt gun is used to stun the horses. It's like a spike on a leash. It is shot into the horse's head and then retracts back in to the gun. It can be a humane method of a killing a horse (much like a well placed bullet), but the assembly line fashion that these horses are run through makes it nearly impossible.

Horses that go to slaughter are not generally old, sick, crippled, or dangerous. By the slaughter houses' own records (Dallas Crown and Beltex in Texas) only 10% of horses killed are old, sick, injured, or otherwise "unusable". Just like beef consumers, people who eat horse want young tender flesh. It's just plain ridiculous to think that all of the horses being slaughtered are 25 yr. old nags who can barely walk... (this is based on what the actual slaughter plants record) Most horses going to slaughter are not "unwanted", they are simply at the wrong auction at the wrong time.

And did you know that 40-50,000 horses are stolen in the USA every year? You can verify these statistics with Stolen Horse International, http://netposse.com. Did you know that the only reason the slaughter plants scan for microchips is to remove them so they do not contaminate the meat? This was testimony from plant workers.

One interesting statistic, roughly 70% of all horses that are slaughtered in the USA are quarter horses (stock-type, some with verifiable AQHA papers). This is fact based on the slaughter plants' records. There are over 3 MILLION registered quarter horses in the USA.

There is no hard proof or evidence that stopping horse slaughter will cause a rise in abuse and neglect, thousands of unwanted horses lining the streets, or envoirnmental problems. BUT, there IS evidence to suggest that stopping horse slaughter will NOT cause these problems.

Equine_Harmony · 02-01-2006, 03:55 PM

Review : After the Finish Line: The Race to End Horse Slaughter in America

The Bottom Line

Horse slaughter is a sad reality, even in America where horses are not part of the "food chain". Exceller and Ferdinand are but two examples of popular, stakes-winning horses who have met this sad fate after unsuccessful careers at stud. Every horse fan, racing or otherwise, should read this book to understand he seriousness of the issue, and hopefully get enticed to join the fight against this most heinous treatment of these beautiful animals.
Pros

Does not pull any punches in a strategic attack on horse slaughter in America
Opens the horse lover's eyes to the reality of how horses are killed for food
Encourages the reader to take up the fight and support the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
An excellent tribute to the many organizations who save retired, unwanted, injured horses

Cons

Certain groups continue to support horse slaughter as "euthanasia"
The battle appears to be an uphill one with no end in sight
Graphic descriptions may be disturbing, but necessary to get the message out

Description

In North America, the horse is a creature we admire and respect.
We use them in practical applications as well as for entertainment such as racing and dressage.
In places such as France and Japan, however, horse meat is a delicacy and horses are killed for food
This was the fate of two great Thoroughbreds, Exceller and Ferdinand, who were failures at stud.
Although they were slaughtered overseas, many are killed in America at foreign-owned slaughterhouses
Horse slaughter is illegal in Texas but authorities turn a blind eye to a slaughterhouse near Dallas
Horses are killed using a captive bolt often at the hands of unskilled employees.
This is a far cry from the euthanasia practised by veterinarians at racetracks and farms.
Amazingly, two powerful veterinarian associations actually condone this most inhumane practice.

Guide Review - Review : After the Finish Line: The Race to End Horse Slaughter in America

The highly publicized deaths of champions Exceller and Ferdinand at foreign slaughterhouses quickly brought the issue of horse slaughter to the forefront. In his latest book, After the Finish Line, turfwriter Bill Heller exposes the harsh reality of this issue, focusing on racehorses and the slaughter industry in America. Hundreds of horses are transported uncomfortably in trucks designed for cattle, to meet their ultimate fate at one of 3 foreign-owned slaughterhouses, 2 in Illinois and the other in Texas, a state where horse slaughter has been illegal for years. This has proven to be a profitable business, as these operations buy horses privately from owners or at rock-bottom prices at auctions, kill them, and then resell the meat in Europe, where horse is a delicacy, at a substantial markup.
In response, some politicians introduced the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which, despite bipartisan support, has been stalled indefinitely by high-profile groups who believe horse slaughter is humane. After reading Heller's gruesome detail of what happens in the slaughterhouses when the captive bolt is used, one cannot understand how this can be equated with "euthanasia." Heller promotes the many great people who have made it their mission to rescue unwanted horses, finding uses for them such as pleasure riding or prisoner rehab. If the Act ever passes, these organizations will be needed more than ever, as hundreds of horses that would have died will suddenly need new homes

BornToRide · 02-01-2006, 03:57 PM

hmm another old thread brought back

Equine_Harmony · 02-01-2006, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BornToRide

hmm another old thread brought back

Hi, yeah well...ummmm this is a very sensitive issue, the slaughter of the horse and we all agree, don't we? Ugh when I see a thread gone into horse slaughter I jump in, why, why and why? It kills me to see this happening.
I would take the place of all the horses here in the USA and die for them if they were to be safe, I would gladly die knowing they are safe from slaughter...

This thread is original about cows and other animals...Just added something important to me as for the two racing horses who touched my heart and soul.

SalemsMom · 02-02-2006, 01:59 PM

How can you say, that horse sales are steady, please! Get the facts first, Just two to three years ago, I could sell quarter and paints for around 2-3 thousand dollars, this year, I had to sell them for around 4 hundred. Not just me did this affect, when the slaughter houses closed. A friend raised quarter, and had a lot of good stock of which he paid 15 hundred and up, to put good babies on the ground, which they sold for 25 hundred and up. Those babies now sell for a 1 hundred dollars. Breeding good horses is coming to a stand still. There is going to be a explosion of unwanted horses, because people won't be able to sell them. What is happening now is they are starving in pastures. Yea Peta really did help! I don't like the idea of slaughter of horses, never had, but just like shooting deer, it culls the ones that need to go, who is going to take care of these unwanted horses? PETA!

SalemsMom · 02-02-2006, 02:02 PM

Oh, I wanted to say to, for everyone that loves to ride thier horses, Peta is trying to say that is inhumane, and they are trying to stop that to!

Xiphias · 02-02-2006, 02:31 PM

Humm this thread was started to show the inhumane way our table meat is treated! I live in a state that raises alot of chickens, if you saw the inhumane way chickens are raised and transported to the slaughter house, it would make you cry! I raised and butchered my own chickens, they were happy chickens, they got to run around and eat bugs, and scratch in the dirt, and take dust baths, chase one another around, and act like chickens are suppose to do....the chickens in the chicken houses, are kept in the dark, have their beaks cut off so they don't peck one another, and then are put in little wooden crates and stacked on the flat bed of a tractor trailer and taken down the highway at 60 miles an hour! the wind whipping their feathers off! one truck passed me and left me in a cloud of white feathers! that was so sad! I don't even want to think of how they were treated while they were getting stuffed into the crates, and what happened to them when they arrived at the processing plant, I am sure the workers there were not gentle with them! at least my chickens were happy, and did not know what was happening , (they got their heads chopped off, and were instantly dead! no bad memories for them) sorry graphic, but, they never suffered....and for you guys who love lobster! poor guys living in a big old fish tank, and one day they get taken out and dropped into a pot of boiling water! Alive! do you think that lobster suffered at all? My dad steams live blue crabs, he puts them in a pot alive and turns on the gas flame and cooks them! you can hear them moving around when it starts to get hot! poor crabs! they get cooked alive! btw, I eat both lobster and crabs, but you need to think about it when you eat anything that was alive, how did it die, what did it go through, did it suffer? I always give thanks to the animal that I am eating for giving it's life for me to have something to eat! I buy free range chicken eggs, because, they come from happy chickens! they cost more, but I would rather support the free range farmers, than the ones who keep 4 chickens to a cage, where all they can do is eat and lay eggs, no room to move around, and when they are done laying, they get shipped to the processing plant the same way the other chickens do....ok done with my rant....just think about it when you purchase your meats, and wonder if that animal had a good life, and give thanks to his spirit! Cathy

WP Star · 02-02-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

I buy free range chicken eggs

I do as well, hurray for free range chicken eggs!

MyBabyTex · 02-02-2006, 06:06 PM

Great post Xiph. You got my point exactly!!

I actually made friends with two lobsters my uncle picked up for a BBQ. They were just sitting in a plastic bag with their elastics on, looking so sad. My best friend and I took it upon ourselves to give them one last Hoorah! We took them out of the bag, put them by the pool and very carefully removed their elastics (then we ran back like the devil!). They didnt move much, they didnt ever go to pinch us. Just stretched their claws and sat by the pool. We even took them for a little swim. Chlorine probably wasn't good for them in retrospect, but then again neither was the boiling water!

Then they went in the pot. I couldn't watch. I did eat a piece of Pinchy. He was delicious. He will always be remembered. R.I.P Pinchy and Pinchy #2!

There wasn't much of a point to that story. Just wanted to tell the tale of the Pinchies.

02-01-2006, 03:21 PM	#82
luvs2ride79 Senior Member+ Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Arkansas, USA Posts: 3,887 Images: 26	For the record, I do NOT like PETA or any of those other animal rights extremists. I am NOT an animal rights activist, I am an animal WELFARE activist. I work on many other fronts besides horses, so don't ask me "What about the cows"... I'm working on getting slaughter more humane for accepted food animals here in the USA. However, horses are not accepted food animals and slaughter is NOT a necessary part of the USA horse comminuty. Here is why. (I wrote this based on my own research of government sources, other unbiased sources, and even some pro-slaughter sources. I started out pro-slaughter, but my tune changed as my research progressed.) In 2004, just under 66,000 horses were slaughtered in the USA for human consumption overseas (nearly 20,000 were exported live to Canada, Mexico, and Japan for slaughter). Their meat is exported to France, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. Horsemeat is generally considered a delicacy in these countries and is higher priced than beef. France alone consumed 300,000 horses in 2003, Italy 350,000 horses. The French numbers may change however. French government officials have suggested to stop the sale of horsemeat in restaurants due to health concerns. Many medications and topical treatments that are commonly use on horses are never to be used on animals intended for food. There is no withdrawal period. (the US numbers are from the USDA, the world numbers I got from a pro-slaughter news article written in 2004.) The 2005 population of horses in the US is approximately 9.2 million horses (from the American Horse council's census). The 66,000 slaughtered horses represents 0.7% of the total population. It looks like we'll hit about 120,000 horses this year (2005), which is 1.3% of the total population. In 1990 over 315,000 horses were slaughtered in the US. The number of horses slaughtered has steadily dropped in the last 14 years while the number of foals being born has increased (with some major fluctuation of the number slaughtered). Drops in the number of horses slaughtered have been almost 80,000 a year at times. During those years we did not see a huge influx of "surplus" horses or a large drop in the price of horses. The number of horses slaughtered every year follows the demand for their meat, not the overall horse population. This illustrates the lack of a need for the slaughter industry to regulate horse population. Also, the number of horses slaughtered has been increasing over the last 3 years. If the pro-slaughter argument that slaughter helps the price of horses were true, we'd be seeing an increase in the bottom price of horses. Over the last 3 years, we have seen the opposite... Prices for horse meat have dropped siginificantly and auction horse prices have suffered. This illustrates that horse slaughter is NOT needed to bolster the horse economy. The American Horse Council estimates that 10% of the horse population dies every year, either by accident/injury, illness, or natural causes. That means 920,000 horses will die this year. That HUGE number (800,000+) of horses dying from ways other than slaughter has not createed a bad enviornmental impact, like the AMVA and AQHA would like you to think. The number of horses that will die outnumbers those that will be slaughtered by 9:1. Statistically speaking, the number of horses slaughtered every year is insignificant. (the American Horse Council, which is an arguably pro- slaughter organization.) California passed legislation banning horse slaughter and transport to slaughter in 1998. Since then, horse thefts have dropped almost 40% and continue to drop every year (based on police reports filed for stolen animals). Horse prices have remained steady. Abuse cases in California have not risen at all, and have declined in areas, while the national average is on the rise. Also, during the years that the Illinois slaughter facility was closed, abuse numbers leveled off and even began to fall. Ironically (or maybe not), Texas has the highest rate of horse abuse in the nation. This illustrates that ending slaughter will not encourage the mass neglect and abuse of horses. The method of transporting horses to slaughter is inhumane. Horses often travel 36 hours or more without rest, food, or water in cramped double decker trailers (this is standard operating procedure, ask any killer buyer). These trailers are built for shorter animals such as cattle and pigs; most horses cannot lift their heads. Horses often slip and fall in these trailers arriving at the plants dead or severely crippled. Transportation reform laws were passed in 2002 but they have not done any good. Even proponents of slaughter like Dr. Friend of Texas A&M agree that the transportation of horses to slaughter is inhumane. The slaughter itself is also inhumane. The chutes that hold the horses are made for cows. Horses are much more flexible with longer necks. They are also more intuitive than cows and have a skittish nature in stressful unfamiliar environments. They thrash about making the captive bolt operator's job very difficult. The operator often has to stun a horse 3-4 times before rendering the horse unconscious. Sometimes the horse is slaughtered while still alive. USDA considers a 95% rate of unconsciousness before being butchered very acceptable. That means that 3,300 horses (at best) were slaughtered last year while they were still fully alive. The captive bolt gun is used to stun the horses. It's like a spike on a leash. It is shot into the horse's head and then retracts back in to the gun. It can be a humane method of a killing a horse (much like a well placed bullet), but the assembly line fashion that these horses are run through makes it nearly impossible. Horses that go to slaughter are not generally old, sick, crippled, or dangerous. By the slaughter houses' own records (Dallas Crown and Beltex in Texas) only 10% of horses killed are old, sick, injured, or otherwise "unusable". Just like beef consumers, people who eat horse want young tender flesh. It's just plain ridiculous to think that all of the horses being slaughtered are 25 yr. old nags who can barely walk... (this is based on what the actual slaughter plants record) Most horses going to slaughter are not "unwanted", they are simply at the wrong auction at the wrong time. And did you know that 40-50,000 horses are stolen in the USA every year? You can verify these statistics with Stolen Horse International, http://netposse.com. Did you know that the only reason the slaughter plants scan for microchips is to remove them so they do not contaminate the meat? This was testimony from plant workers. One interesting statistic, roughly 70% of all horses that are slaughtered in the USA are quarter horses (stock-type, some with verifiable AQHA papers). This is fact based on the slaughter plants' records. There are over 3 MILLION registered quarter horses in the USA. There is no hard proof or evidence that stopping horse slaughter will cause a rise in abuse and neglect, thousands of unwanted horses lining the streets, or envoirnmental problems. BUT, there IS evidence to suggest that stopping horse slaughter will NOT cause these problems. __________________ "To be an equestrian in the classical sense is not just to be a rider. It is a position in life." --Charles de Kunffy EquineFriends.com**2HotToTrot.com Anti-Slaughter and PROUD! StopHorseSlaughter.com

02-01-2006, 03:55 PM	#83
Equine_Harmony Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: In a horses mind Posts: 832 Images: 11	Review : After the Finish Line: The Race to End Horse Slaughter in America The Bottom Line Horse slaughter is a sad reality, even in America where horses are not part of the "food chain". Exceller and Ferdinand are but two examples of popular, stakes-winning horses who have met this sad fate after unsuccessful careers at stud. Every horse fan, racing or otherwise, should read this book to understand he seriousness of the issue, and hopefully get enticed to join the fight against this most heinous treatment of these beautiful animals. Pros Does not pull any punches in a strategic attack on horse slaughter in America Opens the horse lover's eyes to the reality of how horses are killed for food Encourages the reader to take up the fight and support the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act An excellent tribute to the many organizations who save retired, unwanted, injured horses Cons Certain groups continue to support horse slaughter as "euthanasia" The battle appears to be an uphill one with no end in sight Graphic descriptions may be disturbing, but necessary to get the message out Description In North America, the horse is a creature we admire and respect. We use them in practical applications as well as for entertainment such as racing and dressage. In places such as France and Japan, however, horse meat is a delicacy and horses are killed for food This was the fate of two great Thoroughbreds, Exceller and Ferdinand, who were failures at stud. Although they were slaughtered overseas, many are killed in America at foreign-owned slaughterhouses Horse slaughter is illegal in Texas but authorities turn a blind eye to a slaughterhouse near Dallas Horses are killed using a captive bolt often at the hands of unskilled employees. This is a far cry from the euthanasia practised by veterinarians at racetracks and farms. Amazingly, two powerful veterinarian associations actually condone this most inhumane practice. Guide Review - Review : After the Finish Line: The Race to End Horse Slaughter in America The highly publicized deaths of champions Exceller and Ferdinand at foreign slaughterhouses quickly brought the issue of horse slaughter to the forefront. In his latest book, After the Finish Line, turfwriter Bill Heller exposes the harsh reality of this issue, focusing on racehorses and the slaughter industry in America. Hundreds of horses are transported uncomfortably in trucks designed for cattle, to meet their ultimate fate at one of 3 foreign-owned slaughterhouses, 2 in Illinois and the other in Texas, a state where horse slaughter has been illegal for years. This has proven to be a profitable business, as these operations buy horses privately from owners or at rock-bottom prices at auctions, kill them, and then resell the meat in Europe, where horse is a delicacy, at a substantial markup. In response, some politicians introduced the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which, despite bipartisan support, has been stalled indefinitely by high-profile groups who believe horse slaughter is humane. After reading Heller's gruesome detail of what happens in the slaughterhouses when the captive bolt is used, one cannot understand how this can be equated with "euthanasia." Heller promotes the many great people who have made it their mission to rescue unwanted horses, finding uses for them such as pleasure riding or prisoner rehab. If the Act ever passes, these organizations will be needed more than ever, as hundreds of horses that would have died will suddenly need new homes

02-01-2006, 03:57 PM	#84
BornToRide Senior Member+ Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 4,009 Images: 192	hmm another old thread brought back __________________ There are times when you can trust a horse, times when you can't and times when you have to. got to get the bagel with the cream cheeze oh the creamy creamy cheeze eh Blistering Winds? lmao

02-02-2006, 02:31 PM	#88
Xiphias Senior Member+ Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Maryland, horse country USA Posts: 16,335 Images: 627 Blog Entries: 29	Humm this thread was started to show the inhumane way our table meat is treated! I live in a state that raises alot of chickens, if you saw the inhumane way chickens are raised and transported to the slaughter house, it would make you cry! I raised and butchered my own chickens, they were happy chickens, they got to run around and eat bugs, and scratch in the dirt, and take dust baths, chase one another around, and act like chickens are suppose to do....the chickens in the chicken houses, are kept in the dark, have their beaks cut off so they don't peck one another, and then are put in little wooden crates and stacked on the flat bed of a tractor trailer and taken down the highway at 60 miles an hour! the wind whipping their feathers off! one truck passed me and left me in a cloud of white feathers! that was so sad! I don't even want to think of how they were treated while they were getting stuffed into the crates, and what happened to them when they arrived at the processing plant, I am sure the workers there were not gentle with them! at least my chickens were happy, and did not know what was happening , (they got their heads chopped off, and were instantly dead! no bad memories for them) sorry graphic, but, they never suffered....and for you guys who love lobster! poor guys living in a big old fish tank, and one day they get taken out and dropped into a pot of boiling water! Alive! do you think that lobster suffered at all? My dad steams live blue crabs, he puts them in a pot alive and turns on the gas flame and cooks them! you can hear them moving around when it starts to get hot! poor crabs! they get cooked alive! btw, I eat both lobster and crabs, but you need to think about it when you eat anything that was alive, how did it die, what did it go through, did it suffer? I always give thanks to the animal that I am eating for giving it's life for me to have something to eat! I buy free range chicken eggs, because, they come from happy chickens! they cost more, but I would rather support the free range farmers, than the ones who keep 4 chickens to a cage, where all they can do is eat and lay eggs, no room to move around, and when they are done laying, they get shipped to the processing plant the same way the other chickens do....ok done with my rant....just think about it when you purchase your meats, and wonder if that animal had a good life, and give thanks to his spirit! Cathy __________________ Member COL Club- hand over the Oil of Olay and nobody gets hurt! http://www.freewebs.com/xiphias21034/ I was on HGS the day we made 2 million posts

02-01-2006, 11:18 AM	#81
BuxtonReins Full Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: I reside in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. Posts: 111 Images: 31	Great posts. Wonderful thread.

02-02-2006, 01:59 PM	#86
SalemsMom Senior Member+ Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,780 Images: 6	How can you say, that horse sales are steady, please! Get the facts first, Just two to three years ago, I could sell quarter and paints for around 2-3 thousand dollars, this year, I had to sell them for around 4 hundred. Not just me did this affect, when the slaughter houses closed. A friend raised quarter, and had a lot of good stock of which he paid 15 hundred and up, to put good babies on the ground, which they sold for 25 hundred and up. Those babies now sell for a 1 hundred dollars. Breeding good horses is coming to a stand still. There is going to be a explosion of unwanted horses, because people won't be able to sell them. What is happening now is they are starving in pastures. Yea Peta really did help! I don't like the idea of slaughter of horses, never had, but just like shooting deer, it culls the ones that need to go, who is going to take care of these unwanted horses? PETA!

02-02-2006, 02:02 PM	#87
SalemsMom Senior Member+ Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,780 Images: 6	Oh, I wanted to say to, for everyone that loves to ride thier horses, Peta is trying to say that is inhumane, and they are trying to stop that to!

02-02-2006, 06:06 PM	#90
MyBabyTex Senior Member+ Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Images: 65	Great post Xiph. You got my point exactly!! I actually made friends with two lobsters my uncle picked up for a BBQ. They were just sitting in a plastic bag with their elastics on, looking so sad. My best friend and I took it upon ourselves to give them one last Hoorah! We took them out of the bag, put them by the pool and very carefully removed their elastics (then we ran back like the devil!). They didnt move much, they didnt ever go to pinch us. Just stretched their claws and sat by the pool. We even took them for a little swim. Chlorine probably wasn't good for them in retrospect, but then again neither was the boiling water! Then they went in the pot. I couldn't watch. I did eat a piece of Pinchy. He was delicious. He will always be remembered. R.I.P Pinchy and Pinchy #2! There wasn't much of a point to that story. Just wanted to tell the tale of the Pinchies.