So last night, Real Sports continued the horse racing abuse story, right on the heels of Eight Belles racecourse death. This story was about the underbelly of the sport, specifically the selling of losing racehorses as meat.
Surprisingly, I have very little problem with the practice. I have problems with the way horses (and indeed all meat animals) are slaughtered at your common factory-esque slaughterhouse (and the footage was gruesome, let me tell you), but the eating of horse? Not so disturbing. In fact, I don't know that I'd have a problem eating horse (or horse fat fries, which are supposed to be incredible), and I might taste it if offered it. In America, that's not a very cool thing to say, and I understand that humans' relationship to horses are very different compared to how they relate to cows, but I just can't bring up a whole lot of outrage at the idea of horses being eaten.
The people interviewed on Real Sports were passionately upset about the whole thing, and dude, I can totally agree that maybe it's best if we figure out how to kill the animals with a modicum of humanity, but otherwise, yeah. Total lack of outrage. It's an odd little dichotomy, eh? I don't want to watch these horses being bred for break-down, but what amounts to breeding for food...eh. I can't explain it, except to say that I've seen pigs race, and I'm a-ok with the slaughter (and eating) of pigs.
It's true that Thoroughbreds aren't raised for meat, but still...eh. What if they were? That also wouldn't bother me. Of course, now slaughterhouses in the US are forbidden from doing horses, which means that humane slaughter is even further from happening, as much of the slaughter is happening in Mexico, where there are no standards. If this is what animal rights crusaders were looking for when they pushed for these no-slaughter laws in the US, I personally think they've erred big time. Horses are still going to be sold as meat, and at least if it's happening here we can regulate it. Now we've lost all chance of that.
Still, like I said, I'm not against Europeans and Asians enjoying horse meat. To each their own. Doesn't really bother me. It's just that I wish we'd endeavor to give animals a dignified life, and then a dignified death, if we wish to eat them.
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