Call me a flip-flopper if you will, but opinions evolve over time and I reserve the right to change my mind. As new challenges emerge and priorities change, I may advocate for solutions I once thought ethical but unwise.
Similar to the way President Obama’s position on gay marriage “evolved” over time, so has my support for legal horse slaughter. As a retired rider and trainer of show horses, my love for them has always endured and treating these wonderful creatures as livestock seemed abhorrent.
State and federal lawmakers find it easy to ban practices that run contrary to their constituents’ beliefs. In 2007, Congress passed laws defunding USDA slaughterhouse inspectors, which had the practical effect of closing the nation’s slaughterhouses. But the laws had unintended consequences.
The recession beginning in 2008 saw many amateur riders, who had lost their jobs, no longer able to support a horse past its prime. At the same time, hay prices quadrupled, as Asian markets for alfalfa and grains boomed and years of drought constricted supply.
Unemployed parents were hard-pressed to feed their families. Wealthier owners could simply call a veterinarian to come and euthanize a horse. But vet fees, hauling and disposal fees put this option out of reach for many.
Horses, as animal rights advocates predicted, were being hauled long distances to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico, increasing the fright and discomfort for those animals destined to die in wretched conditions. Realizing the mistake, Congress in 2011 reversed the “ban” on American horse slaughter, paving the way for renewed trade in horsemeat with Europe and Asia.
It’s for this reason that in the past few years, I’ve actually supported lifting restrictions on horse slaughter. So I was appalled to read last week that a federal judge temporarily halted plans by companies in New Mexico and Iowa to reopen horsemeat-packing plants next week. The Associated Press article also stated, “The Obama Administration opposes horse slaughter and is seeking to reinstate a congressional ban that was lifted in 2011.” When a law has failed so miserably, why would they want to reinstate it?
A lawsuit brought by The Humane Society of the United States and other animal welfare groups contends the Department of Agriculture failed to complete environmental studies before issuing permits to reopen the slaughterhouses. This prompted U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo to issue a restraining order to stop the resumption of horse meatpacking and exporting. I hope this is only temporary.
In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t eaten the meat of any animal in almost 40 years. Fish, and the occasional egg or cheese, comprise my animal protein intake. The rest comes from greens, cruciferous vegetables, nuts and seeds. My decision to eschew meat was based on health, not animal-rights ethics.
Now, I’ll add these news bits to the mix: A few months back, an investigation discovered horsemeat in burgers labeled as beef that was sold in Europe and in fast-food restaurants here. It appears nobody was harmed by eating the horsemeat, nor did any consumer notice its presence.
So when Bill Moyers devoted his Sunday show to childhood poverty and malnutrition, I thought, what if we used some of that horsemeat here instead of exporting it to Europe and Asia, where it’s considered a delicacy? It could be incorporated into school lunch programs where labeling isn’t an issue. Surely it wouldn’t be as bad as “Pink Slime,” the filler used to extend ground meat that was recently removed from school menus nationwide. If children didn’t like the new burgers, maybe they would eat more veggies, gain less weight and be generally healthier.
Meanwhile, we could avoid the agony that so many horse owners go through when their beloved horses are no longer fit for competition or even gentle trail riding. Over the years, when we had horses whose owners could no longer support them, we donated them to a refuge for large cats (lions and tigers), whose natural diet is equine-based, since they have evolved to eat zebra, deer and antelope. The current badly written law, however, would criminalize transporting horses for donation “and other purposes.”
So could Congress cut the posturing and obstruction long enough to stop reintroduction of this law and its unintended consequences? They could even reinstate food stamps. People are having a tough enough time feeding their families.