Would you eat horse meat if it were the humane thing to do?

by Shayna Glick, Posted May 22nd 2008 @ 10:01AM

Here's the dilemma offered to us by Debra MacKenzie over at the New Scientist: since so many horses are being abandoned now should we slaughter horses for meat as a more humane way of dealing with the issue, or should we just let people deal with their own unwanted horses?

The problem is that horses are expensive, and grain prices are at an all time high at the same time that people's real wages are way down. A lot of horse owners are getting rid of the animals, some by dropping them off (the horses don't know how to live in the wild and will die, possibly by walking across a busy road) and others by just shooting the animals and dumping them illegally. As of now, it's difficult to get horses slaughtered in the US, and the Humane Society wants to make it illegal to transport them to Canada or Mexico for that purpose.

So what do you think? Apparently, the rest of the world doesn't have a problem eating horse meat. Should Americans be more open to the possibility of eating horse if it really were the most humane thing to do?

Filed Under: On the Blogs, Ingredients
Tags: america, horse, horse meat, HorseMeat, horses, humane, meat

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Reader comments (Page 2 of 2)

5-23-2008 @9:30AM Sam said... I will eat any animal... horse, pig, dog, cat, snake, cow, parrot, Kangaroo, wombat, etc... I don't believe in harming animals for sport but for food, clothing, well yeah, we are the dominant species on the planet (though sometimes I wonder).
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5-23-2008 @10:22AM justin said... I would definitely eat horse meat. I was just talking about during the Kentucky Derby with some friends. It doesn't seem any different than pigs or chickens or cows; all of which I find delicious.

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5-25-2008 @5:47AM James said... It's the circle of life.

There are animals out there that would eat humans.
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5-26-2008 @6:03AM baileys mom said... Katie, i agree with what you are saying, slaughtering is the best end, if proper transportation, handling, and killing methods are used. We can't seem to get the USDA to regulate the slaughter of cattle, pigs, chickens, and lambs in this country, good luck to the horses. I however, am a card-carrying PETA member, but that doesn't mean i agree with everything they do. Their campaigns to stop cruelty and overbreeding i support,but they dropped the ball on passing the horse slaughter ban. Where the hell is our pres. when the animals need him, big rancher that he is? anyone know what his take was on this??
Now the horses suffer more. I'm also a vegetarian, so i wouldn't eat them myself, but if other folks want to, i say have at it, but they are pretty chemical laddened, esp., race and show horses.
When my horses' time comes, hopefully, he will be humanely euthanized by the gentle hands of the veterinarian who has treated him most of his life, and planted in the back of the field he has grazed for years.
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5-26-2008 @6:11AM baileys mom said... p.s., i'm also under the assumption the new rule is "not slaughtered for human consumption in the US", doesn't that mean slaughter houses for pet foods are still active, can someone clarify that for me? i've been following this, but i haven't seen any info on this aspect. Pet food slaughter is NOT regulated, therefore, it's anything goes for the poor souls who end up there.....downer horses, sick horses, horses with injuries & wounds, all make it into the can....one way or another, usually with hooks, chains, and tractors. it's unimaginable.
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5-27-2008 @10:40PM Terri said... These stories of abandoned horses is a plant put out there by the pro slaughter camps. They have been found to be unfounded or totally wrong (such as the so called abandoned horses in Kentucky that were actually placed there by their owners as it was free grazing for the summer and picked up at a later date by the same owners). Other stories have been found to be false as well after checking with authorities. It is really unreal considering the fact that the mustangs and the wild donkeys were literally abandoned by their owners and have thrived (until the BLM and Fish & Game decided that there were too many of them because of developers and cattle/sheep ranchers associations). Even if a horse were abandoned they would survive mainly because they are herbivores. Another thing that should concern all of these horse meat eaters is the fact that we owners give our horses all sorts of medications, some known carcinogens and most clearly marked on the labels "not for animals intended for human consumption". There have been cases of zoonotic diseases that cost a whole kennel down in Florida their greyhounds and two animal shelters as a result of disease. There are cases of illness and deaths related to the consumption of horse meat overseas. Do you really want to eat the horses? I wouldn't think so.
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7-05-2008 @7:56PM NickRimmer said... While I do recognize that horses are eaten in other countries, I'm not sure if this has any bearing on what we here in the U.S. eat. Different cultures have different culinary norms. That's a bottom line and isn't going to change no matter how many "Horse Meat is Yummy" activists there are.
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