It's been a while since Americans have had horse meat. Sure we eat cows by the million, but horses are our symbol of the freedom of the Wild West, our quintessential cowboy mode of transportation and trusty companion. And now horse meat is back on the table. In 2006 Congress stopped federal funding from going to the inspection of horses for slaughter, and because all animals and slaughter houses must be inspected by law it effectively banned horse meat from the United States.
The thought of eating horses elicits automatic "eewwww"s from people. We don't see horses as food, we see them as pets, like dogs and cats, which we would never consider eating. Nevermind that we use horses for glue and gelatin (mmmm Jello), nevermind that mares are kept pregnant in Premarin production facilities, nevermind that wild Mustangs were driven from the plains of the country, nevermind that American horses are still sold to other countries for slaughter, and nevermind that it's only been 5 years since eating horses was effectively banned here. Horses are expensive to care for, and work horses must be making money to be kept, so what happens to horses that are too old or weak to continue working? What happens when a person can no longer care for a horse? Or several horses? Often they're abandoned: selling horses to Mexico for slaughter nets very little money and I have to imagine that ordeal being terrifying for a horse.
Two states, California and Illinois, have complete bans on slaughtering horses and selling horse meat, and many others have such severe limits that it's impractical. Eating horse meat has almost always been taboo in America, but it was a brief necessity in many places during World War II because of the high cost of beef (there's a rumor that the then-new San Diego Zoo got by feeding its lions horse meat). The last American horse slaughter house, which was in Illinois, was forcibly closed in 2007, which ultimately led to people being unable to give away horses that had once been destined for food. Though supporters of horse slaughter insist that it would help to reduce the number of abandoned horses, horses not explicitly raised for slaughter could have been given drugs that are harmful to humans and are banned from horses destined for human consumption. And what about the actual practice of slaughtering horses? There are a number of problems that arise, including improper stunning before slaughter, animal awareness of what a slaughterhouse is, inhumane transportation and treatment of live horses.
Outside the eww factor, horse meat can also have some benefits. Although most Americans think it's barbaric to eat a dog or a cat, millions of these pets are euthanized every year because they're unwanted, and while we might not think of them as a waste of meat, we might think of hundreds of thousands of euthanized horses as a waste of meat. With the price of beef increasing (which, in my humble opinion, might force Americans to rethink their meat-eating habits as a whole but that argument belongs in a different post), horse meat might be a viable alternative. Plus, there's the zoos to think of. It used to be that 10% of horse meat in the United States went to zoos but almost all zoos now use beef, which is less nutritionally accurate but somehow more humane (do people realize what lions and tigers do to eat in the wild?).
So where do I lie on the matter? Personally I would never knowingly eat horse for several reasons: I don't eat most meat for ethical reasons, but I also used to take riding lessons and my favorite horse had been abandoned until my trainer rescued him. I certainly hope horse isn't raised for food like cows are, but I think using horses for their meat (for human or animal consumption) can't be too bad if we're also using them for glue and pharmaceutical production, which is far worse. I'm not opposed to eating meat, and am not vegetarian, but I choose my meat based on humane or sustainability standards (which eliminates all US bred cattle) and I believe that if we're going to be killing animals for any reason we should be using as much of each animal as we can. Feel free to share your opinions!
Lindsay writes her animal loving blog Miniature Mastadon and, right up until her senior year of high school, was going to work with animals. After changing courses and getting a degree in writing, she ended up working in a zoo for a little more than a year. Being face to face with rhinos, giraffes, ostriches, gaur and even super close to an elephant herd (faves) dawned the realization that she can't quite ignore the need to be involved in some way. The Miniature Mastadon is an outlet to write about animal news, triumphs, discoveries, and even some sadness. All discussion, thoughts, questions and stories are most fully welcome so come chime in!
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