Pros With increasing obesity rates across the globe, the demand for health-conscious foods is higher than ever. Horse meat is a great substitute for popular meats that are socially accepted today. Horse meat is characterized as a red meat like beef, pork, sheep, and goat. While horse meat is like beef in appearance, it has more protein and vitamins, and a less fat percentage. Horse meat is also calorically lower than beef, veal, pork, lamb, and sheep, making it ideal for the rising concern in the United States about a healthy food supply (Stanciu, 2015). If eventually socially acceptable, horse meat could be the next big fad on the markets.
While horse slaughter was deemed illegal in the United States in 2006, it still happens in the
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Brazil economically capitalized on the export market by shipping over two thousand tons of horse meat to its most extensive market, the European Union, in 2011 alone. The total value of Brazil’s horse meat export that year was equivalent to almost seven-million dollars. With a struggling economy in Brazil, the value of horse meat exports provided the necessary boost. In 2012, Brazil’s total horse count added up to almost five hundred and fifty million horses (“Horsemeat production in South America,” 2014). With a plethora of available horses, one can see that even though horse slaughter is implemented in Brazil, the total horse population is hardly affected as horses are still widespread throughout the country.
Another troubling aspect is the environmental problems that could come about due to improper carcass disposal of dead horses. The halt of horse slaughter in the United States has caused the sudden need to dispose of millions of bodies of horses which is bound to create a plethora of environmental problems such as soil contamination (“Horse slaughter bill making waves,” 2004). Horse slaughter provided owners with old or injured horses the ability to rid of them for an eventual product. Common disposal practices like burial could provide problems while the body decomposes, and eventually affect the water supply.
Contrary to
Industrialization has revolutionized America’s economy. Mass production allows products in demand to be easily available for purchase. But at what point does this system cross the line? It is one thing to mass produce electronics and clothing, for example, but applying mass production to the meat industry is entirely different. In order to generate the most profit, livestock are killed systematically at a massive scale on an assembly line. These animals are treated as nothing more than objects that can be processed, packaged, and sold to a consumer. For this business to take place with both time and cost efficiency, the welfare of the livestock is placed as one of the last priorities. Factory farming has gotten out of hand, and America is
Today in the US, people do not consume horse meat on a whole sale basis. But because many other counties do, the exporting of horse meat is a huge industry. When the ban was in place, US horses were being transported to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered instead. From 2006 to 2010 the increase in horses being exported to Canada and Mexico was 148 and 660 percent. They are loaded up on trailers and shipped across the boarders, often times going days without food or water until they reach their destination. The regulations, or lack thereof, are different than in the US. (Shesgreen)
People are curious. Its our human nature. Have you ever been curious about the meat you eat? Where it comes from, how it was killed, and is it safe to eat? In America we eat beef, pork, and poultry for the average everyday consumption. What about other countries, or other parts of the world? What do they eat? Your beloved pet, your furry companion, your best friend. Maybe your horse, perhaps. What is this horse slaughter that people are speaking of? Should it be legal? Yes. It should be legal with limits. It is most likely that anyone you ask about horse slaughter will have an opinion. Some strongly believe it is cruel, and inhumane, some believe it is for a good cause, or helping the world. Others just don’t know their facts, or don’t care either way. “ Horse slaughter is the practice of killing and butchering horses for human consumption or animal foods manufacturing” ( Jeras, 1).
It used to be very common just to eat any meat we pick up from our local grocery store such as Walmart or Target, but with this upcoming millennial generation’s new lifestyle expectations, people are starting to care more about what they consume and how they treat their body. It is important to understand where the food that is being put in your body is coming from and whether or not it is really what you think. Most people understand that eating meat is healthy and good for you always, but the manner in which the animals the meat is being produced from are raised affects the way it tastes and how it either damages or helps the body. I personally believe that people should eat humane meat because it is much safer for the human body due to it
USDA studies show that 92% of American horses killed in American Slaughter Plants were in perfect health. Owners will sell their horses by the pound; they would prefer an overweight horse over a skinny horse any day. “Wild for Life’s” study shows that a great amount of registered Thoroughbred foals born are slaughtered for foal crop. Horses that are sent to slaughtering houses are often rejected from the breeding farms they were sent to. A horse that is rejected is often not the right color, body type, breed or gender. The meat buyers will try and stuff as many horses
There are millions of horses in the United States; many of the horses are virtually worthless due to poor training/treatment, bad attitudes, poor confirmation, lameness, sickness, and also simply being old. Slaughter companies provide an affordable way for horse owners to dispose of their unwanted animals. "'What do you do with the animal when it is diseased, or old, or lame?" said Geert DeWulf, general manager of Dallas Crown... `We provide an outlet'" (Scripps Howard News Service, 3/8/01).
In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and
The reason why they bleed them to death is so that the meat is good for human consumption. The governments have imposed a law that the horses, or slaughtered animals, must be made senseless. This is done by stunning or electrifying but it doesn’t always work. In a lot of pictures I have seen, the horses are twisting their legs in pain when they are hoisted and their throats
An ongoing ethical debate in America is whether horse slaughter should be legalized in the United States. This debate grabs the emotions of many individuals and arises many questions. Horses are normally considered companions that are used for labor and events. Isn’t it inhumane to kill a companion? Aren’t there enough homes for our furry companions? In all reality horses are expensive animals and aren’t always used for their breeding purposes. Humane societies/rescues barely have enough room for neglected small animals, bringing in larger mammals is not plausible. Saving every animal will cause an overpopulation problem and increase the rate of neglect. Horses are being neglected, starved, abused, and even shipped across the country, banning slaughter houses is the truly the inhumane route. Slaughtering isn’t an easy alternative, but allowing them to suffer isn’t any better.
Horses have never been raised for human consumption in the United States. However, for decades now, horses have been bought, stolen, or acquired under false pretenses and then sent to the slaughter house all throughout the world- including here on US soil. According to the Humane Society of America, over 100,000 horses are sent to slaughter each year. Horse meat sales rapidly declined for many years, but it has become popular again in overseas countries like France, Belgium, Italy, and Japan. Naturally, as the demand for the horse meat increased, so did the demand for horses to be slaughtered. Horse meat is considered a “clean meat” and a tasty alternative to beef and other traditional meats because of the multiple contamination scares. Those who consume horse flesh (typically in Europe and Asia) are willing to pay extremely high prices for horse meat. Butchers and
In the news, we always hear about the catastrophic accidents such as oil spills or chemicals polluting an area from a factory. Such stories show things that might harm the earth or us. Yet, have folks ever suspected the friendly farmer down the road as a threat to your life? Well, Kelly Hunter Burch and Robert T. Connery share their viewpoints on whether animal manure is as deadly as these other chemicals.
“Perhaps a less brutal and less violent society will one day exist that will understand that life and earth are more important than products of death and cruelty” (Bond). Their four hooves led us to where we are today. They are every little girl's dream at night. They are a cowboy’s closest friend, always there with a shoulder to lean on. If you ask any horse crazy girl or boy you will be told that a horse is the most amazing creature you will ever meet. In return over 100,000 of these beautiful horses are sent to slaughterhouses yearly in the United States alone (“The Facts About Horse Slaughter”). Though euthanasia is not always financially feasible. Horse slaughter
The meat industry today is not what it was nearly a century ago. While improvements are thought to have been made, an ever changing society has brought upon new problems that have been piled on to the previously existing ones. While these problems are not like those found in The Jungle, they do parallel how by exposing what is going on in the meat industry; new regulations would be the answer to the noted problems. The increased demand for meat has made it a rushed mutated production instead of a means to raise livestock for consumers. Taking into consideration the demand for cheap meat that will be used for in quick and high demanded products such as frozen and fast food, this demand of meat has greatly skyrocketed. Animals whose sole
First, horse slaughter can help control the horse population. By taking horses to slaughter then people can sell their unwanted, dangerous, and old horses. Now there are many of you that might say they could also just be euthanized, but this would cost the owners a fortune. If they sell their horse to a slaughter house, then the owner no longer has the dangerous horse and he also made money instead of losing money. Since the United States Banned horse slaughter then abandonment and neglect have in increased by 50% according to Alison Rowe attorney at law’s office. The
In recent years, red meat has been controversial because it has been linked to heart disease and cancer. The truth is today’s red meat wasn’t what it has used to be. Those we ate nowadays is vastly different than before. The meat products may have been processed before sale. Regardless of the fact that humans consumed red meat through different methods, many experts still believe that it is more harmful to human body than health aspects. Eating red meat raises the risk of early death. As red meat is high in protein and fats, it can contribute to different kinds of diseases and cancer to our human body. Some people claim that red meat is healthy. However, there are some good reasons that this is not true.