I'd like you to meet The Serenity Ten
POSTED BY: ironcladotter
UPDATED: Friday, December 3, 2004 00:31
VIEWED: 7611
PAGE 3 of 3
I'm not sure it's fair to say that "most" of these farms have programs that avoid the slaughterhouse. NAERC ( http://www.naeric.org) says there are 35,000 broodmares in PMU farms at the moment (there are a lot of higher numbers out there, but I think they're mostly old data from when there were more farms running)... that's 35,000 foals a year now, but previously it was more. NAERIC says this is how they're sold:
privately, 50%
at public auctions, 30%
at breeder production sales, 20%
I can't imagine that a full 50% of that number are bought by barns and private owners, but I can believe that a good chunk of that 50% are bought by the private owners of feedlots. Then if you take 30% of foals and send them to public auction, that's what... 10,500 foals at auction? (I suck at math, that number could be wrong...) Considering that the vast majority of horses at public auction are bought cheaply by the so-called "killer-buyers," that's a pretty huge chunk right there of horses on their way to the slaughterhouse. And that's not even mentioning the nature of confinement for the mare; while I don't doubt that some farms treat their mares quite well, I do doubt that the nature of the business allows them to lead a very horse-y life. The standards that PMU farmers consider acceptable for the care of these horses and the standards that others would consider acceptable aren't exactly the same thing, and the only real control on how the animals are treated are the "guidelines" that they aren't required to follow.
Also, dog food is made with the "sub-standard" meat... horses with signs of cancer or other sickness, and all donkeys and mules at slaughter end up in dog food. It is not, however, where the majority of horsemeat goes; 90% ot horsemeat out of slaughter ends up on dinner tables overseas. We're not talking dearly departed pets here... we're talking live animals, most of them healthy and sound saddlehorses, sold at 30 cents a pound to become somebody's dinner.
It's difficult to find the truth in any polarizing issue like this, because I think a lot of animal advocates overstate the problem (a lot of sites use numbers from years back when there were twice as many horses at slaughter than there are now, for instance), and I think that organizations like NAERIC which are run by people whose livelihood depends on PMU like to gloss over the unpleasant aspects of their business. But it's not as if there is no problem. It IS terrible. It IS what's really going on.
I mean, I do respect your position and right to your opinion, but I couldn't disagree with it more. I think PMU farming is an industry that fosters an environment of abuse. I think PMU foals are a by-product of this industry, and I doubt that even the breeding farms which aim to produce good working horses (or just the ones that keep their fillies to replace the mares when they wear out) would produce such a quantity of them if they weren't breeding for PMU. I don't think there's a misconception to clear up.
Wiley
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Quote:
Originally posted by ironcladotter:
privately, 50%
at public auctions, 30%
at breeder production sales, 20%
And that's not even mentioning the nature of confinement for the mare; while I don't doubt that some farms treat their mares quite well, I do doubt that the nature of the business allows them to lead a very horse-y life. The standards that PMU farmers consider acceptable for the care of these horses and the standards that others would consider acceptable aren't exactly the same thing, and the only real control on how the animals are treated are the "guidelines" that they aren't required to follow.
I'll give you the data thing, I don't REALLY know about that, and it was wrong of me to make assumptions.
Regarding horses getting sent out of country for food, thats fine with me. I LOVE my horse, but he and his relatives are still livestock animals. I don't see the difference between slaugtering a horse for food and slaughtering a cow, chicken or pig for food.
I've actually heard that horse meat tastes pretty good.
I DO dissagre with your statement that they don't lead horsey lives. These horses are living the life. All of breeding season mares are turned out to pasture with their stalions, and they basicly spend a few months eating, drinking, and getting laid. (I assume the horses go back out to pasture after they foal). Once their done getting sexed, they come and live in tie stalls, but they are turned out every 3 days to run around and get excersise. Now, then your thinking "Every three days? Thats can't possible be enough time for them to be horsey!" But keep in mind, this is Canada, and its winter. Its COLD outside. Those mares are beating downthe doors to come back in the warm barn.
Sounds like an OK life to me. No dumb riders sticking sprus into their sides or making them do strange things like run around in a field and jump over piles of sticks.
PMU is a big buisness in Canada, and endorced by the government. If a PMU foal gets sold in the US or Canada, and that horse goes on to become a race horse or a show jumper, and that horse wins money, the canadian government matches the winnings dollar for dollar. Thats a strong incentive for people in the horse buisness to make an investment in these horses.
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