B.G. - A horse saved from slaughter
Every state in the United States has laws prohibiting animal cruelty. There are laws in place banning the slaughter of downed cows, and there are laws banning horse slaughter in America for human consumption. Why is it then that America’s horses can be shipped to Mexico or Canada to be brutally slaughtered? If horse slaughter is banned in America, then why can kill buyers ship them across the country, and why can downed horses be slaughtered, and why can they be so cruelly murdered?
Big Momma - Rescued from slaughter at 16, now 30 years old.
Horses are not like other animals that are slaughtered; horses have a flight or fleeing instinct. When a horse is scared or nervous, they get jumpy, which makes slaughtering them harder, and therefore causes the people preparing them for slaughter to use such cruel methods. You will hear many arguments for why horses should be slaughtered. One of the main reasons is that banning horse slaughter will increase the number of unwanted, abused, and neglected horses. This is simply not true. After California banned horse slaughter, they did not see a rise in abandoned, abused, or neglected horses, and in fact, they saw a 34% decrease in the number of horse thefts. Horse loving families get their pets that many consider members of the family, stolen because others want to sell and slaughter them to make a profit.
It is not only older horses that get shipped to slaughter; many of the horses sent to slaughter are young, healthy horses. Slaughter houses will take any breed of equine including mules and donkeys; they will take any age of horse ranging from still pregnant mares, to foals, to horses who have had a long life. Many of the foals born to the Premarin mares are sent to slaughter. All in all, this vicious murder of innocent horses needs to stop. Please remember that all animals can feel pain, fear, and suffering. STOP horse slaughter!