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Few animals have played such an important role in our nation’s history as horses. Western pioneers discovered new lands on horseback. Soldiers rode horses into countless battles, and farmers relied on horses to plow their fields. Many monuments commemorating the great American show them on horseback. To this day, horses are our partners, companions, and even therapeutic healers for people with ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder and physical disabilities.
Therefore, many Americans would object to the idea of eating horsemeat given their place in our culture. are slaughtered for human consumption in a form of cruelty to animals.
The state of Colorado has approved the sale of meat by passing new bill SB23-038, which prohibits the purchase of horses, donkeys, or mules in Colorado if the buyer knows or reasonably should know the intent. You can act today to ban the shipment of horses for processing.The main purpose of the trade is to slaughter animals for processing into human food. The legislation has broad community support, including our organization Believe Ranch and Rescue and the Colorado chapter of Animal Wellness Action.
In 2007, Congress suspended federal funding for horse meat inspectors, effectively preventing horse slaughterhouses from operating in the United States. But that hasn’t stopped the domestic horse slaughter industry. Each year, more than 20,000 American horses are exported across the border to abattoirs in Canada and Mexico, where they are slaughtered and shipped to European and Asian markets.
Horses that end up in the slaughter pipeline are usually bought at auction by “kill buyers” who bid more often than well-meaning individuals and organizations who want to save the horse and provide it with a good home. endure long journeys in overcrowded conditions, usually without food, water or rest. Some never make it to the slaughterhouse alive because of extreme circumstances.
Those that do are then subjected to a traumatic carnage process. Horses instinctively tap their long necks when frightened, so many blows to the head are required to stun them, and even then stunning doesn’t always work. As a result, some horses are still conscious during amputation. It is not a quick, painless or humane death.
Eating horse meat is dangerous to humans. American horses are often fed a variety of medicines and chemicals prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration for use in animals raised for food. Knowing this, in other countries horsemeat is often disguised as “beef”, exposing unsuspecting buyers to potentially contaminated horsemeat.
Far from being bred for slaughter, horses are majestic and intelligent creatures that deserve our compassion. Although they are no longer the primary means of transportation for most Americans, he remains one of our most familiar companion animals. Many Americans can relate to the joy of riding a horse, whether it’s in a competition or simply basking in the sun with a horse.
Horses are also powerful healers. There are dozens of horse treatment and healing programs across the state, some helping to reduce suicide rates among the country’s beloved veterans, others helping people with disabilities, autism, anxiety and PTSD. There are also things.
Consider the Wild Horse Inmate Program developed at Canon City in 1986. The goal of the program was for inmates to appease, or tame, horses. What ended up happening was that the horse was nice to the prisoner. Once released, these prisoners become productive members of society. Although the Pro Horse program was not designed as horse therapy, it “boasts an inmate recidivism rate of 15%, compared to his 70% national average.”
Americans love horses. A national poll released last year found that 83% of Americans oppose slaughtering wild and domestic horses for human consumption. Coloradoans can act today to ban horse slaughter. We can ban this brutality now. Colorado horses depend on us.
Siri Lindley of Longmont is the co-founder of Believe Ranch and Rescue.
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