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| Rutger Hauer on Othello |
Sally told me I would get in trouble for this, but so be it.
Let me start by affirming that I find horses at times breathtakingly beautiful.
The image here is Navarre on his horse from the film Ladyhawke. I am stunned
every time I see this Friesian stallion named Othello
But like any other animal the same natural rules apply to
horses, and some unnatural ones as well. They are protected from most predation
in their wild ranges, and the herds are growing faster than the land can
sustain them (2). Biologists will know this as the Doctrine of Limiting Resources.
They are currently rounded up from time to time and sold to mustang lovers. In
addition, people all over the country are indiscriminately breeding horses, the
results being an overabundance of animals leading to abuse. Every day I pass a
small paddock where a neighbor fosters abused horses, the latest of which were
a pair nearly starved to death. Why? Probably someone got them cheap or free
and couldn’t or wouldn’t spend the money to keep them healthy. My Facebook feed
often has photos of rescued horses. The problem is over breeding and under utilization.
If they were cattle the solution would be simple: take them
to market and slaughter them. Cattle mostly have only one source of value,
namely their meat. But horses have value added: in addition to meat, they have
sport. They race, are ridden, act in movies, pull wagons in parades; pose for
pretty pictures and other things. In the old days, horses were valued as
working animals, and some cattle were as well. But they were also slaughtered
in times of famine, or sold off to butchers when unable to work, or when there
were too many of them, or when they were captured in war. They served a dual
purpose: work and food.
The last domestic horse slaughter operation closed in 2007
(3). Finally yielding to the pressure of the hundreds of horse organizations
and thousands of individuals. Attempts
have been made since to restart the industry, but have been systematically blocked.
Now, enter my point of interest in this saga: a semi loaded
with horses for Canadian slaughter overturned and many horses were injured or
killed. The driver was killed as well, but nobody seemed to mind that.It was
not a pretty sight. Who is to blame? Well, some blame Canada for allowing horse
slaughter. Why, I am not sure. Horses are a commodity eaten around the world,
so why should they not be humanely killed and processed? America for allowing
the export? Hey folks, America these days is all about business and profit.
Horse export is a profitable business. Even more profitable would be the
domestic processing of excess horses. The people who sell them at auction?
Better to starve them to death in a barn?
No, the people to blame are the indiscriminate horse
breeders and owners who refuse to not have “just one more cute foal” running
around their yard or field. And the people who refuse to allow the control of
wild herds to insure range productivity, genetic health of herds and to stop
environmental degradation of range land.
You people who love horses, own horses, breed horses, sell
or give away horses and oppose rational control of wild herds are to blame. And
of course the racing industry too.
So if you are interested in stopping the legal trade in
horses for meat, stop the stupid and unsustainable breeding of the animals. In
every venue. And voilà!, the problem goes away. Until them, take ownership of the
results of loving them to death.
Image: http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/Accident,%20semi%20cab.JPG
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