Please folks, especially those on the anti-slaughter side of the argument, stop repeating the falsehood that horse meat is a delicacy in Europe. It is not. I know that it makes the whole business sound more depraved and decadent if horse meat is a luxury good, but it’s not. In the parts of Europe where …
Tag Archives: Horse slaughter
Horse Slaughter to Re-start in US?
Big news: according to Agri-Pulse, the first obstacle to the resumption of horse slaughter in the US has been removed. This means that federally funded inspections of horse abbatoirs are once again legal. A provision allowing for the restoration of USDA-sponsored inspections of horse processing facilities is included in the appropriations bill conference report passed …
Neglect and the Manhattan Carriage Horse
This week a horse that pulled tourist carriages in New York dropped dead in the middle of Manhattan, provoking cries of cruelty and mistreatment. I’m aware that there’s a long-standing campaign to end the practice of using these horses in the city, and that the only other equines in central New York, at the Claremont …
About Those 52 Thoroughbreds That Need a Home
A couple of weeks ago a friend emailed about a developing horse welfare situation in the US – one that’s not uncommon these days: “I am re-posting this for somebody…’FREE horses!!! 52 thoroughbred horses need homes. Will go to Sugarcreek this Sat. for slaughter. Gentleman died and his son wants nothing to do with them. …
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Whole Heap of Little Horse Links
An escaped German circus pony attempts to board a tram. A riding corset from the 1870s – you see how Skittles managed that waist. A new anti-slaughter feature film called Saving America’s Horses is underway in the USA, while a new government report looking at the negative impact of the effective ban on horse slaughter …
Prime Cuts
A strong stomach is required for this ESPN documentary on illegal horse slaughter in Florida. In a sentimental, somewhat classist gesture, new legislation in the state will make it a greater offence to kill a thoroughbred than a bog-standard beast. Racehorses are not exactly rare, and that’s precisely why they are being auctioned off for …
Rocking Horse Winner
The Stevenson Brothers have made a rocking-horse replica of three-day eventer Headley Britannia which will be just one of the lots in a British Horse Society auction to aid their Drawing the Line campaign against irresponsible breeding. Sadly I couldn’t track down a photo, nor a shot of another famous rocker I read about – …
Is American Horsemeat Safe to Eat?
When people start talking about how horsemeat is just like beef or pork and why shouldn’t they eat it, etc etc, I always say, sure! go ahead! but do you know the source of the horseflesh you’re eating? If you can guarantee that the horse you’re making into steak was (a) raised wild or (b) …
Protected: Number Crunching Horse Slaughter
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Forbidden Flesh
I’ve become interested in the trade and tradition of horse meat consumption as part of my research. We ate horses for 90,000 years before we thought to ride them, and yet horse meat is a taboo substance in the Anglo world – very much a case of them vs. us, “civilised” vs. “barbarians”. I have …