Prior to 2006 horses were slaughtered for human consumption in the US. Most of the meat went to Asia and Europe. In 2006 the US congress eliminated funding for horse meat inspections at the three or four horse meat processing plants in the US.
Fast forward to 2011, the awful heat in OK and TX, the wildfires and the drought. Hay is very expensive and many folks can't afford to feed their horses. As a result thousands of horses are starving. No one wants horses: Folks can't give away horses in this part of OK.
Recently congress lifted the ban on funding horse meat inspections. But there is a problem: There are no horse meat processing plants in the US.
Quote:
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.
Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.
Some similarities with the timber industry here. Largely due to lobbying efforts and a sympathetic chief executive, many loggers were forced off of public lands in the 1990s, focusing instead on what private timber was available, or simply finding another line of work.
Now, the Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle, encouraged by the drought, has made tinder out of most of the National Forests in Colorado and SE Wyoming. The Forest Service is now selling, but there's no one to buy. I'm not certain there's even a mill left in SE Wyoming any longer? We'll just have to wait for a "superfire" to clear out all the dead timber, I suppose? Great job, envionmental lobby and former administration!
The Black Hills are heading the same direction, though it's interesting the difference in beetle infestations between the Wyoming and South Dakota sides of the border. There's some federal boundary (maybe a USFS district?) on the border which clearly illustrates the difference between sound management and stupidity. What will Mt. Rushmore look like when all those beautiful pines around it die off like everything else is in SD? There ARE sawmills in SD, rumor has it they're all owned by the same WY outfit.
Some similarities with the timber industry here. Largely due to lobbying efforts and a sympathetic chief executive, many loggers were forced off of public lands in the 1990s, focusing instead on what private timber was available, or simply finding another line of work.
That administration refused to allow loggers to harvest timber killed by forest fires and blowdowns. Now its all tinder waiting for a spark.
It was that way here a few years ago. You could buy tack real cheap, horses included. Some people even turned out horses and donkeys into the wild.
There are still lots of animals removed from places. People are stupid. They say "Oh look at the pretty horse! I want one!" without ever considering the expense. Proper care of an equine is expensive. They need food, shelter, preventive medicine (wormer), Coggins pulled every so often to ensure they are healthy, hooves trimmed and maybe shod, and they demand attention. They also need room to run and exercise. That's just regular maintenence--they may get sick, lame, injured, etc.
My wife and I have a horse and a mule, and she is the treasurer for the local horse owner's association.
That being said though, why is the taxpayer's responsibility to subsidize slaughter houses sending horse meat to foreign countries?
Chad
__________________
"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
That being said though, why is the taxpayer's responsibility to subsidize slaughter houses sending horse meat to foreign countries?
Federal law requires the inspection of meat for domestic consumption and export. Those US Agriculture Dep't meat inspectors put their stamps on all the beef, pork and chicken meat going overseas: Why not horse meat?
BTW: Rendering plants now charge to dispose of horses and cattle.
Federal law requires the inspection of meat for domestic consumption and export. Those US Agriculture Dep't meat inspectors put their stamps on all the beef, pork and chicken meat going overseas: Why not horse meat?
I don't define "inspect" and "subsidize" as one and the same. I have no problem with them inspecting the meat. I don't agree with my tax dollars being used to pay a slaughterhouse to process horses.
Not sure why there are no processors for horses--I've never worked in a slaughterhouse, but I have skinned and processed my own meat, including large hogs. I don't see there being a need for any different equipment for a horse than for cattle.
Quote:
BTW: Rendering plants now charge to dispose of horses and cattle.
The last time I was at a horse auction, maybe two years ago, the local pet food plant bought lame horses.
Our county workers will come out with a backhoe and bury dead farm animals on your property at no charge. We had to bury a horse a couple of years ago that apparently died of either a stroke or heart attack. We didn't have an autopsy run--the horse was just a pasture pet, too old and arthritic to ride--she just got fed, brushed, and petted. Found her in the a.m., she was buried by noon.
If you don't have enough property to bury a horse on it, you don't have enough property to own a horse.
Chad
__________________
"We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all."-- Theodore Roosevelt
A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left. Ecclesiasties 10:2
The last four letters in American..........I Can
The last four letters in Republican........I Can
The last four letters in Democrats.........Rats
What the hell! Just bring your dead horsemeat to my house, I'll give it my stamp of approval and then ship it to China:
U.S. Inspektion
Velly
Velly
Good
Hors-a-meat!!!
Why not? Who the hell inspects the stuff they send over here? Like the dog chew chips they ship over that have crap in them that kills dogs? Like the bad infant formula that they provided to their own Chinese babies killing a good number some years ago? Inspection before shipping meat over there? Get oudda here man!!!!!
so while horsemeat may be 'produced' and packaged, without the inspection, we don't get any domestically....thanks to animal lovers who were successful in getting funding for inspectors pulled ....
I'm not certain where they came up with the numbers to do non-existent inspections. An awfully high number for something that has not taken off.
How much does the US pay to inspect various sized meat plants that process animals now? The numbers listed in the Fox article are ludicrously high. It does not take any more to butcher a horse vs a cow in all reality. So there should be no difference in cost to inspect one meat processing plant from another.
The Politics Of Horse Meat
