For my senior project, I decided to write about the connection of U.S. slaughter auctions and Mexican slaughterhouses. Below is one of the sections of my paper translated into English. These posts are better read in order. This is Post #1.
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In 1958, the United States Congress passed a law named "The Humane Slaughter Act." This law protected animals against mistreatment when slaughtered for human consumption. However, the law did not specifically mention horses. In 1978, a change was made to the law that said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) could enter slaughterhouses and respond to accusations of animal cruelty without warning. In this revision, slaughterhouses that slaughtered horses were excluded because of economic reasons. Horse meat is very popular in Europe and Asia, creating a market that the U.S. could participate in (Sherry, 2009, 108).
Therefore, the slaughter of horses for meat remained legal in the United States. There were American slaughterhouses in many states, including Texas and New Mexico. However, in 2006, Congress decided to stop the funding for inspections of slaughterhouses that slaughtered horses. The reason to stop funding was that if there wasn't federal funding for slaughterhouse inspectors, the slaughterhouses wouldn't be able to kill horses and there wouldn't be any export of horse meat for human consumption (Riggs, 2011). However, slaughterhouses could pay for their own inspections if they chose to (Motavalli, 2006). Due to this law, many slaughterhouses closed; the last one closed its door in 2007. In 2009, horse slaughter was prohibited in the United States (Riggs, 2011).
However, the closing of the slaughterhouses and the prohibition of horse slaughter had secondary effects. The price of horses in auctions dropped because of the lack of meat buyers. Also, abandonment, neglect and abuse of horses rose because, for the horse owners, there was no other option for old, sick and poorly behaved horses (Riggs, 2011). In addition, there was an increase of horses exported to Mexico and Canada where the same regulations against cruelty and the maintenance of the health of the horses do not exist. One year before the prohibition, 104,899 horses were slaughtered in the United States. However, in 2010, 138,000 were sent to Mexico for slaughter (Jonnson, 2011b). Even though slaughter was prohibited in the United States, the number of American horses that died for horse meat increased.
In 2011, the USDA re-established the funding for the inspection of U.S. slaughterhouses that slaughtered horses (Jonsson, 2011a). People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was in agreement. PETA said that the prohibition had created more suffering for the horses but hoped that there would be a prohibition of the export of horses to other countries (Jonsson, 2011b). Other critics said that this motion was made to protect horses from the dangers of exportation (Whitcomb, 2012). According to Powell, many organizations, like PETA, agree with the necessity of using humanitarian ways to deal with abandoned or extra horses and the protection of horses who face the cruel transportation to Mexico (2014). In addition, there was not an increase of taxes after the re-establishment of funding because when the funding was revoked in 2006, no inspectors lost their jobs (Whitcomb, 2012).
In response to the re-establishment of funding, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA) was created and called for the prohibition of the slaughter of horses for human consumption as well as the prohibition of the exportation of living horses that are slated for slaughter (Whitcomb, 2012). Although the re-establishment of funding occurred in 2011, the USDA did not give permission to companies to slaughter horses until 2013 (Rayman, 2013). Slaughterhouses in New Mexico, Missouri and Iowa made plans to begin the slaughtering of horses after this re-establishment (Knickerbocker, 2014)
Congress passed another law in 2014 that re-established the prohibition of horse slaughter in United States slaughterhouses. The American Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) celebrated this law and thinks that the next step should be the prohibition of the exportation of living horses to other countries where horses are consumed or prepared for export to Europe and Japan for consumption. In addition, there is a proposal that has not been passed by Congress that is named the Safeguard American Food Exports Act (SAFE) that prohibits exportation (Knickerbocker, 2014). There are senators that oppose this act. Senator Jim Infole says that "Without these facilities, aging horses are often neglected or forced to endure cruel conditions as they are transported to processing facilities across the border" (Knickerbocker, 2014).
Now, in 2018, the prohibition of slaughterhouses that slaughter horses for human consumption still stands. However, there is not a prohibition of the exportation of living horses nor the regulation surrounding slaughter auctions.
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There are thousands of horses that go for slaughter each year and the numbers aren't slowing. If you would like to donate to save horses, please go to this link: Gofundme.com/saved
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References:
Jonsson, P. (2011, November 30). Lifting horse slaughter ban: Why PETA says it’s a good idea. Christian Science Monitor, 1.
Knickerbocker, B. (2014, January 18). Saving horses from slaughter. Christian Science Monitor, 1.
Motavalli, J. (2006). The high-stakes battle over horse slaughter. E: The Environmental Magazine, 38.
Powell, S.M. (2014, April 5). More horses being shipped to Mexico, Canada for slaughter. Retrieved from: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/More-horses-being-shipped-to-Mexico-Canada-for5379495.php.
Riggs, M. (2011, October). Slaughter horse horror. Reason, 13-14.Sherry, C. J. (2009). Animal rights: Second edition. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC.
Whitcomb, R. (2012, January). Horse slaughter for meat could return to the United States: language barring USDA inspections of slaughter plants removed from new appropriations bill. DVM Newsmagazine, 30+.
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