Why A Horse Is Not A Cow and Other Musings From The Slaughter Front

As both sides of the slaughter issue get ready for the showdown in New Mexico that will be taking place very soon, it seems that both the PSAs and antis have had a LOT of time on their hands to argue on various forums and social media outlets.   Slaughterhouse Sue has been busy manipulating the media and trying to get a gnarly, fungussed toenail in the door in Missouri.  She has been interviewed for a four-part series on the proposed slaughter plant there.  So far only the first has aired, but already we have Suey flapping her yap and spouting her delusions as facts, so we’ll take a closer look at that as well as another of her super awesome press releases.  Don’t worry, we’re also going to talk about why a horse is not a cow.

Ok, I know I’ve talked about this before, but I thought rather than give myself a concussion from beating my head against a wall, I’ll try to explain one more time why, even if you do consider them livestock, a horse is not a cow, chicken or pig.   Believe me, this is a conversation I never thought I would have to have with grown adults, but apparently it is a very tough concept for slaughterphiles to grasp.  I’m not even going to go into the anatomical differences  or how it’s impossible to keep horses calm and ensure a clean, killing shot each and every time in a commercial slaughter plant.  If you can’t grasp that, there is no hope for you and you should probably go ahead and declare yourself mentally challenged.  What I want to talk about is why a horse is not a food animal.  I realize the majority of slaughterphiles consider themselves to be quite the livestock experts.  I make no such claims, although I did grow up on a cattle ranch and several members of my extended family are still in that business.   The thing is that `livestock’, as far as animals we generally eat, are fairly easily tracked.  They don’t tend to change hands a bunch of times.  Before a cow makes it to your dinner plate it may have changed hands three times.  Maybe.  We didn’t finish our own calves so we sold them off in the fall. If you do the math, that means we had them, the feedlot had them and then they were sold to slaughter. That makes three times and easily tracked via our brand and bills of sale.  Most horses are quite different.  I have had some that have been born on our place and lived out their lives with us and I’ve had others that have changed hands up to 7 times before they ended up with us.  If that animal is not registered there is basically no way of knowing where it was or what was given to it throughout the course of its life.  That is why when BSE showed up in a slaughtered cow, they were able to track that cow back to its very farm and pasture it lived in.  You can’t really do that with horses, not even registered ones.  Lots of horses do a lot of traveling in their lives, especially competitive ones.  Not quite the same with food animals.  Do you know what other animals are really hard to track throughout the course of their lives?  Roadkill and I wouldn’t eat that either.   Because they are not raised for food is exactly what makes horse meat economical.

So, let’s get back to Missouri and Suey’s full court press there.  We already know that she is heavily invested in that particular slaughter enterprise, so it’s no wonder she’s focussed her beady eyes there at this time.  The first of the four-part series on horse slaughter came out yesterday (http://www.stjoechannel.com/story/horse-slaughter-debate/d/story/vHVgZEu7wkCS6JscsuVCTQ).  The clip starts off with David Rains, of Rains Natural Meats, telling us why he couldn’t make a living slaughtering regular food animals and then going on to tell us horses are just like cattle and other animals he’s slaughtered because the carcasses are all rather similar.  Yes, folks, this is exactly the type of asstard that wants to slaughter animals because he figures they’ll just file quietly to their deaths just like a cow.  The fact that he says their carcasses are similar does not make me all that confident about our food supply either.  Then we get to hear from Slaughterhouse Sue and I’m about to jam a letter opener in my ear if I have to hear her hick voice too many more times telling us how `treasured’ horse meat is and how 3/4 of the world’s population enjoy it.  Clearly, she pushed D-bag Duquette aside so she could fish that statistic out of her ass.  I’m sure we’ll hear more from her in the next installments, but they finished with Rains telling us how nutritious the meat is and how it helps unwanted horses.  He’s studied the Slaughterhouse Sue handbook well.

You have to believe that the Slaughterphiles are primarily focussed on Missouri now that Iowa has removed their bid to slaughter horses.  I have long thought that Valley Meats in New Mexico was merely a decoy while they put their ducks in a row elsewhere.  Given the history of de Los Santos and the fact he couldn’t even process downer cattle without constant violations, the chance of him being the flagship horse slaughter operation was slim at best.  I’m sure he’s still delusional enough to think it may happen, but his function appears to be that of a sacrificial lamb as far as the IEBA is concerned.  At any rate, Puppymill Patterson is on the Missouri bandwagon in a big way given that it is her home state.  I’m sure nothing would turn her on more than the smell of rotting horse carcasses and the knowledge that animals are being tortured and abused in mass quantities in such close proximity to her hovel.  Because Puppymill is never content just to talk about slaughter, she has whipped up a petition to Gov. Nixon to get on board with the horse torture.  Of course she has carefully worded it as getting him to support `horse welfare’ and the preamble is more than misleading as well.

There is a movement afoot by animal rights extremists, and other organizations non-related to the U.S. horse industry, who are urging Missouri’s Governor Nixon to block the opening of the horse processing facility proposed to open in Gallatin, Missouri.

Those people who seek to block the Gallatin, Missouri facility are also working to eliminate any possibility of humanely processing horses in the U.S. — yet they offer ZERO solutions to the serious problem of horse abandonment and neglect in our country.

– Not sure about the rest of you, but I don’t belong to any animal rights organization at all.  Also, the majority of antis actually are very much horse industry unlike Suey, who doesn’t even own a horse.  We have offered many solutions, but they just don’t result in beer money for the slaughterphiles so they won’t look at them.

 

The reality is that those who own horses, and make their living in the horse industry care deeply about their horses and their welfare. The animal rights movement and their agenda based on emotion, not science or fact, have continued to promote the false belief that horse processing is cruel and inhumane — when in reality, the exact opposite is true.

– Actually, we do have science and facts to back up our position and yes, many of us make our living in the horse industry.  Those that don’t, are still very much industry as ever industry needs consumers to drive it. The people that have a pleasure horse at a boarding stable probably spend far more money on that one horse than the breeder spends on any one individual horse, stud fees aside.  The other question I have for Puppymill is that if slaughter is so humane and kind, then why do so many slaughterphiles state they would never send one of their own to slaughter?

 

In fact, the lack of horse processing in the U.S. (since 2007) has exacerbated the suffering of horses, increased the number of needless and wasteful deaths, and has caused more abandonment, neglect, pain and misery for horses nation-wide.

– This is a completely false and misleading statement.  We have the hard data to back up the fact that the welfare of horses has nothing to do with the lack of slaughter at all.  She also fails to mention that at least as many if not more horses have gone to slaughter each and every year since 2007.  Not sure how slaughter is going to fix `needless deaths’ either as I can think of little as needless as a perfectly healthy young horse going to slaughter.

 

Having horse processing available in the U.S is NOT a mandate on all horse owners to send their horses to the processing plants at the end of their useful lives. However, all horse owners should have this option as a method of euthanizing their equine as a means of freedom to choose.

– Slaughter is NOT euthanasia!  I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Puppymill figures people should have the option to torture horses in this way considering she works overtime to ensure people maintain their rights to continue running puppymills and any other way of abusing animals she can think of.

 

Horse processing is a viable, safe, and humane solution to the problem of horse abandonment, abuse, and neglect and we urge for Governor Nixon to support the private property rights of owners of these livestock by supporting the opening of the horse processing facility in Gallatin, Missouri.

– Thankfully, her little petition isn’t doing so well with the signatures as of yet.  Here is what the rest of you need to do.  You need to contact Gov. Nixon, whether you’re from Missouri or not and set him straight on the lies in this petition.  Let him know exactly what slaughter is all about and how it has remained an option for horse owners all along, yet has fixed nothing.  Let him know about the kinds of horses that go to slaughter, the horses we have featured on here.  None of them unwanted and none of them needing slaughter to fulfill their promise or find a good home.

Why don’t ANY of these PSAs ever look like they’ve missed any meals?

 

We aren’t done with Suey just yet either.  As I mentioned earlier, she’s been issuing press releases for IEBA again.  She still hasn’t taken the time to spell-check her main website, but she’s churning out press releases as fast as her pudgy fingers can type.  (http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs133/1103685263837/archive/1114558950527.html).  Thankfully, this one is brief but that doesn’t mean it’s any less laughable.
Last week we kicked off a multi-pronged fundraising campaign to fill up the IEBA war chest so we have the resources we need to continue the fight against HSUS in the courts, and communicate effectively with Congress and the American people.

I’m happy to share the news that we are off to a great start!

– Ok, she keeps referring to this `war chest’, so I’m guessing the war she is declaring is on our food supply.  The only way any of these morons are going to communicate `effectively’ with Congress or anybody else is if they hire somebody that can actually read, write and keep their emotions in check.  I won’t be holding my breath.

 

We’ll be rolling out our IEBA Voluntary Equine Check-off at the Billings Livestock Horse Sale this weekend. Sale barns in Nebraska and Kansas will have them at their next sales.  Make sure your local horse auctions know about it and encourage them to offer it at their sales. The cool part is we are already getting messages like this one from Sharon W. —

“I am going to suggest in our next event email (it will reach over 600 people) that whoever sells a horse in the loose pen for pennies a pound donate the entire proceeds to IEBA. I will begin by sending IEBA the amount we received for a perfectly healthy 1100 lb arthritic gelding.  $183.00”

– Wow, I wonder if Sharon W is related to Angela Marshall?  Probably not, but it sure says a lot about slaughterphiles as she just sold her `perfectly healthy’, yet arthritic horse for meat and sent the blood money to Suey’s pork rind fund.  It must have been a huge sacrifice to give up so much beer money.

 

That’s the way to do it, folks!  Download IEBA check-off slips below, forward this email with your own personal message like Sharon did to every network of horse people you belong to, and let’s get those dollars rolling in! We have had a number of people become members, and donate straight into the War Chest as well.

– I’m actually completely onboard with this statement.  By all means, please do send these slips out to your horse network so everybody can know what a heartless shit you truly are and refrain from doing business with you.

 

But the funnest thing of all is starting to plan these Rope ’em, Choke ’em, and Poke ’em to Stick it to HSUS events!  These will be super fun competitions with two people teams team roping, or golfing, or skeet shooting, and playing pool or any configuration thereof, with an evening Calcutta the night before. Let me know if you want to get one going in your area. Email if you want to get a hold of one of these folks who are already planning events. So far we’ve got point people in Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska starting to pull together to coordinate one. We are all going to need plenty of help from promotion to donating stock to volunteering at the events themselves. 

– The `funnest’?  Is D-bag writing these press releases lately?  As many of you have noted, the Rope em, Choke em, and Stroke em, sounds more like what passes for foreplay for most of these people rather than a fundraiser.  Funny how she indicates this is all about sticking it to the HSUS and not really about the welfare of horses as she likes to tell the media.  What’s that old saying about many a truth being spoken in jest?  Yeah…

 

Dollars raised through any and all activities associated with this fundraising campaign will be used to pay for the legal and political protection and promotion of the horse industry; to work for a strong, sustainable market at every level; protect the rights of equine owners; and to advocate for humane and regulated horse processing ensuring the intrinsic value of every horse.

– OK, I really want to know what this `political protection’ is that she feels she needs to pay for unless they are buying Steve King and Roy Blunt new cars so they can continue to fight for the right to torture and abuse animals in DC.  As far as Slaughterhouse Sue promoting and protecting the rights of horse owners goes, I dare that cretin to show her face in Kentucky and try to tell the hard boots how her slaughter emporiums are going to help out their bottom lines and return the intrinsic value to their animals.  For the record, the numbers from day two at the OBS yearling sales are in and the average is up 27.1% with the buy back rate dropping significantly.  All this without the help of Slaughterhouse Sue!

Sadly, Suey wasn’t content to just issue a press release.  It would appear she has not only appointed herself spokes model for the horse industry but now she is the cultural sensitivity police.  I should qualify that as she is the cultural sensitivity police as long as your culture includes eating horses and you aren’t black or Muslim.  It would seem, and I’m just guessing here, she is about to appoint herself an honorary Tongan as well. 

“Wonderful article talking about the medicinal and cultural use of horse meat by native Americans. Also, people need to understand that cultures such as the Tongans prize horse meat, and want to use it for alll of their special occasions…weddings, funerals, retirement parties. How culturally and ethnically arrogant are these animal rights activists…HSUS et al… in thinking they should be able to tell these traditional societies what they can and cannot use for their own nourishment, medicine, and spiritual practices???”

Well, to begin with we actually had a reader on here comment on the whole Tongan thing and it would seem Suey is more than a little misleading as far as the entire culture being all about the cheval.  Also, if we want to push her point about cultural sensitivity and allowing other cultures to practice tradition and spiritual practices I guess we can look forward to female circumcision, arranged marriages, cannibalism as well as the slaughter of cats and dogs as we push our OWN culture and practices aside to make sure every other person is happy.  Believe it or not, but I’m normally a fairly accepting person, but if you are so needing to act like y’all did in the old country, then perhaps that’s where you should be living.  What about our culture?   Anyhow, this little outburst of Suey’s came with the link of yet another article proving how much Indians love horse meat.  Or, at least that’s what she thought it was about. (http://navajotimes.com/news/2013/0813/081513hor.php).  What is interesting about Suey choosing to link this particular article is that she clearly either didn’t read it or was half in the bag when she did.  It’s actually more of an anti-slaughter article than it is a pro one.  Yes, it mentions that the Navajo harvested and used horse meat for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, but it also makes clear that that is entirely different from what Suey has in mind for them.  Hell, you didn’t even have to read more than the first two paragraphs to come up with this quote from Tim Begay, Navajo Cultural Specialist:” It was used as medicine, which is totally different than slaughtering and selling them to different coutnries”.  Begay also mentions that his cultural background makes him reluctant to see horses rounded up and sold for slaughter.  He goes on to talk about the `Enemy Ways’, so I’m guessing Suey is gonna have to do a lot of sweet talking to convince them to build their own slaughter emporium on their lands.

Will this be next on Slaughterhouse Sue’s plate?

 

I’m sorry to report that we got a bit of bad news yesterday out of Fallon, Nevada.  It seems that the judge has lifted the TRO and the remaining unbranded horses that were rounded up by the tribes will be sold at auction and likely to kill buyers.  (http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/21/3124208/hearing-wednesday-on-nv-tribe.html).  As one of our readers commented, it seems as if they have found a new way to `launder’ wild horses.  Just chase them onto private land and they automatically become domestic and eligible to be sold for meat.  Awesome.  If you have any doubt as to how brutal and inhumane this whole round-up and auction was, here is a quote from somebody that was present at the sale yard the day of the auction: “We watched horses hurt beyond imagination run around and sold for meat. We know that 50 horses that they forced into trailers had broken legs, hips and piece of their shoulders and other large fleshy parts hanging off their bodies. those horses never made it to the auction and because they were of no value were most likely shot too. Two mares were killed by fighting and they lost the battle and their babies orphaned they were still in need of milk. A baby was kicked in it’s head by a violent interaction and he was shot and killed. His mother was hurt and she is the black mare with a very damaged foot. My guess is that one shipped already.” All for a little blood money.

So, this should bring things mostly up to date as far as what the PSAs are up to this week.  We are getting very close to the court date in New Mexico as well and I’ll try to keep everybody up to speed on that as information comes in as well.  As always, I prefer to quit on a good note so I’m going to leave you with a link to this blog I was sent. (http://curtpatestockmanship.com/2013/08/21/horse-slaughter/) It is worth reading.  You’ll think he’s pro slaughter until you read through til the end.  He may not be as staunchly anti as many of us, but he articulates his reasons for being anti right now very well.   It will give you a lot to think on, but he sums it up best with the following:

“As I look back and honestly look at the results of the banning of horse slaughter in the U.S., I see more positives than negatives.

When it was easy for people to get rid of any horse, people were making purchases of horses that had no business owning horses.  Horses were kept in places they should not be kept, to many kept on small acreage with no regard to the environment, people riding horses and getting hurt that should not be riding in the first place, and studs breeding mares of poor quality.  It has been a tough go for the over supply already in place, and the way it was immediately implemented with no way to scale back or prepare for the lack of places to market a horse was unfair, but that is the reality of it.  Now when we purchase or breed horses we know it may be tough to get rid of them and we think before we buy, and anytime you think before you do something it is a better outcome.

Horses are a wonderful animal.  They have done so much for mankind that I think we owe them the best quality of life and the best quality of death.  The way to do this is to make a commitment to the best animal handling and husbandry skills.  That is stockmanship and stewardship.”