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Animal rights activists in California are currently pushing a "Save the Horses" ballot initiative that would make it illegal for Californians to ship their horses to other states for slaughter and processing into meat.
Horse meat, it turns out, has been eaten in Europe and Asia for a few centuries. In Japan, for example, dinner patrons can eat a dish featuring raw horse meat with spices and sauce. Probably due to Americans fascination with the horse in its role in the exploration and settlement of our nation, horse meat hasn’t caught on in the United States.
But there are four processing plants for horse meat in the United States, the two largest being in Texas. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates 113,499 horses were slaughtered in 1997.
The animal rights activists complain that the method used for killing the horses -- a four-inch bolt is shot through the animal's skull -- is inhumane and doesn’t kill the animals immediately. Activists have been showing videotape of horses being shot with a bolt and then writhing on the ground. Animal rights groups also complain the method of transporting the horses is cruel, with horses dehydrating and injuries occurring with too many horses loaded into small, cramped quarters.
A recent study by the USDA and the University of California-Davis contradicts these claims, however. The study examined 309 horses taken to a slaughterhouse in Texas. It found that injuries were actually minimized when the horses were loaded closely together, and found dehydration occurred only after trips of more than 24 hours, and even in those cases the dehydration was described as "mild." All the horses were able to support their own weight, contradicting animal rights activists claims that the animals were unable to stand because they were so dehydrated.
Carolyn Stull, who conducted the USDA study, told Scripps Howard that if the "Save the Horses" initiative passes, it would only send California horse owners to other states to auction them off, or in some extreme cases to abandon the animals. "We are going to have a ton of starving horses around" if the initiative passes, Stull said.
Source:
Activists just say neigh to California horse meat trade. Robert Salladay, Associated Press, June 30, 1998.