A more balanced report on the Documentary! Again like Australia it focuses on Abbatoirs!

[Chief Stipe]

 

[Chief Stipe]

Why is a horse a more sentient being than a bobby calf, a cow, a donkey, a deer, a steer, a pig, a duck, a chicken?

Vegetarian pets are coming to a store near you!

[Freda]

6 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Why is a horse a more sentient being than a bobby calf, a cow, a donkey, a deer, a steer, a pig, a duck, a chicken?

Vegetarian pets are coming to a store near you!

 

Humane and compassionate handling should apply to all animals. 

I don't think any decent human being would feel that some animals can or should be treated more cruelly than others. 

[Chief Stipe]

18 minutes ago, Freda said:

I don't think any decent human being would feel that some animals can or should be treated more cruelly than others. 

Don't disagree however the "woke" make that wider issue a "Racing Issue".  Presumably because the Racing Industry exploits horses to make money.  Which is no different to any other livestock based industry.

Do we "rehome" dairy cows?

[Freda]

Of course not.    Many a child has a tale of the pet lamb which ' disappeared' one day while the kid was at school....only to be told a few weeks later what they were eating at tea time.

A visit to an abattoir should be undertaken before slagging off racing.

[the galah]

6 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Don't disagree however the "woke" make that wider issue a "Racing Issue".  Presumably because the Racing Industry exploits horses to make money.  Which is no different to any other livestock based industry.

Do we "rehome" dairy cows?

The dairy industry does things no other industry does.About 3 years ago i used to know a fellow who worked at a local abattoir that processed bobby calves. His job was to herd them into the area where they were processed. He often appeared very tired,which he explained was a result of the effort involved in getting animals often only 4 or 5 days old to walk to where they needed to go. He said the  calves were often exhausted from the travel involved to get there,and had to have coped with no feed for up to 24 hours.He said it wasn't uncommon to help carry them to their fate. He had real sympathy for what he thought was often inhumane circumstances the calves had to deal with.He said it was a depressing job,but paid the bills. 

[Chief Stipe]

43 minutes ago, the galah said:

He had real sympathy for what he thought was often inhumane circumstances the calves had to deal with.He said it was a depressing job,but paid the bills. 

And keeps many dogs and cats fed.  Something like 75% of carbon emissions from the livestock industry are from the manufacture of pet food.

Shame we don't have much of a market for veal in this country.

[Gammalite]

12 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Why is a horse a more sentient being than a bobby calf, a cow, a donkey, a deer, a steer, a pig, a duck, a chicken?

Vegetarian pets are coming to a store near you!

Good point Chief, but to me, it comes down to how close you are to your animal.

Virtually no-one would send their dog to an abbattoir. Throughout history dogs and horses have 'given their all' loyalty and effort for the benefit of their owner, whether be farming, hunting , entertainment for glory (The roman empire had Chariot racing with beautiful teams of horses) transport, war-horse and just plain old conquering . Like Genghis Khan and the mongol empire (the biggest in history) where he had no trouble slaughtering tribe after tribe of people but looked after their precious horses like gold )

Cows, pigs, sheep, goats do provide milk, hide, wool etc but as a true 'companion for the master , nothing beats his horse nor dog.

Cowboys and Indians happy to kill each other , but both camps prized their horses more lol.... not quite a racing horse , but Bet they liked a FAST one to get away from the other mob ,when the calvary wasn't about lol..... 

 Hi ho Silver !!!! sentiment to the end.... a horse is more of man's best friend through history than the dog. 

Let's look to re-home them all where possible. NZ and Oz have plenty of farms still (and you have grass too !! )

[Chief Stipe]

11 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Cowboys and Indians happy to kill each other , but both camps prized their horses more lol.... not quite a racing horse , but Bet they liked a FAST one to get away from the other mob ,when the calvary wasn't about lol..... 

Come on Gamma's the horse was the Cowboy and Indian - car, ute, tractor and at time battle tank.  That's why they were prized!  You've watched far too many romantic Wild West movies.  Didn't stop either from eating them when desperate.

11 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Let's look to re-home them all where possible. NZ and Oz have plenty of farms still (and you have grass too !! )

Be realistic - 3,000 plus horses a year?  Who will pay for their homing?  Who will feed them during a drought?  Or shift them before he pending flood? There is hardly enough revenue in the game as it is without forcing on owners a life long obligation.  Why is the racehorse any different to the Wild Horse's of the Kaimanawa's which are rounded up and if not wanted shipped to the abattoir?  But that's fine because is is protecting Conservation land.

Quite frankly I've met quite a few horses that not even their mothers loved.

[Gammalite]

2 minutes ago, Chief Stipe said:

Come on Gamma's the horse was the Cowboy and Indian - car, ute, tractor and at time battle tank.  That's why they were prized!  You've watched far too many romantic Wild West movies.  Didn't stop either from eating them when desperate.

Be realistic - 3,000 plus horses a year?  Who will pay for their homing?  Who will feed them during a drought?  Or shift them before he pending flood? There is hardly enough revenue in the game as it is without forcing on owners a life long obligation.  Why is the racehorse any different to the Wild Horse's of the Kaimanawa's which are rounded up and if not wanted shipped to the abattoir?  But that's fine because is is protecting Conservation land.

Quite frankly I've met quite a few horses that not even their mothers loved.

Hahaha you are right on all counts there Chief unfortunately. Too many movies for Gammalite. (Absolutely adore horse movies , esp racehorse ones like Secretariat)

Yes a lot of those mobs ate the horsemeat as well as the dog meat even,  through all history. I personally would NOT. I can't even bring myself to eat Kangaroo, as Australia the ONLY nation in the world that shoots and slaughters it's NATIONAL EMBLEM. there is something fundamentally wrong with that concept. (or just mentally wrong with Gammalite lol.......)

I took a thoroughbred, as a favour for an owner (with a serious knee issue that couldn't be repaired) to that 'MERAMIST abattoir' near Brisbane once. It is one of the 2 horse abattoirs in Australia , and was featured in the ABC broadcast about horse cruelty. I WAS SCARRED FOR LIFE. They were unloading a double semi chock full of Brumbies when I arrived . crippled horses everywhere. some standing on 3 legs with the snapped one 'Swinging in the Breeze' ) I actually said 'Did that stock truck roll over or something?" It was an 'Apocalypse' to horse loving Gammalite seeing all that. Swore on mother's grave would NEVER go there again. ever. never. ever. (actually BIG part of reason gave up training and went to vet for 15 years)

We used to breed from the mares, and give away the old trotting geldings to girls for riding hacks (pony club etc) and chuck em a bale of hay , and even trim the feet for them if they rode around. BUT you are right , there are vet things/costs these days that are large , Hay was $4 bale in the 90's. god knows what they charge these days. and guess no one will 'shoe for free' anymore. Best days are gone. 

Racehorses for Dog/Cat food ?.. awful. would never of started out,  if knew it would come to that for them. sad days.

[Freda]

It's reality...and that's why there needs to be a rigid code of practice for ALL stock at slaughterhouses, not just horses.

While we're on the depressing side of things, what about the dog meat business in China and other Asia countries?  Can you imagine treating your best mate like that? 

I try not to dwell on it bit it sickens me.  Not the eating part, but the cruelty inflicted on the way

[Chief Stipe]

22 hours ago, Gammalite said:

Yes a lot of those mobs ate the horsemeat as well as the dog meat even,  through all history. I personally would NOT. I can't even bring myself to eat Kangaroo, as Australia the ONLY nation in the world that shoots and slaughters it's NATIONAL EMBLEM. there is something fundamentally wrong with that concept. (or just mentally wrong with Gammalite lol.......)

I've tried it all.  Chevaux (horse meat) at a restaurant 20 years ago in Wellington, Bambi (Venison), Skippy(Kangaroo), Emu, Crocodile, Turtle, Ducks Beaks and all parts of an OX and a Chicken in China. 

Funny how we don't mind feeding a lot of that stuff to our pet dog reconstituted as kibble!

[Chief Stipe]

Edited Press Release

The U.S. Senate passed a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill Tuesday without any provision to ban the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter for human consumption, putting in jeopardy the anti-slaughter provision adopted more than a month ago in the House by a voice vote.

The Senate assembled anew its Infrastructure bill, taking the House bill and number, H.R. 3684, the INVEST Act, but little else. The Senate effectively stripped an amendment led by U.S. Reps. Troy Carter, D-La., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., John Katko, R-N.Y., Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. and conceived by Animal Wellness Action to H.R. 3684 that would have banned the transport of equines across state and federal lines for the purposes of slaughter for human consumption.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., made an attempt to keep the anti-slaughter transport language in play by filing his own amendment #2296, but that effort gained no momentum, with few Senators treating the anti-slaughter provision in a serious-minded way.

“We are disappointed the Senate continues to treat the ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of horses as anything but an urgent matter,” said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, who was recently honored by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, II for his work to protect horses. “Here was an opportunity to solve a major animal welfare problem that the American public overwhelmingly supports and that's been circulating in the Senate for a quarter century. House Members should vote against the Senate-passed infrastructure bill or amend the measure to restore the anti-slaughter language.”

“We've watched tens of thousands of horses endure a horrible passage to Canada and Mexico every year and then get slaughtered at foreign abattoirs for a small segment of consumers in Asia and Europe,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy. “Americans want to see this ruthless and predatory industry stop gathering up and victimizing American horses and burros. Failing to take up this issue was a terrible missed opportunity for the Senate.”