Did anyone see the front page of Sundays San Antonio Express News?

Question

It really, really, really f-ing p*ssed me off that US horses are being exported to Mexico to get slughtered.

I was astonished to find such absurd ways of making money. Horses were not meant to be packed into a vehicle and then stabbed to death then decapitated. I wish there was something to do about it. It is so wrong.

I think it sick...I am 100% against hunting and hunters. I hate them.
This is one of the main reasons I am vegetarian. I will not eat anything anymore that was a living animal. Hunting should be illegal here.

Answer 1

My fiance' is in the meat packing industry. He read the article with great concern as this is not how meat packing companies work. The fact that horses are being slaughtered this way is attrocious. He doesn't even usually read the paper, but it caught his attention and he read the article very seriously and is keeping attention to what is coming in his warehouse as he does not want any part of these horrid condition that the animals are disposed of...kniving to death in a small box...inhumane is not just for humans but all living creatures.

He's not a hunter either.

There are better ways to eat meat. These types of slaughterhouses are totally unacceptable.

Kevin, as a vegetarian, do you eat fish? Eggs? Millk? What I mean is are you are pure vegetarian, a vegan, or do you just not eat red meat and poultry. I myself do not eat chicken or meat that has been slaughtered in these selfish methods just for a buck. On the other hand, I do like good venison meat if I know that the deer are overpopulating a domain and could cause havoc to a community of other animals if their population is not controlled. There are, of course, more humane ways of dealing with putting away animals for human consumption.

Protein is very important to the body.

Answer 2

I also am appalled to think that anyone would destroy any animal in a inhumane way. Horses were slaughtered in this country up until just a few years ago for human consumption, and was fed to our military on a regular basis.
Being a vegan doesn't preclude you for the death of animals, there is no farm that is raising crops for market that doesn't kill animals on a regular basis to keep them from decimating their crops, most vegans do not like that answer but it is a fact. being a vegetarian is a personal choice, and certainly a good choice.
I am a hunter and I believe in eating what a person shoots, you shoot it you eat it. I would like to point out that without predation there would be no beautiful animals to look at in awe, we have removed almost all predators. Further more the next time you go to a state park remember that the hunters and fisherman are the reason that you are able to do that they are the ones paying the freight, the little bit that they take in as admission is so small that it almost doesn't cover the cost of management of the park, their real money comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. To other hunters I do not hunt for a trophy, but I hunt for meat, It is an Indian thing some of you might not understand.

Answer 3

There is something you can do, if you felt strongly enough. Work with PETA and the ASPCA and other organizations to stop the transportation of horses into Mexico until they develop a humane system for killing the animals prior to their being slaughtered. I fully agree that the method of killing the horses is not only inhumane, but also would seem to be very inefficient. I'm sure some agreement could be reached to develop a humane method to slaughter the animals.

I personally do not have a major issue with the use of horse meat as a food source in Mexico. If it was not used as a food source in Mexico, it would certainly be used for animal food here in the US. Horse meat and horse by products have long been used in animal foods in the US, and as long as we don't think about it it doesn't bother most people. And one way or another these horses would have ended up slaughtered. I think it is better if people get fed as a result, but a humane method should be found.

I am not a vegetarian, and have owned a ranch and raised cattle which were eventually sold or buthered for our own use. I have friends who are Muslim and buy their own lambs and goats which they butcher themselves to ensure they are butchered in accordance with the laws of the Quran. Additionally when I was out of the country, taking care of patients in third world nations such as Honduras, the locals would often feed us, and they served meat. You could not always be sure what type of meat it was, but as it was all they had and they were offering it as thanks for the care they received, we felt it would be impolite to refuse.

Consider other countries where dog and monkey are often consumed as part of the diet.

As far as hunting goes, is is a known fact that if controlled hunting were not used to manage the animal populations in this country, many of the animals would starve to death anyway as a result of a lack of adequate food. Anyone who has lived around Canyon Lake can tell you that it would be better if the deer populations in the neighborhoods were thinned out, though nobody wants anyone hunting in the neighborhoods, but you end up with inbred, underfed and malformed deer as a result.

I am not a hunter, and wouldn't be a hunter, as I am not a person who would enjoy the activity, but I can see the need for some animals to be controlled through hunting. It has always been part of the normal cycle of life that man was a predator for certain animals. Only when man started uncontrolled hunting for hides, did animal populations suffer, now the wildlife management agencies allow a set number of each animal to be harvested each year.

Whether a person chooses to eat meat or not, or any animal products, is a personal choice, and should considered by everyone at sometime in their lives. There are social, humanitarian, nutritional, and religious reasons to make your choices and I think each person should make their own decision.

That being said, animals will still be put to death every day in this and every country on earth, and I think that we should all do what we can to make sure that they are treated with respect and humanely while alive and in death.

Answer 4

OH MY GOSH!! I actually didn't read the Sunday paper. I AM APPALLED. I love animals so much and that is so horrible that people could do something like that, this really angers me!! I am so upset over the amount of animal abuse thats been in the news so much lately, people need to step up and do something to help defend these poor undeserving animals since they cannot fight for themselves!! Poor things.... :(