Exploratory Essay

Lauren Street

English II- 2^nd Block

Ms. McKoy

24 September 2013

Are Rules for Horse Slaughter Taken Seriously?

                Growing up, horses were the first thing on my mind when I woke up and the last thing on my mind when I went to sleep. I started riding horses at the age of seven and I have been riding ever since. My mom signed my sister and I up for a magazine called Human Society; I was the happiest little girl when a magazine subscription came in that contained information about horses. However, three or four years ago I received a letter from the Humane Society about horse slaughter. As I started to read the letter, my eyes starting brimming with tears due to the gruesome facts I had read. The letter contained information about how violent and horrific horse slaughter really was. I was informed of not only the actuality of how bad horse slaughter is but I was also informed of the absence of action taken by the government. Horse slaughter either needs stricter laws or the government needs to enforce the rules already put into place. After I learned about horse slaughter, I decided to do some online research about horse slaughter and the results of my research made me sick to my stomach. I watched a video called “Horse Slaughter Rules Violated, Video Shows” and had to stop watching the video before it got half way through. I am appalled how people can get away with basically murdering a horse to death, more or less even slaughter a perfectly good horse. There should be rules about the health of a horse going to slaughter. Horses that are healthy, spirited and sound should not be slaughtered, especially cruelly. In my opinion, horses that are dying, dead, or just not going to live should be used for whatever the companies need them for. Even in that situation, they should not have their life end in such a violent way. These poor horses are already facing their death right in front of them, why not do it the humane way instead of making them suffer even more?

                In my research, I discovered an article called “Horse Slaughter Rules Violated, Video Shows”, which uncovered the realities of horse slaughter. In the article, Wendy Mosley and a crew snuck into horse slaughtering companies and placed hidden cameras to record the rule violation. In the videos the first company, Richelieu, shoots a horse three times before declaring the horse unconscious. One worker hits a horse with an electric prod seventeen times, even in the face, before continuing to kill him. Workers at another company, do not even check that the horse is unconscious before being strung up be his/hers back feet to have their throats slit. Once a horse has entered the kill box, they should wait no longer than fifteen seconds before they become unconscious. One horse had to wait nine minutes. Horses are being loaded off of the truck into tiny, cramped pens they share with countless other horses and wait for death to take them out of this misery. Then they are whipped, hit with electric prods and slip on the pavement which is against the law. It is mandatory that the plant has non-slip floor but most companies ignore that. The main reason and biggest factor why horses are killed is for their use of meat in Europe and Japan. The latest statistics show that the numbers of horses being slaughtered have doubled every two years since 2005, making it even more important, animal welfare experts say, that if more horses have to die in slaughterhouses, they're granted a death that's at least humane (CBC Television).

                I want to research and explore how I can help inform those around about the rule violation and/or what some rules should be as much as I can. Just because some people might not share the same love for horses but hate for horse slaughter as I do that does not mean they cannot help make the rules stricter or help actually enforce the laws already placed. As I said before, it is not fair to perfectly good horses that people who assume are no good anymore due to their inabilities to own a horse, does not mean they should be slaughter violently and more or less even slaughtered. In my project, I would like to get people to be open-minded and understand the unfairness to horses of how their lives are being ended. I hope to get people to be shocked and speechless that the slaughter of horses is so inhumane that they will want to help me help them. It is not right nor is it fair for the horses, especially when they are the ones that are dying.