| Anti-slaughter
laws would be deadly for horse industry
By Kristen Encheff
(See
letters to the editor in response to this editorial.)
October 10, 2007 | Six horses, abandoned on the side
of the road in Smithfield, Utah. Another ten left to
rot in a field of their own feces in Brigham City. This
is only the beginning: if the American Horse Anti-Slaughter
proposal become law, thousands of horses each year will
face a fate worse than death.
Surely the animal rights groups presenting this bill
have financial plans in place? No. There are no financial
plans to care for homeless horses, no education plans
for horse owners, no compensation for the blow to the
American economy.
The impact the horse industry has on American economy
is over $112.1 billion per year, involving over 7.1
million Americans and 6.9 million horses.
There are many rescue and retirement facilities for
horses unable to continue working, but none can handle
the 100,000 horses sent to slaughter each year. Such
a flood of horses on the industry would cause the price
of horses to plummet, the price of caring for horses
to increase, and many horse owners to be unable to continue
caring for their animals.
Animal rights groups would have us believe that slaughterhouses
are torture facilities where horses meet slow, agonizing
deaths at the hands of evil, faceless men. Not in America.
The same humane laws in place for all other animals
sent to slaughter apply to horses: a quick, painless
death.
Overzealous activists will also claim that responsible
horse owners prefer to euthanize their horses and bury
them in the backyard with a fancier tombstone than their
human family members.
The majority of horse owners are responsible and loving
enough to desire the deaths of their animals to serve
a purpose, not become yet another urn on a cold stone
mantle.
The fact is, anti-slaughter is a cruel solution to
a minor problem. Horses are magnificent creatures, loving
companions, and hard workers who deserve our highest
level of care and affection, which includes caring for
the industry they are a part of and, when the difficult
decision of their deaths must be made, choosing a meaningful
death.
For more information, see Closing
slaughterhouses will hurt horses, not save them.
NW
RB |
