Patrick J Battuello

Archive for the ‘Horse Slaughter’ Category

Horse Refuse

In Animal Cruelty Law, Horse Slaughter, Horseracing, Horses on August 3, 2010 at 12:21 pm

“As a veterinarian I realize the inevitability of euthanasia in certain cases, but to equate the slaughter process with humane euthanasia is the height of hypocrisy.” (Dr. John Griggs, DVM)

“The horse slaughter industry is a predatory one that exists only because there is a profit to be made by fulfilling consumer demand in overseas markets for horse flesh.” (Professor Nicholas Dodman, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine)

A debate rages in the U.S. over the fate of unwanted horses. There is a bill pending (H.R. 503/S.727) that would federally prohibit horse slaughtering in America (as of now, any state wishing to open a new slaughterhouse could do so) and make transporting horses to slaughter in other countries illegal (which will be very difficult to enforce: auctioneers, buyers, and shippers could simply claim they are being used for other purposes).

The AVMA recommends reopening American slaughterhouses as another option for overpopulation (as with pets, not enough good homes; they claim that 2,700 new rescue sites may be needed each year). At least on American soil, the AVMA argues, there will be government oversight (dubious). Although chemical euthanasia (pentobarbital) with proper disposal remains the best choice, the AVMA believes that gunshot and captive bolt are also acceptable (and quicker, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly) methods that combined with slaughter can be part of a larger remedy.

The AVMA is concerned that owners who once saw the auction as a viable option would, if that option were removed, be “more likely to abandon, abuse, or neglect the horses.” No statistics, however, support this claim. The bill, the AVMA states, “ignores the real issue—what do we do with all of these unwanted horses.”

The position of the Veterinarians for Equine Welfare: “It is the united opinion of the Veterinarians for Equine Welfare (VEW) that horse slaughter is inhumane, and that it is an unacceptable way to end a horse’s life under any circumstance. We believe that it is an unethical and dangerous practice…to attempt to equate horse slaughter with humane euthanasia.” (others against horse slaughter)

The VEW reminds that euthanasia means “good death” and should only be used if in the best interest of the horse. A healthy horse (and over 90% of the horses sent to American slaughterhouses were; healthy horses make for better meat and greater profits) clearly has an interest in not being destroyed. Veterinarian Linda Breitman says: “I am appalled that the AVMA supports this inhumane treatment of horses. The practice of sending “unwanted horses” to slaughter is simply a matter of economic convenience for uncaring or uneducated horse owners. The cost of humane euthanasia is similar to the cost of keeping a horse for one month. Anyone who keeps horses, whether for profit or pleasure, should be able to plan for this final expense.” Chemical euthanasia with disposal costs around $225 (Animal Welfare Institute), so clearly, expense (especially to people wealthy enough to have owned horses) has no serious relevance. And, chemical euthanasia is usually administered at the horse’s home (or a nearby hospital), thus eliminating transport and slaughterhouse distress.

Renowned veterinarian Holly Cheever told me recently that she suspects “their [AVMA] support for slaughter has a lot to do with the “slippery slope” concept—if humans begin to think of slaughter as cruel, what will that do to the beef/swine/lamb industry?-and also, many of the equine vets and owners coming from the “cowboy” states do not see horses as companion animals as the northeast tends to do and thus they support slaughter for them as they do for all agricultural animals across the board.” Dr. Cheever does not believe that prohibiting slaughter will result in more abandonment/neglect.

A friend of mine who has owned and raced trotters for decades says that the decision to part ways with a horse is a difficult (and emotional) one. Many choose auction in the hope that their horses will find new homes. For them, an unknown fate is better than a definitive death. Most of these horses, he explains, are still young and healthy and should not die. So, they delude themselves into believing that it won’t be their horse who is trucked to Mexico. He also says equine owners (in fairness, some are attempting to police themselves) believe it a bit hypocritical to rebuke horse slaughter: each year in the U.S., some 100,000 horses (representing only 10-20% of the total who die) are sent to slaughter while 10 billion farm animals suffer a similar fate. In other words, don’t decry horse slaughter while eating a steak. Reasonable? Yes. Justification for butchering intelligent and sensitive creatures? I think not.

No Country for Horses

In Horse Slaughter, Horses on July 30, 2010 at 12:23 pm

When the last legal (Florida’s Killing Fields) horse slaughtering facility in the U.S. was closed in 2007, the 100,000 horses that had been annually shackled and slashed on American soil had to be moved elsewhere. Mexico and Canada became logical destinations. In February 2010, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) released hours of videotape revealing abuse and cruelty at the Viandes Richelieu and Bouvry (North America’s largest horsemeat exporter) equine slaughterhouses.

Three distinguished veterinarians were asked to review the footage and offer analysis:

Dr. Mary Richardson notes the horses’ distress from unfamiliar loud music and wet, slippery (blood) floors. Shots, fired at improper distances (feet instead of inches), were off-target, thus requiring multiple rounds. The shooters showed no sense of urgency when reloading and did not always ensure unconsciousness before the hang and bleed (sometimes, the upside down horse would be shot again). No scientific methods for checking consciousness (corneal reflex, voluntary movements) were observed.

Dr. Mel Richardson reminds that horses are the ultimate flight-prey animal; they run at the first sign of danger. “Loud music echoing off the walls, horses whinnying in fear, people yelling and using whips and electric prods and the smell of blood and death all equate to equine hell. Bouvry and Richelieu are causing extreme pain and suffering to the horses in their facilities.”

Dr. Debi Zimmerman says that fear-producing stimuli abounds at both plants; Bouvry and Richelieu are creating “unacceptable levels of suffering, both emotionally and physically.” She adds: “At Richelieu, horses were routinely subjected to excessive whippings on their bodies, excessive use of electric prods (both stick and hand-held), and some struck repeatedly across their faces.” Horses were penned next to the stun box for hours and overcrowded in the kill-line (causing a panic that required still more harsh measures to regain control). One shooter “allowed a horse that became cast in the stun box, to flail about for almost three minutes while he carried on a casual conversation with a co-worker. …The shooter whipped an older and obviously lame horse (#93) 19 times.” Sometimes, against regulations, horses stood side-by-side while being felled.

Some Bouvry horses were likely conscious while being exsanguinated (shackled by one leg, neck slashed from both sides using a sawing motion). And some of these had their feet chopped off within 45 seconds of the slash; a full bleed-out takes several minutes. Imagine that.

Because these two abattoirs are the last to use .22-caliber rifles for stunning (which is, ironically, more humane than an unwieldy captive bolt taking aim at head-shy animals), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) instructed their inspectors to remain in a separate room while guns were being shot; i.e., no one was watching the kill floor to guarantee humane slaughter. This negligence was corrected only after the undercover video went public, almost three years after the CFIA directive went into effect.

Another Canadian plant (Natural Valley)…

This HSUS video (released before the last three U.S. slaughterhouses closed) shows an even worse state of affairs in Mexico. There, a small puntilla knife intending to sever the spinal cord (to immobilize, not desensitize) is plunged into the horse. Illegal in the U.S. and E.U., the still-conscious animal is then shackled to bleed-out.

And…

As Canadian horse-slaughter expert Twyla Francois puts it: “[They are] so frightened. You can see them in the [auction] ring, that they search the ring looking for a friendly face. We have been comfort for them, and then we take them to slaughter. We see this at the slaughterhouses too, where they’re still seeking out affection from even the slaughterhouse workers themselves.”

“And one thing we saw that really broke my heart was, you would see the workers walking by the pens and the horses would rush the pens, looking for comfort from these men who were going to kill them. It just seems like such a betrayal. …nothing can prepare them for the journey they have ahead of them after they’ve been given up.”

To be clear, this is no commentary on the men paid to pull the trigger. To them, it’s only a job. Rather, the unspeakable sadness in Ms. Francois’ words comes from the knowledge of what went before. Many of these horses were once pets or pampered athletes (at least while they earned). They had names. They were treated kindly, even, at times, loved. Their trust was repaid with the auction block, tightly packed haulers, and Richelieu and Bouvry. Do her words not strike a chord? And the truth is, this vile business often represents the consequences of a sunny afternoon in Saratoga.

Florida’s Killing Fields

In Animal Cruelty Law, Horse Slaughter, Horses on July 30, 2010 at 2:41 am

In an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, a mere 15 minutes from South Beach, horses and other animals are being illegally kept and slaughtered (under the cruelest conditions) with the tacit approval of every relevant agency in South Florida: Miami-Dade Environmental Resource Management, Miami-Dade Building and Neighborhood Compliance, Miami-Dade Animal Services, Miami-Dade Police, and the USDA. Now, though, one man has embarked on a crusade to expose and shutter these brutal killing fields.

With no history of activism, Richard “Kudo” Couto began by rescuing Freedom’s Flight (relative of Secretariat) while working for the South Florida SPCA. He quickly formed the Animal Recovery Mission: (CNN, 12/28/09) “Prior to his rescue, I didn’t know that illegal slaughter farms existed in the country — let alone under my nose in my own county.” Couto’s videos and photos are testimonies to mankind’s capacity for evil and the apathy that allows it.

Couto estimates that there are 70-100 illegal slaughterhouses in the C-9 basin. The area is marked by dirt roads and thick vegetation (with tarps hung to obstruct vision). Unrepentant and defiant, the owners post signs (in English and Spanish) advertising their wares. Couto: “I go in acting like a customer. I ask them, ‘How much for the pig?’ And they’ll say 120 dollars. ‘How much for the kill?’ ‘20 bucks. We’ll slaughter it for you for 20 bucks.’ It’s that easy.” Cattle, chickens, goats, and pigs can be had, but it was the horse trade (some stolen, some slaughtered where they slept, and some bought as the racing industry’s discounted refuse) that brought the media.

Horse meat is popular with Cuban-Americans (Miami-Dade is over 50% Latino), and governmental negligence is perhaps a function of political considerations. The meat can sell for up to $40/pound: (horsetalk, 12/30/09) “In Miami, a dead horse is much more valuable than a live horse.” Couto says: “They are virtually tortured. It’s barbaric. It’s a really nasty, nasty thing going on. The people who are running these farms are extremely violent people … the worst of the worst. I’ve had my life threatened numerous times.”

“Every time we go in there, we have to go in there with the police — and even the police don’t want to go in there.” So says Charles Danger, director of Miami-Dade Building and Neighborhood Compliance, when interviewed by CNN. A Miami-Dade police detective says that while horse slaughter may be illegal and worthy of their attention, the unlicensed butchering of other animals (some while still conscious) is beyond their reach: “We’re not participating in these investigations because we found the most effective way to combat this is with code compliance and animal services.” Except that code compliance does not investigate animal cruelty, and animal services shuns livestock matters. So, the buck shifts and the blood flows.

To those who illegally traffic in animals and animal parts (and the complicit consumers who drive the market), the animals are mere commodities whose suffering is entirely irrelevant. And with no one minding the store, barbarity reigns, and has so for over 30 years. Kudo intends to shame the negligent agencies (and if there is legal ambiguity, the lawmakers too) into action. The animals cry out from his photos, “Enough.”

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