[MyBabyTex]

Okay... we all feel bad for the horses. We do. It is sad.

But how about the cows? The chickens? The pigs? How about the animals who people don't make a fuss over who are being strung, boiled, and cut up alive because of faulty killing methods? Who are living in atrocious conditions to make a few extra bucks?

The stun gun is an extremely quick and painless way to die. Horses generally spend most of their lives in some sort of pasture, with some sort of owner, with some sort of feed. Then, unwanted, they go to slaughter. But most of them led fairly good lives.

Now, here are some sites and videos that will make you squirm. Because animal cruelty is happening. Not just to horses! But the only thing we can do to stop it is enforce laws and regulations to monitor these slaughterhouses better so that things like this do not occur. And I don't care if it is only one out of three slaughterhouses that kill this way, it is happening.

I do not disagree with eating meat. Not in any way. We are animals, we are at the top of the food chain and need meat and vegetables to survive. Well, we can survive on veggies alone but for thousands of years man has been eating meat. The difference? The way it occurs. Up until only the past 100 years, animals were kept on farms and generally led good lives. Even farther back in history, we hunted wild animals. Which was fair. The animals were happy and au natural. Now they are kept in cages. In actual prisons. Pigs have been proven to be quite intelligent. Can you imagine being stuck in those conditions your whole short life? Of course not. It's unimaginable.

But Regardless of intelligence, no living creature deserves to be crammed in a cage all day, never seeing sunlight. Never even breathing fresh air. This is what we should strive for. Why Making liveable habitats for all slaughter animals. Why don't we? Because it would cost more. That is the bottom line. We want animals to be happy and have lots of space and die quickly and painlessly, but the fact is that corporations are making big money from keeping animals in tight conditions. Less space means more money for them.

My point:

It's pointless to concentrate on ending slaughter. That will never happen. With horses or cows or poultry or pigs. What can happen is to better their lives and make sure death is instantaneous. There will always be cases of mistakes happening, but if regulations are enforced and inspectors doing surprise visits to slaughterhouses, just maybe we can eat our steak with a better conscience knowing that this animal ate grass, felt the sun, and rolled in the mud.




Sorry guys I had to take out the vids and site link. They were just meant to show the inhumanity that still occurs, not to bring up age old arguments about the organizations that had the images. Sorry. If anyone wants the links, they can pm me.

[Cavalier]

I agree...what about all the other animals???

I used to be vegetarian and even vegan (not for long...i love my chocolate too much ) for 4 years...then I married a farmer and slowly ate meat again.

Ok...sidetracked here!

My point is, that when it comes to slaughter, transport, living arrangements at these places, horses get the better end of the deal. I cringe every time I see a cattle, pig, sheep truck pass and all those poor animals are crammed in, making noise as they climb on top of and defecate all over each other.

We live on a farm and we are very 'kind' farmers, but there are alot of farmers who don't give 2 hoots about the welfare of their stock...you would die if you'd seen how they are treated.

It brings me to tears everytime we send a load off to the meatworks, but we have to make a living...here in Australia, animals are killed humanely at meatworks, and we transport them there humanely too.

Its not only horses that suffer...all animals do.

[Trick Chick]

That peta video was horrific, does anyone know if that was some type of Halal slaughterhouse? Here in Australia most cattle are slaughtered with captive bolt pistol unless it is regarded as Halal. I have no idea what happened there but that cow didnt die the way the other one did. It would be interesting to know how often that happens in these places. Some people must have no concience what so ever.

[chocchipcookie]

As much as I don't like slaughter of any kind, I do agree with you. In my book, it's ok so long as the animals are still treated kindly to the end.

[madvoice]

This is the most mature take on this issue that I have ever seen. I applaud you for that

[Kiwi Pony]

Wow good thread. I was thinking about writing a pro-slaughter one aswell! Lol, the people who don't want horses slaughtered (at all) - the poor people who eat them! Imagine if India and other Hindu people started a crusade to stop us slaughtering beef... Just because we (and I use the term loosely) don't understand "how they can do it", doesn't make it wrong. There is nothing inately wrong about killing and eating horses. They are not some sacred, mystical animal - they are an animal! A really cool one, who I'm glad I have been involved with, sure, but an animal just the same. Like us .

[SalemWitchChild]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Pony

Wow good thread. I was thinking about writing a pro-slaughter one aswell! Lol, the people who don't want horses slaughtered (at all) - the poor people who eat them! Imagine if India and other Hindu people started a crusade to stop us slaughtering beef... Just because we (and I use the term loosely) don't understand "how they can do it", doesn't make it wrong. There is nothing inately wrong about killing and eating horses. They are not some sacred, mystical animal - they are an animal! A really cool one, who I'm glad I have been involved with, sure, but an animal just the same. Like us .

Just to play devils advocate here...What if another country was cannibals? Would you support their meat of choice?

Btw I do agree with the original posters opinions. Slaughter will never just stop. But it can be regulated. I work in an old slaughterhouse. It use to be webbers before my company bought the place. It provided many important jobs for the people of my town and it's closing caused many people to loose their jobs. TO those who wish to see Slaughter houses closed for good also take into consideration that your not just stopping the killing, but your laying off hundreds of American workers as well.

[Lou3]

Please no-one take any notice of anything on either of those sites. Those sites are run by animal rights activist groups and have little to no REAL FACTS on them. The videos are fabrications, either complete propaganda filmed by the organisations themselves in "mock" surroundings or more then 20 years old. Some MAY be from documented cases of cruelty that have resulted in a prosecution. That this is portrayed as the "norm" by these sites is as disgusting as the fact that it may have happened. You do not condemn an entire industry based on one occurance - the same as you would not ban dog ownership because in isolated cases a few individuals beat their dog. Rest assured the occurances in these videos are EXTREMELY rare these days and you enjoying a steak for lunch will not cause any animal to suffer in any way. Slaughter houses are extremely tightly regulated and these things cannot occur without serious consequences for the operator.
Lou

[Equine_Harmony]

I edited this for I was the one who missed what was really going on here, I feel that "My BabyTex" brought up a thread that is a very good one, better than mine. I was joking about the five star rating. I feel this thread is more than a 5 star rating. I raced through this thread without really reading it all, sorry MyBabyTex for any foolish words i posted, I am ashamed of myself.

[Shotgun93]

Originally Posted by MyBabyTex

Making liveable habitats for all slaughter animals. Why don't we?

The bottom line is that we don't have the land to support this kind of livestock any more. You can't blame the farmers that land prices have been driven up so high that they can't afford to feed their families and farm on acres of land. My husband uncles used to be farmers, they all raised cattle, pigs and chickens. Until people from the east coast came out and started buying up land for hunting, driving up land costs and in turn property tax. They could no longer afford to feed their livestock or their families. So, being that taking care of animals is all they know, they sold their farms and opened up a hog confinement system. They now provide 90% of the local pork for a local meat plant, which provides thousands of jobs.

I have been to this place more than once and I can tell you that it is nothing like those pictures. It is highly regulated, with scheduled AND unscheduled visits monthly. It is clean, well-maintained and animals are not beaten and left for dead. Yes, some do die. But, Law of Averages, when you have thousands of animals, some will die of causes other than slaughter (and those goes for all places, not just pigs).

I agree, tighter regulations would be good. But, please don't take those images seriously, they are taken way out of context. Transportation is lacking, that's where the problems lie. Animals are treated well before they leave and when they arrive at the plant, it's in the transportation that things need to be fixed. Lets focus on that and not ridicule the people who are trying to make a living raising food to feed a country.