Say 'neigh' to horse meat in America

Two weeks ago, the British food industry and millions of meat-eaters across the ocean were shocked to discover that the wave of horse meat being found in products labeled? as beef had trotted through several countries and landed square on their dinner tables.

The horse meat outbreak was first discovered in Ireland about a month ago, and has been found in other countries including Poland, Belgium, France, Sweden and? Britain. Mislabeled ?beef lasagna,? meals reportedly tested positive for 100 percent horse meat DNA in some cases, and an estimated 10 million frozen hamburger patties were pulled from shelves.

Never has the term ?hold your horses? held more meaning as this contamination crisis continues and Europeans have to think twice before biting into that burger. Despite the culprit companies? several statements of apologies, who really knows what?s in there?

Though many countries across the globe do eat horse meat regularly, the biggest issue here at hand is the fact that food safety laws were not being closely monitored leading to mislabeled food getting through factories and onto shelves. People have a right to know what they are consuming and what they?re putting into their bodies.

So of course, that raises the question: Could that ever happen here, to us, in the U.S.? Possibly.

Here in America there isn?t a huge market for horse meat. Mainly because unlike other farm animals, horses are mostly cherished pets and not dinner. It makes us uneasy to eat animals we consider pets, as it should. In fact, in 2007 the Agriculture Department was banned from using any federal funds to fuel horse slaughter facilities, shutting them down until 2011 when the ban was lifted. Although the horses were shipped to either Canada or Mexico instead for this process, for nearly five years there was no U.S. horse meat market.

So yes, technically, horse slaughter for meat production can start again. However, it has to be approved by the appropriations committee of the House Representatives, which decides how to allocate funding. It pulled the reins on this, denying funding to horse slaughterhouses for the fiscal year budget of 2013.

I say, ?Yay!? and here?s why.

First off it?s cruel, abusive and unnecessary. Even with government regulation, these animals are forced to endure terrifying conditions starting first with transportation and ending with execution.? They are corralled up by the hundreds, shoved onto truck trailers to be taken away and given no room to move, debilitating even the healthiest of horses.

The ?humane? way of killing them is by shooting them with a bolt gun and letting them bleed to death. Cow, pig and chicken houses are just as corrupt in killing across America. There is no reason to believe the horse houses would be any different. Also, any horse can be slaughtered. These horses can range from ponies to farm workhorses and even horses that are stolen and sold illegally are shipped off to these houses.

These horses were not raised to be eaten. There is no way of telling their health level before you consume it. Horses are often given specialized medicines and drugs like ?bute??which was originally intended to treat arthritis in humans before being found to be lethal?that can put people at serious risk.

Which makes the idea of eating horse meat not only unsavory, but unsafe as well.

Horses are smart and intelligent companions for humans. They have strong memories and are trusted to work on police forces and serve as guides for the blind, just like a dog would. Would America support shipping dogs off to a slaughterhouse for consumption?

So just like Lassie, let?s leave Seabiscuit off the table.

Source: http://www.dailytitan.com/2013/02/say-neigh-to-horse-meat-in-america/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=say-neigh-to-horse-meat-in-america

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