A bill that bans the sale of horses for human consumption passed in the House yesterday and is an important step in protecting an animal that is an icon of American culture. Though they are classified as livestock, most regard horses are companion animals due to the unique working relationships that they form with people, through work as cart and police horses and their performance in sports and recreational activities. There are three slaughterhouses in the US, all foreign-owned, that process horse meat for human consumption in places like Japan and parts of Europe. About 90,000 horses from the US are killed each year, either at those plants or after being shipped across borders to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.
The bill still has to pass through the Senate before it becomes law, but this is generally regarded as a huge victory for those in the horse industry - except for those who profit from the horse slaughter industry, of course - across the country.
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-08-2006 @ 9:58AM
Dmnkly said...
At least the foie gras bans are based on assertions of cruelty (however overblown). But now we're legislating the "it's okay to eat animals as long as they aren't cute" rationale?
Here is yet more precedent that it's okay for the government to tell us what animals we can and cannot eat. Anybody who eats beef/chicken/pork and doesn't see this for what it is... another stepping stone towards broader law... is kidding themselves.
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9-08-2006 @ 10:47AM
Leeky Sue said...
Well, theres still a market for horse meat. So, the source will just move elsewhere or the industry will go underground. No biggie. And, what about horsemeat for consumption by non-humans?
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9-08-2006 @ 11:01AM
Jonathan Harford said...
So silly. The problem of feeding the Earth's population is becoming a more and more pressing problem, and here we're arbitrarily deciding to waste food people want to eat.
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9-08-2006 @ 1:37PM
ryan said...
Humm...Don't think i have ever eaten horse meat, is it any good?
Anybody know of any dishes that use it / where to get it? I'll try anything once, no matter how cute it may be (excluding any endangered/protected species).
@Dmnkly your right on with your comment.
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9-08-2006 @ 1:46PM
Jessica said...
Oye...
Personally, I would never actually eat horsemeat if I knew that's what it was... but that doesn't mean other people should be revoked of their choice to eat it if they like it.
It's the same thing that bans anything that's a choice. You don't have to eat/do/participate in anyway if you disagree, but don't take the choice away from others.
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9-08-2006 @ 4:35PM
Mitch Taylor said...
WHAT...you never had a trigger burger??????
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9-08-2006 @ 4:35PM
B said...
I imagine horse meat is pretty gamey.
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9-08-2006 @ 5:36PM
And0 said...
Eating horses: Wrong
Making horses drag our crap around and dance for the amusement of our children: Sacred American tradition!
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9-08-2006 @ 6:11PM
SenatorK said...
I'm glad to see that most (if not all) of the comments are against this pointless new law. Could Slashfood readers have more common sense than our Congressmen?
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9-10-2006 @ 8:56PM
Franz Hemingbeck said...
I've eaten horse many times and I think it's absolutely delicious. I've eaten both cat and dog in China and adore both as well.
I really wish morons would stop legislating my larder.
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