As Americans, most of us were shocked to learn that this odious, ugly, and gut-wrenching practice even exists. The reason is simple. Horse slaughter is not and never will be part of our culture. Yet, before voters can stop this atrocity at the November ballot box, thousands of horses will be sold without disclosure to buyers representing foreign-owned slaughterhouses. The real issue is that Americans do not eat their horses.
Horses are companion animals.
The horrors of the auction, feed lot, transport, and slaughter house need to be brought to the public's attention. Before shipping California horses to slaughter houses in Texas and as far away as Canada, the horses are placed into over-crowded holding pens many times standing in disease infested muck. Often sick, the horses are crammed into double-decked cattle trucks. Without sufficient room to hold their heads upright, they travel for 36 hours through summer heat or brutal winter cold without stopping for rest, food or water. Alive, and often conscious, the horse is then shackled by a rear leg, hoisted into the air, its throat slit and body dismembered.