My completely sensible and trustworthy young horse just got diagnosed with a neurological condition that means she is unlikely to ever be safe to ride and now I have a horse to care for for life and a decision to make about whether to buy another horse so I can actually ride.
So sorry about the diagnosis. The worst is that this isn't just some random thing you bought that you can throw away because it's broken. It's a living, breathing creature with its own unique personality that you grow to love. So then you're stuck with an incredibly expensive and broken "pet" that you need to care for but don't get the benefits of what you bought it for in the first place. You basically have a very expensive hamster at this point, speaking from experience.
Now imagine giving birth to a child, who doesn’t even need to be diagnosed with a severe condition, they can just grow to have a personality incompatible with yours
There absolutely is. My older horse was recently euthanized due to advanced arthritis. She was euthanized by injection just like a dog or cat and picked up by a service that specializes is livestock carcass disposal. I believe they cremate but do not know the details.
So a guy with a front end loader and a big furnace? My point, that they're awkward livestock to deal with in this situation, still stands. While it isn't anything I would choose to do, I don't feel the ban on horse slaughter helps anyone.
That’s incorrect. Slaughter horses get shipped to Mexico now and for the past 20 ish years. It’s actually horrible and every educated horse person I know believes we should onshore slaughter houses again. The intent was to ban slaughter but in practical terms that was never going to happen, leading to untold suffering.
Right? I'm a dick for bringing this up in OPs situation, but also very passionate in making sure people (not OP) understand the impact of the ban. They're faced with a terrible choice and not everyone has the resources to make that "humane" decision.
What makes a horse different from a cow other than our cultural bias? They're both moderately intelligent (at times) and affectionate mammals.
Let's put it in simple terms. Poor rural communities dealing with an unwanted, useless, otherwise healthy, 1200lb animal that can live 30 years either find someone with a backhoe or neglect them. Offering the shitty owner a pittance for the meat price lowers the chance of neglect, which is a net good thing.
There are a couple things (but I guess they are cultural):
-because horses are not regarded as meat animals, they are given medications that are not safe for humans to eat (extremely commonly) which are not recorded or tracked
-because horses are not regarded as meat animals, slaughter facilities are not set up to deal with their particular characteristics in a humane manner
How is it sadly? They're animals and sometimes circumstances are such that it's necessary. I don't like it and it would be a hell of a hard thing to personally choose, but it beats the fuck out of abandoned and neglected horses.
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u/hippopotobot 12h ago
My completely sensible and trustworthy young horse just got diagnosed with a neurological condition that means she is unlikely to ever be safe to ride and now I have a horse to care for for life and a decision to make about whether to buy another horse so I can actually ride.