A lot of people in the equine sport and breeding community wring their hands helplessly when the issue of horse slaughter is brought up. They helplessly and what are we supposed to do with all the excess horses we breed. What will become of the horses that are old and broken down? And isn't it more humane to slaughter a horse quickly than to let it be starved or abandoned?

As someone who has worked on this issue for many years and who has worked with horses most of my life, I know full well that most of these arguments are patently false. The reason that the slaughter of horses exists is not because it's a necessary evil to save horses from an even worse fate, but because horsemeat is a luxury item in countries like France, Belgium and Japan, and because there is a huge profit to be made in the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The foreign owned slaughterhouses in the US that had processed horses until last year did not operate out of generosity for those of us who were at a loss over what to do with our horses when they could no longer work, but because it was less expensive to buy large numbers of horses in the US than it was in Europe.

When anyone bothered to look at the actual statistics behind the pro-slaughter argument, the facts always bore out that slaughter was no humane, nor necessary. The claim that the horse slaughtered were the old, the sick and the dangerous falls flat when it was proven that the vast majority of horses processed were mature, but not aged and in good physical health with few major soundness issues. The claim that slaughter is a humane alternative to having a vet euthanize the horse and disposing of the body (either by burial, cremation or rendering), but all studies on the issue have proven this not to be the case.

Unlike cattle and sheep that are bred to be docile and easy to handle, horses are highly alert creatures for which slaughter is an extraordinarily frightening and traumatic experience. Horses are transported over long distances in double-decker trailers designed for hogs and cattle, not horses, which do not give them adequate clearance for them to hold their heads in a normal position and makes it difficult for them to balance themselves while being transported. The horses are packed in indiscriminantly, with pregnant mares alongside stallions and geldings with no consideration made for their safety or well being. It's not at all unusual for horses to arrive at the slaughter house badly injured with broken bones and head injuries. Fatalities during transport to slaughter are commonplace, and these trailers have been documented to overturn during transit, or have the upper level collapse onto the lower level. At the slaughterhouse, the same mechanism used to stun cattle is used but the nature of horses makes it very difficult to stun them effectively. Horses with their longer necks are able to whip their heads about quickly and it often takes several attempts before the horse is stunned sufficiently. There are documented cases of horses being slaughtered while still conscious.

Slaughter has not been a panacea for issues regarding abuse and neglect of horses and it’s rather ludicrous for the pro-slaughter groups to claim that by increasing access to slaughter will reduce neglect and abandonment of horses. Texas, which until recently had two of the last remaining horse slaughterhouses in the US, also had one of the highest rates of abuse and theft, as documented by the US Humane Association. Having relatively local access to slaughterhouses did little to preclude abuse, as many of the abusive or negligent owners had no desire to get rid of their horses. It did, however, dramatically increase horse theft, as the thieves had a quick way to sell the stolen horses and the slaughterhouses were known to do little to check ownership documentation prior to slaughter. There are many documented cases of owners tracing their stolen animals to the slaughterhouses, only to arrive too late to save them. California, which effectively banned the sale and transport of horses for slaughter, saw a dramatic decrease in reports of theft. And most law enforcement agencies agree that the best answer to abuse of animals is with strengthening enforcement of humane laws, not giving abuses a place to dump their animals for a profit.

Several breed organizations, like the American Quarter Horse Association and the American Paint Horse Association have defended their pro-slaughter stance as a way to reduce the number of excess horses bred in the US every year. What they have not encourage, however, was a decrease in breeding since they make money on each horse registered in their breed books. Instead of encouraging breeding the excellent to the excellent, they have encouraged massive overbreeding, with slaughter used as an artificial price support (the buyer of last resort). Removing slaughter from the equation would force many poor breeders out of the business, which would only be for the betterment of these breeds. And the Jockey Club, which oversees the breeding of Thoroughbreds, has come out solidly against slaughter, as have many top racing trainers and owners. The Thoroughbred racing industry still has a long way to go, but they have taken solid steps towards ensuring that no horse bred for racing is ever sent for slaughter.