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Essay / Overpopulation of horses in North America is leading to horse slaughter
" Ask anyone in the horse industry today, and they would probably all agree that there has a huge horse overpopulation problem in North America As a result, many more horses are going to the slaughterhouse. Everyone involved in the horse business wants to solve the problem.Say no to plagiarism Get a custom essay on. “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayOne of the factors due to the increase in wild horses is in surplus The government collects wild horses and sells them at auction Like. few riders want a wild horse, they are usually sold at a very low price. Stable costs between three hundred and fifty dollars a month, and more depending on the quality of care. he horse became so high, many people decided not to own horses anymore. Simply selling a horse, or even giving it away, is not an easy thing to do. There is very little interest in the horse trade. This doesn't just happen to wild horses, but to breeders as well. People raise more horses than there are homes. Breeding horses has become a popular hobby for many people involved in the horse industry. Many horse breeders or owners raise between five and twenty foals, or more, per year. Larger-scale breeding farms may raise a hundred or more foals per year. The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is one of the largest horse registries in the world. Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand new foals are registered each year in this register alone. This means that there are so many foals for sale each year that only a very small percentage of them are sold each year. After purchasing stops, breeders usually give away or sell their foals at a very reasonable price. What interests the fellers. One of the most controversial solutions to ending the problem of overpopulation is culling. In 2007, the last equine slaughterhouses in the United States were closed due to lack of funding to pay the USDA to inspect the meat. Many people involved in the dead horse market believe that by raising funds to bring slaughter back to the United States, unwanted horses such as old, sick, crippled, and dangerous can be easily disposed of and slowly made relive the horse market. . However, after the USDA stopped inspecting meat, thousands of American horses are being shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. Many believe that horse slaughter is a humane way to quickly revive the excess population of unwanted horses. Since we are the ones who have raised so many horses, it is our responsibility to reduce their numbers while still using the meat for food and the by-products for other uses. Anyway, what is the difference between slaughtering pigs, cows, chickens, goats and sheep? They are all cattle. Slaughtering horses is a less expensive option than euthanizing them, as euthanasia and disposal of the body can cost two hundred dollars or more. Due to the cost of euthanasia, unwanted horses may starve to death if the owner cannot find them a home or afford food. Slaughtering them would mean less suffering. Many people like to believe that the only horses used for slaughter are old, crippled, sick, dangerous or miserable horses. Even if some are old, lame or sick, hundreds of horses killedare young, healthy, rideable and fit. The USDA and APHIS studied and recorded that 92% of American horses killed in American slaughterhouses were healthy. Slaughter buyers sell horses to U.S. slaughterhouses by the pound; they therefore prefer a horse of normal weight to a thin horse. Unlike the crippled, sick, exhausted old dairy cow you eat in your hamburger, the majority of slaughtered horses are breeding rejects (rejects meaning they were not born the desired color). , sex, size or good conformation), untrained youngsters, broken saddle horses, show horses, breeding horses, race horses, companion horses, 4-hour horses, wild horses or PMU foals. Meat buyers pack as many horses as possible into trucks designed to transport livestock such as goats, sheep, pigs and cattle. Often during transportation, double-decker trucks are used, which are banned in the United States for transporting horses for slaughter. These trailers are not designed to accommodate medium-sized horses. Horses spend long hours traveling hunched over, huddled together, in extreme climates such as excessive heat and freezing cold. Horses on the lower deck are often doused with manure and urine. Deaths and injuries are not uncommon during transport. Horses can be injured by kicking, falling, slamming against walls, or being hit to the head. Livestock trailers also have low ventilation openings that horses can get their hooves stuck in, leading to leg fractures. Some of these cattle trucks are roofless, exposing the horses to elements such as rain, snow or the beating sun. The slaughtering process is quite similar to that of a cow. A captive bolt hits the animal, causing it to lose consciousness. However, one study shows that the captive bolt is much more ineffective on a horse than on a cow, because it is more difficult to get an accurate shot on a horse since they are not restrained like cattle are. This is because a horse has a longer neck and has more ability to fight and move. Additionally, the horse's brain is more recessed than a cow's, meaning the captive bolt or gun must be positioned at the correct angle and distance. kill the animal accurately. Most of the time, it takes several attempts before the animal actually dies. Mexican slaughterhouses have no standards or regulations. Horses are either shot or killed by a captive bolt, or a hand spike is stabbed repeatedly in the horse's back or wither area to sever the spinal cord. The last method mentioned does not kill the horse but immobilizes the conscious horse. The horse remains conscious throughout the bleeding and skinning process. Humans who eat horse meat are at high risk of poisoning because many highly toxic chemicals are banned by the FDA. Many slaughtered horses were previously racehorses or saddle horses, and it is highly likely that they were treated with something like bute or some other veterinary chemical or substance. It can take up to sixty days or more for the toxic substances to dissipate. Horses only stay in the slaughter pens for a few days before being treated, nowhere near long enough for the substances to dissipate. Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses claim to test horses for banned substances, but after several studies, the OVF has"