Horse Slaughter Revisited

[randallscott35]

Worth Reading!

Editorial about the merits of it on NYTIMES.

Followed by a letter to the editor by Congressmen supporting a ban.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/opinion/05weil.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/10/opinion/l10horse.html

[GenuineRisk]

Those were both interesting reads, Randall; thanks for posting the links. Money quote in the first one:

But the fate of less charismatic food animals is also a brutal business. Last year, 150 pigs being shipped from Ohio to a Texas slaughterhouse died after spending up to 72 hours in a truck with no water, food or relief from 95 degree heat. The dispatch of male chicks on an egg farm can be flat-out horrific. The ill treatment of slaughter-bound horses is bad, but it would be worse still if it made us pay less attention to the undue suffering of other food animals.

[randallscott35]

Glad you liked them Nicole---I didn't know many of the facts about Slaughter---nasty business but like anything else, the key to me is how humane it is. I'd like it gone entirely but is that realistic? No.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

Glad you liked them Nicole---I didn't know many of the facts about Slaughter---nasty business but like anything else, the key to me is how humane it is. I'd like it gone entirely but is that realistic? No.

I agree that the best path towards improving things is looking at what is realistic. Animal-rights groups will not likely ever persuade most of America to turn vegetarian, for example, but I bet if they really pushed for more humane conditions for food animals, they could get most people behind them on that. Many European nations have laws in place securing the humane treatment of food animals; I imagine we could follow suit if we really wanted to.

[randallscott35]

If I ever got money--I'd donate to animal cruelty causes before anything else. Kills me....Except Canadian Geese--my weakness, they should be done away with, but not cruelly.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

If I ever got money--I'd donate to animal cruelty causes before anything else. Kills me....Except Canadian Geese--my weakness, they should be done away with, but not cruelly.

Yeah, I'm not such a fan of Canada geese, either (Canadian geese would have to be citizens of Canada. I'm sure my 10th grade biology teacher would be so proud of me right now- he was a bit of a birding nut). There are an awful lot of them by the Harlem Meer, and they're messy and nasty. And proliferate very easily. Darn generalists.