Who pets a horse, takes out a gun and shoots it, then posts the video on YouTube?? Someone who believes slaughterhouses should be able to kill horses again in the U.S., and who thinks citizens of this country shouldn?t have the right to protest. Ironically though, he may as well have shot himself in the foot, because the video has created an angry backlash against the slaughter industry, and may impede their goal of reinstating horse slaughter in the U.S..
I have not, and will not watch this video (there is a link to it at the end of this article), and debated as to whether or not I would even write about it but it was this paragraph in an article that tipped the balance:
If you are one of those who make comments like, ?Stop this? -? know that I am trying, but it is YOU that has to stop it. Don?t think that I and a few others can do it without your help. YOU have to put in?the?effort to pick up the phone, to send the email, to protest and support those that are fighting beside you. Don?t think you can just close your eyes and post the occasional comment. To ?Stop this,? YOU have to get involved. Make the calls to your Senators and Representatives. On RT?s blog is a list of email addresses and phone numbers to those who need to be made aware that this incident arouses the anger of every mentally healthy American.? (J. Finch, Habitat for Horses).
I know first hand that people don?t understand the plight that faces horses in this country, they just don?t want to know.? Rescuing horses is heartbreaking business, made worse by people?s criticism (my favorite is ?you must be rich?) and unwillingness to do anything or face the reality of the horse trade.? But the truth is, most horses have a gruesome end in slaughterhouses.
Horse slaughter is a cruel and barbaric process, and is anything but the benign endgame for horses that the slaughterhouses would have you believe. Sure, they kill the old and sick horses, but that is not what keeps them in business ? they prefer healthy horses in good weight.? The racing industry and irresponsible breeders dump their horses there.? Buyers pose as rescuers and take in the horses that families can?t afford, then turn around and sell them to slaughterhouses. The horses? deaths are violent and often bungled, and they suffer unimaginably.
Habitat for Horses has an excellent series of articles on this issue, with solid data to support the revelations of what really happens to beloved horses.
?slaughtered horses are far from old, sick, lame, or emaciated. A USDA-commissioned study conducted by the Colorado State University in 1998 at the two horse slaughterhouses in Texas (Beltex Corp. and Dallas Crown, Inc.) showed that 92% of horses arriving at the plants are in good or excellent condition and are less than eight years old. The remaining 8%, the study found, evidenced recent trauma and other welfare-related problems, which could be attributed to transport conditions. In fact. more than half of that 8% showed clear signs of fighting injuries during transport. Only 1.5% presented significant welfare problems and were deemed unfit for travel. The report does not seem to account for the harsh treatment horses endure at auction yards and slaughter feedlots, including dehydration, starvation, lack of shelter, and medical treatment of existing injuries, which no doubt would worsen with time and transport conditions. This fact is backed by photographic evidence taken at the slaughter plants holding pens. Undercover pictures taken at Dallas Crown, Inc. (the plant formerly located in Kaufman, Texas) show only young, healthy, well-conformed animals, which some injuries, such as bruising and lacerations, clearly received during shipping and handling by killer buyers. No old, diseased or skinny horses were observed, despite the pens being watched for several days at various times.
Although the slaughterhouses have not been able to kill horses in the U.S. for a few years, they are close to being able to open again in several states.
Habitat for Horses has this to say about the other video (see link at the end), where the horse is shot:
?You do not want to see the video. It is far too graphic and far too violent. It has value as an educational tool for those in the mental health field in the study of sociopathic behavior (currently called ?antisocial personality disorder?) and for one other specific purpose ? for it displays the typical personality of those involved in the horse slaughter trade. These same personalities crowd into every horse auction and every slaughterhouse, deriving their pleasure from killing and watching other kill horses.
If you believe the lies about ?unwanted? horses, ?starving? horses, about ?peaceful euthanasia,? then yes, you need to watch it.
If you think sending your horse off to the slaughterhouse is really the way you want to discharge your responsibility for the animal you bought, then yes, you should watch it. This is the type of man to whom you are turning your horse over. If equine slaughterhouses once again open in American ? this man will win.
Once again ? Fair Warning ? DO NOT WATCH ? but if you must, click here?.
Source: http://blog.seattlepi.com/candacewhiting/2013/03/23/man-shoots-trusting-horse-posts-it-on-youtube/
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