Horse slaughterhouse: Killing ground or overbreeding solution?
UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. -- If only some horses knew how lucky they really are. Beyond the sounds of the Hermiston Livestock Auction, many horses in our area face an uncertain path; pitting neighbor against neighbor in Smalltown, USA.
It's hard to picture now, but an unassuming field in Umatilla County, near Hermiston, is a hub for controversy.
A group called United Horsemen hope to build a horse care facility in the middle of this field.
The group says it would focus on rehabilitating and adopting out sick animals. Hermiston's mayor thinks it would focus on killing tens of thousands of animals instead.
"I think it's a detriment," says Mayor Robert Severson. "Why do we want to be known as the horse slaughter capital?"
There are no horse slaughterhouses this side of the Mississippi. Up until last fall, you couldn't even sell horse meat. Congress lifted that ban, opening the door for the United Horsemen's plan.
Whether you agree with the slaughtering or not, experts say there is a huge overbreeding problem of horses. In fact, on the Yakama Indian Reservation, there are 20,000 horses that were overbred.
The United Horsemen believe those animals need to be controlled and believe they have a humane way to do it that also creates jobs. Director Dave Duquette told Action News a team of 100 people would try to nurse stray horses back to health. He insists only the most ill horses will be killed.
"The technology nowadays, nobody will know what this facility is... Nobody will tell what it is," he says.
The entire project is far from a done deal. Hermiston has no say in preventing it since the facility would go on Umatilla County land. And leaders there will decide the future of the horses.
It's hard to picture now, but an unassuming field in Umatilla County, near Hermiston, is a hub for controversy.
A group called United Horsemen hope to build a horse care facility in the middle of this field.
The group says it would focus on rehabilitating and adopting out sick animals. Hermiston's mayor thinks it would focus on killing tens of thousands of animals instead.
"I think it's a detriment," says Mayor Robert Severson. "Why do we want to be known as the horse slaughter capital?"
There are no horse slaughterhouses this side of the Mississippi. Up until last fall, you couldn't even sell horse meat. Congress lifted that ban, opening the door for the United Horsemen's plan.
Whether you agree with the slaughtering or not, experts say there is a huge overbreeding problem of horses. In fact, on the Yakama Indian Reservation, there are 20,000 horses that were overbred.
The United Horsemen believe those animals need to be controlled and believe they have a humane way to do it that also creates jobs. Director Dave Duquette told Action News a team of 100 people would try to nurse stray horses back to health. He insists only the most ill horses will be killed.
"The technology nowadays, nobody will know what this facility is... Nobody will tell what it is," he says.
The entire project is far from a done deal. Hermiston has no say in preventing it since the facility would go on Umatilla County land. And leaders there will decide the future of the horses.
"He says only the most ill horses will be killed." Really? Ill horses - into the food chain?Â
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Many solutions have been proposed, most supporters of the GAO report stopped reading when they got to the part where it recommended a slaughter ban â
Ban slaughter and a transport to slaughter.Enact an export fee of around xx.xx dollar value on any horse leaving the country, where xx.xx is a sum that is significant enough to deter illegitimate export but not financially restrictive on actual horse owners. Distribute the money collected to be used for gelding clinics, funds for retired racehorses, owner assistance programs, hay banks, grants for adoption, care of seized horses, euthanization clinics, and PROSECUTE offenders who neglect and abuse. Horse registries should collect a breeding TAX which again, is distributed to cover the above. Although itâs not a major source of donations right now, bequests also help occasionally. And never forget that education is key to responsible ownership.
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Enterprising business people SHOULD see an opportunity for composting/rendering of horses, perhaps on a mobile basis. Without slaughter, people might start actually TRAINING their horses instead of dumping them at an auction. Obviously, the availability of slaughter is not a preventative for abuse, case in point â the largest neglect case in Texasâ history took place at a property owned by a vet just outside of Dallas, when Dallas Crowne and Beltex were open.I would also like to see offspring that are approved in order to be accepted into a breed registry, which is what the warmblood registries require â when was the last time you saw a warmblood on a feedlot?
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The fact that breed registries show a decline is positive, but since horses live an average of 20 years, it will take several years to see the effect of the decline. Bouvry and Richelieu have already published an accounting that states that they will no longer accept TBs, ostensibly because of the drugs and the fact that most racetracks have invoked no-slaughter policies. We donât sell cat and dog meat at the end of their lives; breeding of cats and dogs and irresponsible ownership still plague us, because no solution to horse slaughter is without problems. Animal ownership is never without problems, because there are always going to be people who arenât willing to look after their animals, and the presence of slaughter does not change that. Certainly slaughter is problematic, no?
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What everyone is whining about is not much different (aside from the fact we are dealing with sentient animals) from what happened to the Airline industry in the US after September 11. Demand for air travel was reduced after the terrorist attacks, while at the same time use of the internet made it possible to book travel plans and compare the prices of the various airlines â this FORCED the airlines to compete on a cost basis. Then of course the airlines experienced dramatic fuel costs and had to cut back on amenities that had been taken for granted for decades. The industry wasnât expecting any of this and certainly wasnât prepared, but they were COMPELLED to act or cease to exist. The cessation of horse slaughter would compel similar reaction from individuals, breeders, and others in the industry. You canât fix slaughter with all the current players. The Trent Saulters and Dorian Ayacheâs will always be around, causing transport accidents and morphing into new business entities, running from the law and avoiding paying their fines. The industry is hardly made up of the most outstanding citizens.
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The point is that, despite the best laid plans, people, governments, and organizations tend not to react until a problem reaches critical mass â thatâs human nature unfortunately. Of course, necessity is the mother of invention, right? Lastly, Iâm not buying any claims made by Wallis or Duquette
Duquette is so full of it....spewing same words that came out of Sue Wallis' mouth when she was trying to put a slaughter plant in MO. So many lies that her attorney was sent a letter from a Mountain Grove MO attorney warning of lawsuits for misrepresentation. The mayor of Hermiston is right.....the "rescue" part of Duquette's plan is a big lie. And another thing, Duquette lied when he said only the most ill horses would be sent to slaughter. Thoseplants do not take sick, skinny or hurt horses. Congrats to Hermiston for having the smarts to reject Duquette's plant.
"He insists only the most ill horses will be killed"......He wants to kill the sickest horses for human consumption??? Â WTH???? Â This man is a con artist, a liar, and his side kick, Sue Wallis is the BIGGEST one out of both of them. Â Neither one of them are capable of telling a truth about anything. Â Especially anything that concerns horses.
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Why is it that the pro slaughter side are the only ones who get their articles printed? Â Any town, city or whatever that opens a horse slaughter plant better have LOTS of money to pay for all the problems it will create. Â Horses have 2-3 times as much blood as a cow does...they have a hard enough time disposing of the cows blood to where it doesn't contaminate local water supplies, and they want to do horses with the same disposal system??? Â Horse blood is so full of chemicals, they can't even use it for anything, so have to go thru a filtering system (a series of lagoons) before it can be ran into the local waterways....
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And, we won't even mention the torture and fear that these acute animals experience, including their trip to a slaughter plant, let alone the MANY shots to the head that they have to take via captive bolt gun (which was designed for animals with shorter necks, and brains that sit closer to the front of the skull. Â While some think 'it's just an animal' and it's going to die anyway...that several shots to the head to render it unconcious, Â is acceptable, and their death is still more humane than starving to death. Â Would any one of you who support horse slaughter be willing to take just ONE shot to the head, and report back to us how it made you feel? Â Didn't think so! Â Their last 30 minutes of life is nothing but pure torture and excruciating pain for them. Â The fear and confusion, and pain they have to endure...anyone who supports this brutal industry needs to have their heads examined. Â Oh wait....don't serial killers start out by torturing animals???
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Open mouth insert foot yet again Duquette!! Â United Horseman are nothing than money hungry, selfish entity. Â I won't waste my time repeating what has already been said about this atrocious project and the lies that continue to spew out of Duquettes and Wallis. Â Anyone, everyone, any state, county or Country should stay away from Duquette and Wallis. Â Horse Slaughter is NOT the answer.
Rehabbing sick or starving horses can be extremely expensive so it won't be long until that selling point gets chucked out the window. Besides, how many horses can that area of Oregon absorb and shipping them to adopters outside the state will be extremely expensive. I don't believe for a second that there is a serious intent to do help any horses though most of those slaughtered are wonderful, healthy horses that just end up in the wrong hands.
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As for the Yakima numbers, the last news report that quoted a number said there were 60,000 "excess" horses, now we're down to 20,000 and the actual number is probably closer to 6K. Regardless, the UH has been trumpeting that problem for awhile now. If they had any real concern, they would tried to contact the BIA and come up with a solution (other than slaughter) that would have been acceptable to all concerned. Did they? Probably not because that would take away one of their excuses to open a slaughter plant.Â
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Horse slaughter is not the solution to overbreeding, it's one of the CAUSES of overbreeding.
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All it takes is a rudimentary understanding of economics to grasp this issue. When you have a market for reckless breeders to dump their culls, you provide incentive for them to overbreed.
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For the betterment of equines and the horse market, we need to remove - not enable - this incentive to breed poor quality horse in quantity. And at the same time, spare horses the inane cruelty that is inherent in the horse slaughter pipeline right here on American soil.
It's also worth noting that European countries, the prime customers for horse meat, are considering banning imports of horse meat from the U.S. because of the chemicals. These animals are not raised for food, and their meat is full of toxins. Pain-killers like bute, anti-imflammatories, hoof and fungal treatments, chemicals fly repellants, etc. And if we start slaughtering out horses, which are considered pets by most people, do we then start slaughtering out dogs and cats because Asian countries will buy their meat? It's simple unethical. Where do you draw the line?
"Only the most ill horses will be killed." This is a blatant lie. Slaughter houses turn away ill or underweight horses because it is not profitable to slaughter them. Yes, over-breeding is a problem, but this not a humane solution. Slaughter houses for horses in the U.S. will use the same method used in Canada, the captive bolt method, which was designed for cattle. It is not as effective on horses because horses are physiologically different from cattle. Horses are flightier, harder to control, their long necks make the captive bolt practically useless, especially since their brains are positioned differently and they're not always knocked completely unconscious. They are ripped apart and can feel every second of it. How is this a humane alternative? Humane standards in our country state that 95% of the time, the kill must be made on the first attempt. With cattle, slaughter houses achieve 98%. Slaughter houses for horses struggled in the past to maintain 90%. Standards were continually lowered until they were closed. Also, these slaughter houses mostly employ illegals, immigrants, and criminals, and increase crime and pollution in surrounding neighborhoods. We need more restrictions on breeding, no more breeding 100 foals to get one or two prize animals, then throwing the rest away. Slaughter, especially when it is this inhumane, is not the answer.
Why not put up an article that is educational, factual and serves to help our equine? First slaughter has never stopped, neither has over breeding. So obviously with in excess of 130,000 horses going abroad to a horrific and cruel death, slaughter is not the answer. Slaughter is a supply and demand market that is controlled not by our horse industry as these knuckle heads claim, but by our meat industry. We don't slaughter ill horses, lame horses or starved horses. We slaughter young, healthy, sound horses that are throw aways by breeders, looking to make that extra buck off over breeding and collecting their tax breaks, commonly called double dipping. The tax payer of this Nation will incur over a 5 million dollar a year cost to USDA inspect horse meat for diners abroad, with no pay back to the tax payer, only foreign corporations and a small minority in this country will profit. The meat of our horses has NEVER been raised for human consumption, is not regulated and most all drugs we induce are BANNED for human consumption. Yet, this industry has no issue with wanting to send toxic meat over seas to innocent diners, as well as have stated they would love to serve it up to our children here in the US that are on reduced lunch programs. Why pick the poor children of this country to serve up bute laden meat? Bute causes aplastic anemia, leukemia, auto immune disorders and cancer. Do they think poor children don't deserve to eat safe foods? Why is it that in ALL other meats served up in this country we don't allow this contamination, but our government turns a blind eye as we ship this toxic meat out to folks abroad? This will bite us square in the arse at some point. Carcinogens take time to do their damage and when it's done, there's no turning back and undoing the diseases that are fatal to innocent people. Time to stop the campaign donations in the pockets of politicians by the meat industry and clean up our act. Maplight.org will show you the money trail. Anytime a small interest industry that is of criminal actions manages to defy all standards in this country, you can bet there is corruption.
The solution to over breeding is to STOP BREEDING! @susan_kayneÂ
''Only the most ill horses will be killed''  And then what?? He still must have the U.S.D.A. inspect the meat at taxpayers expense.No horse slaughter plants  kill sick horses for human consumption.  Is Mister Duquette insinuating that sick horses will pass inspection and then ship the meat overseas to unsuspecting foreigners. Oh dear another reason for people to hate Americans. This venture is full of flaws and lies. He will be killing healthy horses because that is all that is allowed by law.  Twenty thousand horses overbred on the reservation. That is the problem. Stop the over breeding Dave Duquette. You yourself are guilty of this. Opening up a horse slaughter plant is not going to fix the problem. On the contrary, it gives people an option to discard  of their horses without taking responsibility. When slaughter houses were open in the U.S. there were still overbreeders. It didn't fix it then and it certainly wont now.  This is purely a venture to line the pockets of the greedy waiting to pounce on people hit by this bad economy.  People that are unaware of  the situation maybe hoodwinked by the misinformation Mister Duquette is spreading , but for those of us who do know and make it our business to know about what is going on in the horse world  this is all balogny in the highest degree.
Duquette is lying! Don't let him or Sue Wallace trick you folks into letting the build a slaughter plant!