Then we can talk about the animals.

The dialog about whether a horse is a pet or livestock will not be resolved soon. Nor will the matter of overpopulation. The racing industry alone creates many more horses than will ever do well enough at a track (not a good life for most horses, either) to warrant a longer life, and most are raced too early (age two, not fully grown) and retired with many years of life ahead.

I want to take issue with the assertion that the horses that end up on their way to slaughter are old, lame or otherwise useless. There is little profit in shipping an animal that has no meat on its bones, though it does happen. Many horses are to auction – and slaughter – in excellent physical condition.

Last August, we adopted a 6-year-old Thoroughbred gelding from a feedlot in Washington State. In 48 hours, he was to have been shipped by truck to slaughter in Canada. He had plenty of muscle and was in good health. We found out by researching his racing history that he had landed at the feedlot (owned by a "kill buyer") only 30 days after his last race.

This means he was sold almost immediately after someone decided he was not worth the cost anymore. We do not know whether any attempt was made to find him a new owner.

We have his registration papers, which could only have been released by his breeder-owner; willing, apparently, to be identified. We have not attempted to contact them, there being no reason to do so.

He is gentle and intelligent. A veterinary exam shows some common signs of racing wear and tear. Given his youth and temperament, this is unfortunate. He also behaves in such a way that it is clear he was mistreated.

Sometimes an owner does not know what happens to a horse, if it was bought by, or given to, someone who in turn sold it at auction. Here in Oregon, racetracks attempt to place the horses that will be retired at the end of a season. Not all horses are adoptable, but it is a wonderful way to obtain a horse if one's means are limited and if one is able to put the time and money into training. (A racehorse is poorly trained, usually, for even companionship, as it is still thought by many that civilizing a horse will reduce its speed.)

I do not have a strong position about slaughter of horses. If it is done humanely (I am a fan of Temple Grandin), I can accept it. Perhaps this is because I grew up on a dairy farm where we raised our own beef every year. Different cultures eat different things, and while I might be squeamish about it, I know there is nothing rational about that.

At the same time, I understand that people are sentimental about horses when they have never considered them livestock. I am glad, at the personal level, that my daughter now has a horse that suits her perfectly and that - because we have come to love him - he was not sent to Canada for slaughter.

"I've heard that horses are not even as developed mentally as a human fetus at about three months."

Your source told you a preposterous lie.

Read "Sheep of Fools" by Sue Coe, Monte Beauchamp, and Judith Brody for the continuing true story of the millions of New Zealand's sheep and their much more gruesome fate. All in verse to boot!

any of you moralists would eat your own damn mother if you got hungry enough, your mother who more than likely has eaten horse herself, and if not her then surely her mother during WWII, without a second thought, just grateful for that delicious red meat...

All the worrisome hand wringing over a horse viewed as domestic livestock.

Too bad there is not the same level of concern about unborn babies.

It sounds like the problems were exacerbated by the well-intentioned horse lovers who stopped US slaughterhouses. If we can regulate the slaughter of other animals for consumption, why not horses? We can't regulate Mexican facilities, but the horses have to go somewhere, and now they go to places where the cheapest method of killing (knives!) are used. There aren't enough people with land to adopt them all. There are, in fact, ways to end a life that are more humane than others.

Treating a horse differently from other livestock in this respect makes no sense - it's just emotional human silliness. If you are against all animal slaughter, fine, propose a solution, but saying we can't kill horses here because they are special is just stupid. Once again, it seems that people took action without thinking it through.

You need to give Leegee's letter a big red star -- that letter writer knows what he/she's talking about and has identified the problem clearly. Bravo, Leegee.

Didn't like it. Tough, a little stringy. But in a somewhat related strain, I remember in Toronto once there was a Chinese restaurant next door to a Vietnamese restaurant. Needless to say there were no stray dogs OR cats in the neighborhood.

Just east of Houston Texas is a horse auction. They typically hold their sales on Saturday nights and on that Saturday, the place is open for people to deliver whatever animal they want to be sold. The current economic situation has found that, during the week before the sales, people are dropping off animals and leaving them there, un fed, un watered and alone in pens until Saturday when the staff arrive. The place is only open on Saturdays. People can no longer feed or care for the animals and are dumping them. IS this what we have come to?

It's the moral equivalent of dumping a litter of kittens or puppies on the side of an interstate.And equally as cruel.

I've owned horses for years, having sold my last one in 2005 just before I retired. Owning and correctly caring for a horse is a huge responsibility. HUGE! I worked three jobs to support one horse at a time to keep the animal in a good barn, with proper care for his health and well being. Just as I did for my children.

But, as much as I loved horses, and as hard as I worked, I could not afford to buy a big back-hoe tractor to dig a grave for a dead animal. And they all will die at some point. It's not the same as the dog or cat buried in the back yard at all.

Life for animals, just like the human animal, is finite. There will be an end. This country should grow up and recognize that the slaughter and eating of an animal such as the kind-eyed horse is no different than the same practice we use on chickens, pigs, cattle, goats, fish or any other food source.

If you can't bring yourself to eat horse meat, I assure you that many zoos will be thrilled to have the meat available for the carnivores they maintain.