Can you answer any of these questions posed by other users? Think of it as a civic good deed. See 6 more questions posed on this topic or submit your own question on the Q&A page.

Answered by a visitor on Dec 5, 2008 6:49 PM - I ask you, have you ever seen a horse starve to death? Its horriable, and now with no slaughter plants open, and no where to go with old or otherwise unusable horses they are being turned loose on public or private lands and left to fend for themselves. Rising gas costs of the last year, skyrocketing hay prices, and no way to feed horses. If people want to eat horse meat, let them, if they want to feet it to the dogs let them. When slaughter houses were open in the US the abuse and neglect was significantly lower. The horse industry was thriving, now familys whom have raised quality horses for years are getting out of the horse business because good horses are not worth what they should be. And thats because the market is flooded with unwanted horses. Open the plants. We need regulated horse slaughter in the US so the starvation and neglect will decline again.

Answered by a visitor on Feb 6, 2009 10:51 AM - I am responding to the answer that horses going to slaughter have mental problems. That is not true most horses going to slaughter are physically and mentally sound they are just unwanted or someone cannot afford them. THe statement they are doped up and cause most injuries is also very untrue. I am not sure where this person gets their facts from but take it from a n equine vet tech and owner and has 44 years of experience in the horse industry theses instances are few.

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Answered by a visitor on Dec 4, 2008 9:26 PM - I am against slaughter in the current form in North America. However, as I believe most people would be, if it were redesigned I would be accepting of the idea of the houses being reopened.

The current form in which horses are processed in North America is designed for cattle. A horse mentally and physically is a very different species and reacts to situations very differently then a cow would.

There is a video of an European slaughter house on youtube in which the gentlemen calmly leads the horse and shoots them. The horses are calm and relaxed, they wash the blood between each one, they are not slipping and sliding. In short it was handled so well I would allow that man to put down my own personal horses with out second guessing my choice. If our houses handled it the same way I would have been pro slaughter. Unfortunately, it is handled quite the opposite here.

Answered by a visitor on Feb 6, 2009 10:17 AM - I agree with the European slaughter answer. I also know that in Sweden they slaughter horses for human consumption and the way they make sure it is done humanely is the drivers bringing in the horses are the ones held accountable if any horses are sick, injured or stressed. If this happens they are not paid, if you hit people where it hurts (wallets) they will make sure all guidelines are met. Yes horses are very different from cattle and so there should be different guidelines. I am an equine vet tech and have owned and shown horses my whole life and have a rescue. If the general public saw every day what I see from irresponsible horse owners,breeders and trainers they might see the slaughter issue differently. We need to attack this problem where is starts the owners, breeders and trainers.