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US Representative Bob Goodlatte is blocking a bill banning horse slaughter (for food) coming out of committee. It has enough votes to pass, but Mr. Goodlatte has his own agenda.
There are only 3 horse slaughter plants in the US. and they are owned by Belgian and French citizens. Two in Texas,
one in Illinois. You can help by contacting Mr. Goodlatte, and urge him to let this bill go on its way. Virginians, especially are urged to write him.

Thanks,

Mike Perez
nyc, ny

Why would you want to block a horse slaughter plant? Last time I checked, horses were domestic animals that were in no danger of extinction. They actually taste pretty good as well. If most people eat cows and chickens why get upset about horses. And so what if the slaughter plants are owned by foreign companies. If it provides another market for ranchers to sell to all the better. It's another case of "Let's not eat the pretty animals". Seems pretty silly to me.

My thoughts exactly, you beat me to it.

I hate any slaughter, and by the way don't sheep and Veil look cute as well, I don't see you trying to ban those, especially veil, baby cows, tied down so they can't move and bled slowly with just enough blood left in to keep them alive, all for the darn consistency and taste, my goodness.

save all the animals I say. oh yeah does this person feed rats or mice to HIS/her reptiles, or other animals.

sorry if this is a bit harsh but i don't beleive in saving one animal over the other, they all have lives that they are entitled to and they all feel pain.

steve

and not only that, but isn't it better (more ethical) to slaughter larger animals?

Is it better to slaughter 1 horse, 3 pigs, or 500 chickens to get the same amount of meat--to feed the same number of people? Seems to me like the animal rights groups would prefer fewer numbers of animals to be slaughtered, than much larger numbers of smaller animals. Why kill 500 chickens when killing one horse will do? (assuming the quality/taste of the meat is about the same, and consumers will buy the meat-this seems like a good idea to me!).

And if you want to argue intelligence in this debate, we should ban killing pigs, long before we ban killing horses! (but then how will I make my bacon/lettuce/tomato sandwiches?!)

Horse lettuce and tomato just doesn't sound right.-LOL

Rodney

and it doesn't matter what size or species the animal is. We as humans do not need to consume meat in order to survive. I grimace when I think of all the meat eaters eating their disgusting animal carcass sandwhiches. When you think about what is really going into your body, how can you eat meat?

In the real world animals that are large and in a civilised (highly developed)country generally are hunted to near or total extinction for fun, profit or exterminated as pest animals. look at what happened to Mustangs-what few are left were preserved by romantics who got limited protection for those that weren't hunted and destroyed.

The only large non native animals that thrive and increase are those we either keep for entertainment or use for some purpose.

The day of the horse (as transportation) is basicly over in this country.

Early Americans slaughtered the species to extinction here. What we have now was reintroduced by the Spanish explorers that brought their horses here. There are no laws to protect them like other animals that belong in the wild,(as they are not a native species) so Federal land is not a refuge. In fact, they compete with native species. The exception again being Mustangs and I seem to recall an Island colony of horses.

This being said, it falls under the same critria as cattle. namely, the only use for it in large numbers is for food, glue and whatever else the carcass can supply.

So basicly, if you want to save the horses..better accept the best protection they have right now which is the rearing of these as food.

Why does this whole thing sound like a PETA crusade?

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I'm a vegetarian, just to clear things up a bit, and do not agree with the slaughtering of any animal, horses included, as well as cows, chickens, and pigs. I do find it very absurd and agree with the above post that all meat eaters really care about saving, if anything at all, are the cute and fluffy animals, not even noticing how smart and friendly some others may be. Did you know that pigs are smarter than dogs? If you think that just banning the slaughtering of horses is going to make a difference, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Go to meetyourmeat.com and watch the free video. Hopefully, you'll see things in a different light.

Hi Cutipie!

I'm one of those carcass eaters (love it raw). Still I admire your futile attempt to eat cleanly(?)

Two myths though that need to be cleared up.

Man is naturaly a vegetarian. FALSE! Man is an omnivore. As are most of the great apes. Even Caribou eat meat (rodents)when they chance on it.

Man does not need the protein in meat. FALSE! Vegetable proteins are incomplete,they do not supply the neccessary proteins that the vast majority of humans need. A vegetarian diet (except for a tiny minority) is a very unhealthy diet. Tht is because we are not genetically identical.

Without getting into a major flame war on this...All of your Pigs, cattle, sheep, horses etc would have been exterminated long ago if man had not found uses for them. LOVE US MEAT EATERS..We keep those animals safe from extinction!

Frank (the joyful carcass eater)
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I did not say that man is naturally a vegetarian. I said man can live without eating meat and that we can survive just fine without it. In fact, it is a lot healthier than a meat based diet, for many reasons. We do not need meat in order to get the protein that we need. I am healthier than I've ever been since I've been a vegetarian. Vegetarians have lower risks of birth defects and need for c-sections, as shown by many studies. I'm not trying to turn this into an arguement. I just feel that those who do eat meat shouldn't look down on us just because we are choosing a different lifetsyle. I'm sure you have your reasons for eating animals. I have mine to stay away from eating them.

I did not belittle your dietary choice....You did mine, so there really is no grounds for your being defensive.

I suggest you talk to a good (non Biased )Dietician. Sorry to burst your bubble, but what I said above is correct.

I respect someone who has the discipline to hold to a diet like you chose. Which is why I didn't berate you for brutalizing ears of corn and crushing wheat embryos. How about squeezing the life juices out of a poor carrot? Sound silly? So does your diatribe about the "brutality of meat eating".

What I object to is the not so subtle superiority that you attach to your dietary preference by insulting the rest of us....double standard much?

Or did you think calling us Carcass eaters was complimentary?

If you are going to deal it out, get used to taking it.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I apologize about calling meat eaters carcass eaters. However, I have spoken to many dieticians who were omnivores that agree that going vegetarian is healthy. I get a lot of protein from leafy green vegetables, soy, and do not get the hormones associated with meat, or the saturated fats. I do not mean to belittle people who do choose to eat meat, and there is no superiority. My parents eat meat, my twin sister eats meat, and I love them all. However, they do not see the horrors of factory farming as I have seen, or they do not choose to recognize it. If you can live with the knowledge of the way these animals live and die, then so be it. It is your choice. If there was a more humane way to raise these animals, it would not be a problem. However, these animals undergo torture everyday due to their living conditions and living space, or should I say lack of.

I am a student nurse and I have seen tons of cases in the hospital of people who get diseases or have colon cancer due to being meat-heavy eaters. I have never been sick since I've become a vegetarian, unlike I used to be all the time when I ate meat. No longer am I anemic or have little energy. Rather, I am in the best health that I have ever been. So sorry, everyone that I talk to promotes vegetarian eating. I refuse to eat meat and make my body go into ketosis, or give myself diabetes Type 2.

I have a sister and a cousin that are both vegetarian, so I am not prejudiced either. I eat little red meat. What I find interesting is that I have had no trouble with Cancer (they both have) and very few allergies and illnesses compared to anyone in my family (and I do like my steak TAR TAR).

I do heartly agree that the the methods used to produce food animals are cruel. I put a big piece of the blame on over population that makes such mass production neccessary....

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

You are very wrong! I've been a vegetarian since I was born and I'm the healthiest one in my family. My family has a history of obesity, heart problems, etc. I KNOW I'm not that lucky to get THAT many good genes. I get an annual exam every year and my Dr. says whatever I'm doing - keep it up!