Horse slaughter: Cruel deaths at the end of the trail

That’s a bad idea. In fact, horse slaughter is a cruel, predatory and opportunistic industry that has no value or place in the United States.

Each year, thousands of American horses — riding horses, carriage horses, race horses, wild horses, and children’s ponies — are unnecessarily and inhumanely transported across U.S. borders to be slaughtered for their meat, which is eaten by a small majority of gourmands in places such as France, Italy and Japan.

Horse lovers, the entire horse industry, federal agencies and Congress should get behind a five-point plan to promote basic standards of humane care and fair treatment for horses. This much-needed Horse Welfare Platform includes the following elements:

1. Owners must take responsibility for their horses by providing them with basic care. That includes adequate feed, veterinary care, socialization and affection and sufficient space to engage in natural behaviors.

2. The horse industry, including breeders and breed groups, must institute policies and practices that encourage more selective practices to see that supply doesn’t far outstrip demand. The current situation has reduced the value of horses and created too many for too few homes and sanctuaries.

3. The horse industry must actively participate in the rescue and retraining of American horses, providing additional resources to reputable rescue organizations, and developing programs to provide new avenues and options for horses.

4. Horses that are old, sick or debilitated must be guaranteed a dignified and painless death by euthanasia, preferably performed by a trained veterinarian. Cramming horses into cattle trucks and shipping them to slaughter is not an acceptable form of euthanasia.

5. Wild horses must be managed humanely as an indispensable part of the wild American landscape, and where necessary and appropriate, government agencies must use humane herd management practices, including fertility control. It’s inhumane and stressful to horses and financially unsustainable for the federal government to keep rounding up horses and paying to feed them in long-term holding facilities.

The answer to the challenges facing the equine industry is not to subject horses to the horrors of slaughter. Instead, the industry must recognize how irresponsible breeding and a throwaway mentality toward horses has conspired with a tough economic climate to create a challenging circumstance for proper care of the nation’s horse population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has documented that more than 92 percent of American horses sold for slaughter are in good condition — not the sick and the starving as horse slaughter proponents would have us believe. Each year, many horses are prevented from going to new homes because slaughter industry representatives, known as kill buyers, outbid responsible horse owners and rescue groups at auctions. These animals should be rejoined with the horse-owning public, not branded as “unwanted” and sentenced to a cruel, wasteful and untimely death — while even more horses are bred to take their place.

Purchased at auctions all over the United States, horses are shipped long distances in cramped and crowded trailers, often for hours or days on end without food, water or rest. Horses arrive at these facilities exhausted, dehydrated, horribly injured and even dead — the result of fights or falls sustained during their journey. As flight animals, horses are not suited for the slaughter process, routinely flinging their heads and making a clean kill nearly impossible. Video footage from undercover Humane Society investigations confirms the abuses inherent in the slaughter of horses and illustrates the need for Congress to ban horse slaughter and the export of horses to slaughter plants across the border.

Implementing the reforms called for in the Horse Welfare Platform will ensure a humane and dignified life to this most iconic of American animals. It is time for Congress to show that America cares about the animals who helped build our great nation by passing legislation to finally shut down the cruel and predatory industry that seeks to profit from their misery. Horses are loyal companions to millions of people, and it’s not a lot to ask that we show a little humanity and loyalty in return.

Keith Dane is the director of equine protection for The Humane Society of the United States.