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Eating horses might improve their welfare



Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
39,343
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
Horse meat is nice. Not nearly as nice as ostrich though. Kangeroo is another very tasty meat, both far better than Cows

Roo isn't in my experience of a few times in Oz. Tough as old boots unless you cook it blue & raw Joey does not go down well with the ladies.
 




Creaky

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Mar 26, 2013
3,922
Hookwood - Nr Horley
I own and care for four rescued horses and strange as it may seem have to agree with Princess Anne.

Horses are incredibly expensive animals to care for properly and are treated by some as pets and others as work animals - for the latter when they come to the end of their working lives they are unsuitable for sale as a pet and consequently are either literally left to rot or taken to market where there is no real demand for them.

As a pet they must be unique - I don't know of any other animal that is kept as a family pet but when little 'Johnny' or 'Alice' get tired of them or 'outgrow' them are then sold on to new owners, if one can be found, or neglected if they can't be sold. I might just not have met them but I don't know of anyone who has decided to sell their pet cat/dog/budgie.

In such cases it would be much kinder if a market for horse meat existed in this country as it would be far more humane for these majestic animals to have a quick end rather than a painful and prolonged wasting away.

One of the horses I have was previously owned by the master of a West Country hunt and when he didn't turn out suitable for hunting he was literally left in a field to care for himself. When he was found he was 700lb, (yes seven hundred pounds), underweight, he had a broken jaw where someone had hit him with a piece of wood or bar, barbed wire wrapped around his feet and a skin disease called sarcoids.

The vet didn't think he would survive and even the knackers man wanted paying to come and shoot him and take away the carcass.

To cut a long story short he is now a really handsome lad, (17H2), and is loving life but in reality how much better if his original owner could have got a price from the abbatoir high enough to make it worth his while to sell him for meat rather than putting him through hell.

Anyone interested in his story can read about him on his website which I'm afraid hasn't been updated for a year or so

http://www.denorescuedhorse.co.uk/
 


cunning fergus

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 18, 2009
5,062
She makes a fair point, and it seems that animal charities seem to agree that the debate is worth having. If a horse is only worth a few quid, it is more likely to be maltreated. Whereas if the animal can be sold for meat, it will raise the value of the horse and therefore the owner is more likley to keep it in good condition.

I suspect it's about creating a domestic market in the meat too, this would alleviate the current position where animals are transported to Europe where such markets exist.

Ergo, if people ate more veal then calves would not need be transported to France and Germany and dairy farmers would make an extra turn on their business models. It's a win win situation.
 


GreersElbow

New member
Jan 5, 2012
4,870
A Northern Outpost
Perhaps the welfare of people would improve if we put them for sale in supermarkets too. Nobody is suffering if they are sliced, diced and packaged on a supermarket shelf afterall... or perhaps this is just insanely flawed logic.

Yes, it's insanely flawed. You're ignoring the psychological development of human beings as a part of evolution. It's where horses haven't quite caught up with yet, a horse can't look after it self.


Deer are often the most well looked after animal, given their constant observation on estates and in national parks, they're in abundance and very well looked after and you can buy absolutely lovel venison during the hunting seasons. Hunting has enabled their management to be safe for the environment and the animal itself. By opening up a market, it increases the price of the horse itself, this would encourage owners to promote the horses' health and to maintain a high level of health to boost its value.

The end result: happy horse until it's 'time' then a happy human who seeks to buy the tastest horsemeat he can buy.
 


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