Horse Slaughter: Myth vs. Fact

Many questions and misconceptions surround the issue of horse slaughter, questions like, “If we prohibit horse slaughter, what will happen to all the extra horses?” Below are some of the most prevalent myths about horse slaughter and the facts behind them. We hope these will help you be a more educated advocate to end horse slaughter.

Myth: Horse slaughter is a more humane way to euthanize unwanted horses.

Fact: Horses suffer horribly on the way to and during slaughter. Often, terrified horses are crammed together and driven to slaughter in double-decker trucks designed for cattle and pigs. According to federal law, horses slaughtered in the United States must be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually with a captive bolt pistol. However, some are improperly stunned and still conscious when they are killed. And, since the three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the United States ceased operating in 2007, horses are being transported even longer, more grueling distances to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, where methods are even more barbaric.

Compassionate horse owners who believe their ill or infirm horses deserve a dignified end to their lives will seek out humane euthanasia by a veterinarian. Equine Voices Rescue and Sanctuary in Arizona maintains a Humane Euthanasia Fund for owners who cannot afford to humanely euthanize their horses. 

-------

Myth: Horses who are slaughtered are generally sick, dangerous or no longer serviceable.

Fact: According to the USDA’s own “Guidelines for Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter,” 92.3 percent of horses arriving at slaughter plants are in “good” condition. Among those “good” horses are horses who have been stolen from their rightful owners or else sold/adopted to killer buyers under false pretenses. That means that no more than 8% are ill, injured, or otherwise unable to be used productively. At most, there are some 7,280 horses who would need to be humanely euthanized and spared the horror and suffering of slaughter – a relatively small and manageable number.

--------

Myth: Horse abuse and neglect cases will rise significantly if horse slaughter is banned.

Fact: There has been no documented rise in abuse and neglect cases in California since the state banned horse slaughter for human consumption in 1998, but there was a 34% drop in horse theft. There was no documented rise in Illinois following closure of the state's only horse slaughter plant in 2002.

--------

Myth: If there is a ban on horse slaughter, horse rescue and retirement groups won’t have the resources to take care of all the unwanted horses.

Fact: Not every horse currently going to slaughter will need to be absorbed into the rescue community. Many will be sold to a new owner, others will be kept longer and a licensed veterinarian will humanely euthanize some. Also, because it is profitable to breed horses specifically for slaughter, a ban on horse slaughter would actually reduce the number of horses born.

--------

Myth: If horse slaughter is banned, tens of thousands of unwanted horses will either suffer abandonment or neglect or require costly care.

Facts:

• We have more horses than ever in the United States, with no increase in “unwanted horses .” Even as the overall horse population has risen from below 7 million horses to more than 9 million over the past decade, the number of “unwanted horses” has been declining dramatically. In 1995, approximately 150,000 horses were slaughtered – roughly 2.2% of the total US horse population. In 2004, the number or horses slaughtered had fallen by a third while the horse population had risen by a third – leading slaughter rates to fall in half – to 1.1% of the US horse population.
• Horse slaughter has been in dramatic decline for a decade with NO increase in “unwanted horses.” Over the last decade, 442,000 fewer horses were slaughtered – and were absorbed by the horse community and either found new homes or were euthanized.
• Slaughter is obviously not an outlet for “unwanted horses” since we have imported horses to slaughter them. Nearly four percent of horses slaughtered between January and July of 2006 were imported from Canada. Of the nearly 70,000 horses slaughtered in the United States through July 2006, 2,534 were imported from Canada (of whom 2,238 were slaughtered in Illinois and 296 were slaughtered in Texas ). In 2005, 7,095 live horses were imported from Canada bound for American slaughter plants, or 7.5 percent of the 94,037 horses slaughtered here. If horse slaughter was actually an answer or in any way connected to an “unwanted horse” problem, then we would not have imported horses from Canada for slaughter.

--------

Myth: The closure of horse slaughter facilities in Illinois and Texas in 2007 is causing an increase in horse abuse and neglect, and horses are being abandoned.

Fact: There is tremendous lack of evidence to support that horse slaughter is connected to increased abuse. Right now, there are many pressures on the horse industry that are causing horse prices to fall. These include a significant drought, a hay shortage, the rising price of gas, the general state of the economy and the continuing issue of overbreeding horses. Horses are expensive to own, and are getting even more expensive because of these factors. That makes the price of humane euthanasia, which is typically $150 to $250, even more paltry in comparison to the overall cost of horse ownership.