New York Times - March 5, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor

We Eat Horses, Don’t We?
By CHRISTA WEIL
London

RECENTLY, an official for American Horse Defense Fund, which is a fervent supporter of bills now in the United States Congress that would ban slaughtering horses for meat, declared that “the foreign-owned slaughter industry needs to understand that Americans will never view horses as dinner.”

Full Story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/opinion/05weil.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

if only they could view every other animal the same way

Does anyone know what poem that headline is from? We read it in my senior English class, and it's going to bother me until I can figure it out.

Sounds like that bill is in violation of the animal industry terrorist act. They should imprison it's supporters.

How many people *really* think that horse parts don't find their way into Slim Jims, Whoppers, etc?

It is illegal to eat horses, but eating cows is perfectly OK. That is confusing, as horses and cows have no difference in terms of their ability to feel pain when slaughtered. :confused:

What's so great about a horse again . . . ?

Ok guys... as a horse lover, rider and someone who looks after them you have to understand the extreme bonds people can have with horses. They also have lots of ability, eg.. jumping and other sports. They've carried many a soldier into war and died for it (around 3 million german horses in one of the world wars, think it was the second). I've helped teach disabled children how to ride, and the kids have improved loads in their balence and co-ordination... i could go on.

This is why they are viewed differently to, say cows. I'm not saying because a cow can't be ridden etc.. that it has less rights, or should be killed. I'm simply putting forward why they are seen as different. It's hard to explain unless you've ever been in love with a horse i guess.

As far as i'm aware horse meat is legal in Europe, and there's huge cruelty with live transportation.... whether this is still going on i'm not sure as i haven't checked up on it for a while. If you want to know more search for the ILPH, they do good work.

Please don't think i'm trying to start anything here, but i wanted to put forward how people see horses as different to other animals... wow i've rambled on, sorry!

In other words, horses have a far broader use, whereas cows are only meat & milk worthy.

It's the same issue with cats, dogs, and to a lesser extent, sometimes rabbits.

How many people *really* think that horse parts don't find their way into Slim Jims, Whoppers, etc?

:lol:
I don't know about Whoppers, but horse meat has been known to show up in salami, so I wouldn't be surprised if some Slim Jims have horse parts in them. Horse bones and hooves are also sometimes used in gelatin production.