Rep. Connie Morella on Horse Slaughter

Most Americans are shocked to learn that 55,776 horses were slaughtered in this country last year. The three U.S. slaughterhouses that process live horses are foreign owned, and the meat was sent overseas for human consumption in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. Thousands more were shipped live to Canada and Mexico for slaughter there. The American public is largely unaware of this, and horse slaughtering facilities prefer to keep it that way. As one slaughterhouse operator said, “People in the horse-meat industry don’t like talking about slaughtering horses for food because of the horse’s almost mythical place in Western culture.”

Horses have played an important role in American history, and continue to do so through their use in agriculture, transportation, law enforcement, military service and as companion animals. American culture is peppered with famous equines, including Paul Revere’s Brown Beauty, General Robert E. Lee’s Traveler, and General George Armstrong Custer’s horse, Comanche - the sole surviving member of Custer’s 7th Calvary at Little Big Horn. Other cultural icons of the equine persuasion include the Lone Ranger’s Silver, Roy Rogers’ Trigger, famed Triple Crown winners Citation and Secretariat, Flicka, of My Friend Flicka and Mr. Ed, to name a few.

Pet horses, work horses, thoroughbreds, Premarin© foals (a byproduct of the hormone replacement drug industry), old and unwanted horses, and federally protected wild horses are sent to slaughter. Most arrive at the slaughterhouse via livestock auctions where, often unbeknownst to the seller, they are bought by middlemen working for slaughter plants. These socalled “killer buyers” travel from one auction to the next collecting young, old, sick and healthy animals until their trucks are full. Some are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time without food, water or rest.

While the transport of horses to slaughter is in itself horrific, callous handling at the slaughterhouse often results in additional suffering. Improper use of stunning equipment, designed to render the animal unconscious, leads to horses sometimes enduring repeated blows to the head, and remaining conscious through the last stages of slaughter, including throat-slitting.

Americans do not eat horses. We do not raise them for human consumption. The vast majority of Americans are horrified when told that our horses are being slaughtered for dinner in Europe and Asia. But it happens, and the numbers are on the rise, given consumer concerns in Europe about mad cow disease and foot-and-mouth disease. That is why I have introduced The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR. 3781), which will end the slaughter of our horses for human consumption for good, rather than simply sending the practice over the border. Please help me to pass this important legislation by contacting your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask for their support on my bill.

Published in the Summer 2002 Animal Guardian.

Known for her compassion for animals, Connie Morella represented the 8th Congressional District of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1986 - 2002. She is now the U.S. Chair of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).