Summary
of Facts & Statsby Barbara Reeves, Little Rock, Arkansas
I wrote this summary 2 years ago for http://www.hr857.com (now defunct web site). I have updated the statistics and added some sources in parenthesis. Feel free to use all or part of it in any discussions or emails you find yourself arguing in. More information and arguments below the summary, along with some good links for more information.
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In 2005 90,000 horses were slaughtered here in the US for human consumption overseas (nearly 20,000 were exported live to Canada, Mexico, and Japan for slaughter). Their meat is exported to France, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. Horsemeat is generally considered a delicacy in these countries and is higher priced than beef. France alone consumed 300,000 horses in 2003, Italy 350,000 horses. The French numbers may change however. French government officials have suggested to stop the sale of horsemeat in restaurants due to health concerns. Many medications and topical treatments that are commonly use on horses are never to be used on animals intended for food. There is no withdrawal period. (the US numbers are from the USDA, the world numbers I got from a pro-slaughter news article written in 2004.)
The 2005 population of horses in the US is approximately 9.2 million horses (from the American Horse council's census). The 66,000 slaughtered horses represents 0.7% of the total population. It looks like we'll hit about 120,000 horses this year (2005), which is 1.3% of the total population. In 1990 over 315,000 horses were slaughtered in the US. The number of horses slaughtered has steadily dropped in the last 14 years while the number of foals being born has increased (with some major fluctuation of the number slaughtered). Drops in the number of horses slaughtered have been almost 80,000 a year at times. During those years we did not see a huge influx of "surplus" horses or a large drop in the price of horses. The number of horses slaughtered every year follows the demand for their meat, not the overall horse population. This illustrates the lack of a need for the slaughter industry to regulate horse population.
The American Horse Council estimates that 10% of the horse population dies every year, either by accident/injury, illness, or natural causes. That means 920,000 horses will die this year. That HUGE number (800,000+) of horses dying from ways other than slaughter has not createed a bad enviornmental impact, like the AMVA and AQHA would like you to think. So the number of horses that will die outnumbers those that will be slaughtered by 9:1. Statistically speaking, the number of horses slaughtered every year is insignificant. (the American Horse Council, which is an arguably pro- slaughter organization.)
California passed similar legislation in 1998. Since then, horse thefts have dropped almost 40% and continue to drop every year (based on police reports filed for stolen animals). Horse prices have remained steady. Abuse cases in California have not risen at all, and have declined in areas, while the national average is on the rise. Also, during the years that the Illinois slaughter facility was closed, abuse numbers leveled off and even began to fall. Ironically (or maybe not), Texas has the highest rate of horse abuse in the nation. This illustrates that ending slaughter will not encourage the mass neglect and abuse of horses.
The method of transporting horses to slaughter is inhumane. Horses often travel 36 hours or more without rest, food, or water in cramped double decker trailers (this is standard operating procedure, ask any killer buyer). These trailers are built for shorter animals such as cattle and pigs; most horses cannot lift their heads. Horses often slip and fall in these trailers arriving at the plants dead or severely crippled. Transportation reform laws were passed in 2002 but they have not done any good. Even proponents of slaughter like Dr. Friend of Texas A&M agree that the transportation of horses to slaughter is inhumane.
The slaughter itself is also inhumane. The chutes that hold the horses are made for cows. Horses are much more flexible with longer necks. They are also more intuitive than cows and have a skittish nature in stressful unfamiliar environments. They thrash about making the captive bolt operator's job very difficult. The operator often has to stun a horse 3-4 times before rendering the horse unconscious. Sometimes the horse is slaughtered while still alive. USDA considers a 95% rate of unconsciousness before being butchered very acceptable. That means that 3,300 horses (at best) were slaughtered last year while they were still fully alive. The captive bolt gun is used to stun the horses. It's like a spike on a leash. It is shot into the horse's head and then retracts back in to the gun. It can be a humane method of a killing a horse (much like a well placed bullet), but the assembly line fashion that these horses are run through makes it nearly impossible.
Horses that go to slaughter are not generally old, sick, crippled, or dangerous. By the slaughter houses' own records (Dallas Crown and Beltex in Texas) only 10% of horses killed are old, sick, injured, or otherwise "unusable". Just like beef consumers, people who eat horse want young tender flesh. It's just plain ridiculous to think that all of the horses being slaughtered are 25 yr. old nags who can barely walk... (this is based on what the actual slaughter plants record) Most horses going to slaughter are not "unwanted", they are simply at the wrong auction at the wrong time.
And did you know that 40-50,000 horses are stolen in the USA every year? You can verify these statistics with Stolen Horse International, http://netposse.com. Did you know that the only reason the slaughter plants scan for microchips is to remove them so they do not contaminate the meat? This was testimony from plant workers.
One interesting statistic, roughly 70% of all horses that are slaughtered in the USA are quarter horses (stock-type, some with verifiable AQHA papers). This is fact based on the slaughter plants' records. There are over 3 MILLION registered quarter horses in the USA.
There is no hard proof or evidence that stopping horse slaughter will cause a rise in abuse and neglect, thousands of unwanted horses lining the streets, or envoirnmental problems. BUT, there IS evidence to suggest that stopping horse slaughter will NOT cause these problems.
Here is a post I sent to another list, copied in its entirety.
Hello, I'm a lurking member. I had to speak up regarding this issue. This
is a rather lengthy email, I apologize ahead of time. It's worth the read
though.
A few years ago, I was on the pro-slaughter (necessary evil) side. I didn't
really have any facts to back up my stance, just a "gut" feeling
about how I thought the industry worked. I decided to do some research so
I could use logic and reason to counter the anti-slaughter arguments. My
research sources included calls to the slaughter plants, economic data from
the American Horse Council (a pro-slaughter organization), census data from
the Government, stolen horse information from netposse.com, and a few others.
By the time I was done (after more than a month of data gathering and number
crunching), I realized that the anti-slaughter side was actually on the right
track.
Forget about the emotional side for a moment, and consider the raw numbers
and economics. Sure, things will be hard for a while, but what about the
long term effects? If the bottom of the horse market falls out (which it
has been doing slowly anyway), what will happen? In my estimation, show horses
and other high priced horses should only be minimally effected. That class
of horses does not rely on slaughter to set price trends. Their prices follow
the demand for the sport/horse, trends in horses/sports, and the generally
economy. The sector that will be hit the hardest are the low priced horses,
poor quality horses, and "common" horses (those already in a saturated
market).
So, what will happen when those horses lose value? Breeders who breed these
horses will lose money, horse dealers/traders with this stock will lose money,
auction houses will start loosing money. It may take a few breeding seasons,
but eventually, these people will get tired of losing money. Breeders will
sell out or switch to a better breed/type that will bring in money. Horse
dealers/traders will do the same. Auction houses will have to start figuring
out how to bring in better horses, different horses, or different "things" to
sell. No one likes to lose money!!! Because of the falling prices, the average
horse buyer will start demanding better quality for his/her money. It's Toyota's
lovely "Trade Up" instinct. So, it's only logical to think that
sellers/breeders will follow the money and start breeding/selling better
horses. Eventually, we will have a more stable horse market, see better prices,
and see better quality horses being bred.
Here is a post I put on another forum regarding some questions. I thought
it might be useful toward this discussion.
Abuse is a totally separate issue from slaughter. If you want tougher abuse
laws and more enforcement, contact your State Legislators. Get them to
pass tougher punishments and get after the local authorities to enforce
the laws.
You cannot complain if you do not try to do something about it.
The horses that would have gone to slaughter at auctions will be sold at auction, sold privately, donated to a rescue, donated to a theraputic riding center, donated to a vet school, donated to a zoo or big cat sancturary, or humanely euthanized.
Slaughter is going away. The people that frequent auctions (other than killer buyers) will still go to auctions. Prices for auction horses will go down, but the slaughter buyers buy a SMALL percentage of horses. Last year, 80,000 something horses were slaughtered. There are 9.2 MILLION horses in the USA, 3 million of those registered Quarter Horses. Barely 1% of the horse population was slaughtered.
To put things in perspective, the mortality rate for horses is 10%. That means that over 900,000 horses a year die from illness, injury, accident, or natural causes. Those 900,000 horses are burried, rendered, or incinerated. Only 10% of horses slaughtered are old, sick, injured, or otherwise unusbale. So, that means that only 8,000-10,000 more horses a year will need to be put down. The other 70,000 to 80,000 will be in fine shape to stay in the market.
Alive - Died - Would have been Slaughtered
9,200,000 - 900,000 - 90,000 (we'll round it up to make it look
better)
That last number looks pretty insignificant when you consider the other two. At least, it does for someone who has taken classes in statistics and economics. The horse economy will be able to absorb those horses. They didn't spring up from no where, they were already here.
As for the people employed by the slaughter industry. The truck drivers will drive for someone else. I see LOTS of trucks going down the road with "now hiring drivers" signs on them. The actual plant employees quit on a regular basis anyway (it is a VERY high turnover industry), so they'll get jobs wherever they normally would. The plant owners are from Belgium (and rich), so I imagine they will go home or start up some other business. The USDA inspectors will still work for the USDA. They will just go on to inspect other slaughter facilities.
The REASON for slaughter is that people in Europe and Asia like to eat horses. That is it! There is NOTHING we can do about that. They are entitled to do what their culture finds acceptable. Slaughter does not control horse population and it is not needed to control horse prices. When horses were at their highest price, slaughter buyers still bought, and paid a premium price (up to $1 a pound on the hoof at one point). The ONLY way to stop horse slaughter is to make it illegal. Nothing you do about breeding or population control will effect the number of horses slaughtered.
The ONLY private sale horses that will be effected (price wise) are those of mediocre or low quality and those that are "common" (breeds or types that already have a saturated market). So, people breeding quality horses that are not in a saturated market and are currently selling for good prices should NOT be effected much. If you think you fall in this category, but you do end up having problems selling, then you were wrong and/or the market in general in your area is going down (as it has been for the last 5 or 6 years). Breeders that produce quality foals that have a good market, and they (the people) know how to properly market their foals, will survive. When things settle down, prices will go up, prices will be more stable, we will see better horses being bred (since that is where the money will be), and profits will be better than they have in the last 5 years.
I base these opinions and forecasts on my own knowledge of the slaughter industry (which is from independent research of ALL sources, I was pro-slaughter once upon a time), knowledge and experience on both the amature and professional side of the horse industry, and knowledge gained from taking courses at college in economics, statistics, philosophy, history, theory, and research methods. My opinions are not just pulled out of my rear end, or regurgitated from some worthless PETA web site (who I dispise by the way, PETA makes it hard for the rest of us to get through to people...).