It is every little girl’s dream and every cowboy’s most reliable companion. The past 500 years they have served as weapons, transportation, recreation, and also as pets. Horses were first brought to America in the early 1500s by Hernando Cortez. Before that, no Native had ever laid eyes on this four legged creature. From being used to fight off natives, to being ridden at a carnival by little kids, the horse has definitely evolved to suit the needs of the changing America.
The person who had the biggest effect on the horse industry in America was Henry Ford. When the first assembly line was created in 1913, cars could be produced for much less than ever before. Now, most anyone can afford an automobile. They are faster, more luxurious, and …show more content…
503 or the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was passed by congress and officially made into a law. This law prevents the transportation and sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption and other purposes. This has shut down all slaughterhouses in the U.S. preventing the slaughter of horses (AAEP 7). Prior to 2007 three major slaughterhouses operated in the U.S., Dallas Crown Inc in Kaufman, TX, Beltex Corp in Fort Worth, TX, and Cavel International Inc. in DeKalb, Illinois. These three slaughterhouses slaughtered just over 80,000 of unwanted horses in 2004, and just over 54,000 were slaughtered in 2007 before the plants were shut down (Lewis). Even though this only makes up about 1% of the national horse population it sure is a lot of horses. That is the number slaughtered in the U.S. Before 2007 we also shipped about 45,000 to each Mexico and Canada yearly. So why are horses …show more content…
The misconception with equine slaughtering is rooted deep in what really happens. Imagine hundreds of horses, some retired champions, a little girl’s pony, or horses who did nothing wrong, all bound for slaughter that are packed in trucks and shipped for more than twenty four hours at a time, without food, water, or rest. Fear runs through their veins. As it should, because the method used to exterminate these animals, after the long journey, are far from painless and sometimes they even remain conscious during the dismemberment process (ASPCA). Many people have been lead to believe that these animals are “kindly” euthanized. This is absolutely not the case. Horses are prodded and beaten into slaughter houses and are walked down chutes and clubbed on the head one by one. Now this doesn’t kill the horse, it only knocks them unconscious. While the horses are unconscious, horses are hung, upside down, and then sliced, vertically through their abdominal region, to be drained. This is brutal and a terrifying end for those selected
The person who had the biggest effect on the horse industry in America was Henry Ford. When the first assembly line was created in 1913, cars could be produced for much less than ever before. Now, most anyone can afford an automobile. They are faster, more luxurious, and …show more content…
503 or the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was passed by congress and officially made into a law. This law prevents the transportation and sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption and other purposes. This has shut down all slaughterhouses in the U.S. preventing the slaughter of horses (AAEP 7). Prior to 2007 three major slaughterhouses operated in the U.S., Dallas Crown Inc in Kaufman, TX, Beltex Corp in Fort Worth, TX, and Cavel International Inc. in DeKalb, Illinois. These three slaughterhouses slaughtered just over 80,000 of unwanted horses in 2004, and just over 54,000 were slaughtered in 2007 before the plants were shut down (Lewis). Even though this only makes up about 1% of the national horse population it sure is a lot of horses. That is the number slaughtered in the U.S. Before 2007 we also shipped about 45,000 to each Mexico and Canada yearly. So why are horses …show more content…
The misconception with equine slaughtering is rooted deep in what really happens. Imagine hundreds of horses, some retired champions, a little girl’s pony, or horses who did nothing wrong, all bound for slaughter that are packed in trucks and shipped for more than twenty four hours at a time, without food, water, or rest. Fear runs through their veins. As it should, because the method used to exterminate these animals, after the long journey, are far from painless and sometimes they even remain conscious during the dismemberment process (ASPCA). Many people have been lead to believe that these animals are “kindly” euthanized. This is absolutely not the case. Horses are prodded and beaten into slaughter houses and are walked down chutes and clubbed on the head one by one. Now this doesn’t kill the horse, it only knocks them unconscious. While the horses are unconscious, horses are hung, upside down, and then sliced, vertically through their abdominal region, to be drained. This is brutal and a terrifying end for those selected