Horse Burgers, Pitbull Charlie & Other News

Horse Burgers

You've probably heard about the "Horse Burger" story by now. If you haven't, here's a brief re-cap: horse and pig DNA was found in "beef burgers" sold by five different chains in the UK. The meat had come from three different processing plants. On further testing, one burger was found to be nearly one-third horse meat. One of the chains that sold the horse burgers is also a major grocery chain in the USA: Aldi.

Are you surprised? I'm not.

Seriously, I've just been waiting for a story like this to break. I naively thought it would break in the US, but Europe probably has far higher food testing standards, so it makes sense that it would come to light there first.

Listen up fellow Americans: you CANNOT pay a measly dollar for a Taco Bell 5-layer Beef Burrito and not expect it to contain horse meat, rat meat, or God knows what else. One recent lawsuit even claims that Taco Bell's "beef" is only actually 36% beef. That lawsuit is not seeking money, by the way.

Maybe you're okay with eating horse meat. Hey, I get your point of view. But if you're not concerned over the poor ponies, you should be concerned about your health. Horses aren't raised for food, so there are no restrictions on the drugs they receive in their lifetimes. You could be chowing down on sterilization chemicals in your mustang meatloaf, steroids and painkillers in your Thoroughbred taco, and Bute in your burro burrito. Not to mention all the crap they then put in the meat to make it taste good.

For years, anti-horse-slaughter activists have been claiming that there is no market for horse meat in America. True. But is there a market for cheap mystery meat? You betcha! There's no proof that Aldi, or anyone else in the US, is currently serving up horse meat to Americans... but seriously, where do you think the slaughter horses go? Do you really think all of them get shipped outside the country? Do you really think the BLM is finding cozy homes for the 9,400 mustangs it rounds up every year? Hah. Tom Davis, who buys thousands of mustangs for $10 each from the BLM and Indian reservations, is probably chuckling all the way to Taco Bell at the mere thought of such foolishness.

"Hell, some of the finest meat you will ever eat is a fat yearling colt," he said.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Buy local. Know your farmer, know your meat.


Further news on Charlie the police-horse-attacking-pitbull:

When I wrote about this story earlier, I was fairly sympathetic. Now, I've changed my mind. It appears as though Charlie's owner habitually let Charlie off-leash without a collar, and that last time he wound up in the custody of Animal Control, he was not neutered, did not have a rabies vaccination or a microchip, and had no collar. AC proceeded to neuter Charlie for a fairly nominal fee... but Gizzarelli tried to stop the procedure several times. Apparently because he believes a grade pitbull living in the city needs his balls.

Further complicating the issue, during the time Charlie was in the AC facility, the AC says he lunged at, and tried to bite, a vet. Oh, and why was Charlie in AC in the first place? Well Mr. Gizz had been  arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and elder abuse, and there was no one who could take care of Charlie while David was in the slammer.

Sounds like biting a police horse wasn't so much a freak accident as the final straw in a history of neglectful, stupid ownership. Recently, the aforementioned sucky owner was given a choice to give up ownership of Charlie in return for Charlie's life. At first, the dickwad refused. People started to wonder whether this Mr. Gizz has his own image, or his dog's best interests at heart.

Thanks to public pressure, he's finally let Charlie go to a sanctuary. So Charlie has beaten the death penalty. Hooray? Let's just hope Mr. Jizz doesn't get another dog. He'll be able to afford one if he does, however; he's been using Charlie's sob story to milk thousands of dollars in donations out of pet lovers across America.

More News:

Don't forget about the Jefferson 4H Tack Sale this Sunday!
Inspirational story about 427lb Janesville woman becoming a triathlete. Wow!