Will American horse slaughter once again be illegal in 2014?
In 2007, a bill was passed that included defunding USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities, effectively ending horse slaughter in America. Then in 2011, Obama signed an Agriculture bill that included basically this: "Okay, fine, it's now legal to fund FDA inspections of horse slaughter plants again." However, the bill didn't throw money at those inspections either; it just said it was legal to pay for them now. Now there is rumor of a 2014 bill that will once again prevent money from being spent on inspection of horse slaughtering facilities.
Of course none of this prevents kill buyers from shipping horses to Canada and Mexico.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a little glad that our country is sort of heading in the direction of protecting horses. However, this "protection" amounts to less than a thimble full of bullshit when we don't A) prevent overbreeding and poor breeding, B) do a better job of supporting horse rescues, and C) educate people about horse ownership.
An auction report from Kristin King shows that horses at the Menomonie auction this weekend went for peanuts. (You can read that below.) Some of those horses may be headed to slaughter in Canada... and some of them may just go hungry at home. I just saw $14 small square hay bales at Fleet Farm. No fucking kidding.
So yeah, we can legislate good ideas all we want... but what really needs to change is the behavior and ideals of horse owners. It's the vicious cycle all over again.
HORSES AT MENOMONIE AUCTION 2013
by Kristin King
#94 – 12 yr old bay pony mare. Driven through, rides, drive single &
double, owned by a disabled man, she was very quiet and appeared easy to
drive. High bid was $75 but it was No
Saled
#91 – 7 yr bay/wht pinto, quarter / Belgian cross mare,
rides & drives, single/double, no spook $775
#80 – yearling reg. Percheron mare, well behaved, calm,
beautiful, high stepping, good mover $700
#79 – 6 yr. Quarter/Percheron gelding, rides & drives,
little nervous, handler rode bareback with halter/lead $900
#34 – 10 yr Quarter pony gelding, chestnut w/4 white socks,
rides & drives, many trailrides $375
#75 – 6 yr pony gelding, Blk, rode through ring, very broke,
Shetland size $200
#77 &78 – 2 yr old Percheron mares, sisters, Amish
broke, very nice team, driven through $1050 each
#66 – yearling reg. mini, red roan, futurity nominated $65
#67 - 2 yr reg. silver buckskin mini, gelding $85
#99 & 100 – mini Belgian mares, no Halflinger blood,
mother/daughter team, well broke, gentle, very cute and calm, driven through,
High bid was $350 each but No Sale
#96 – 6 yr Quarter pony mare, sorrel, bald face and 4 white
socks, bareback in the ring, nice mare $375
#38 – 3 yr Arab/Appaloosa pony gelding, rides & drives,
quick, responsive, can shoot off him, No Sale
#46 – yearling reg. paint, chestnut/wht overo mare, long
legs, excellent condition, calm, gorgeous neck, put together real nice.
#54 – black pony gelding, Shetland size, rode through, No
Sale
#70 – 15 yr. tiny Appaloosa mini stallion, rides/drives,
behaved well $25
#92 – 4 yr. Shetland mare, blk/wht pinto, rides/drives,
parades, very well behaved, calm, driven then ridden $325
#20 – yearling AQHA mare, chocolate palomino, very correct,
bred for barrels, will be big, No Sale
#69 – 14 yr reg. sorrel pinto gelding pony, 37” tall, broke
to drive, National champion twice, No Sale
#68 – reg. mini mare, palomino, 37” tall, broke $50
#11 – 9 yr. paint large pony gelding, not for beginners,
came off a ranch, very personable, neck reins, good looking, great on trails
$425
#76 – 10 yr. chestnut/wht pony mare, rides/drives, little
thin, wormy, from South Dakota $20
#42 – yearling reg. bay mare, pretty head, big hip, kicked
her handler No Sale
#43 – 8 yr Blk Quarter pony gelding, stocky, extensively
trailridden by a 10 yr girl. $850
#86 – 3 yr Halflinger cross gelding, really cute. $50
#1 – grade Quarter gelding, bay, super broke, sound, safe,
used in feed lots, side passes, neckreins, very quiet, calm on trails $1900
#2 – 14 yr. reg. BS Paint mare, bay, quiet, all around
horse, neckreins, nice, safe $600
#3 – 9 yr. TB bay gelding, trail rides, started on barrels,
neckreins $275 to kill buyer
#4 – 15 yr. bay AQHA gelding, gentle, broke for anyone, rode
bridleless No Sale
#58 – 10 yr TWH gelding, Blk/white, ridden bareback $125
#5 – AQHA mare, blk, gentle, quiet, rides anywhere, No Sale
#6 – 9yr palomino gelding, grade, rides everywhere on farm
and next to highway, quiet, calm, neckreins, very tolerant of his crappy rider,
No Sale
#7 – 9 yr gelding, Blk/wht, drives great, rides trails,
neckreins, no foolishness from him $275
#8 – 5 yr reg. TWH mare, palomino, rides, No Sale
#9 – 2 yr. reg. AQHA colt, well bred, dark grey w/blk
points, gorgeous, very correct, bred for barrels high bid was $1900 but No Sale
#10 – 6 yr AQHA gelding, chestnut, pleasure/halter bred,
safe, rides very nice, family type horse $775
#12 – Bay roan, No Sale at $600
#13 – AQHA palomino mare, top notch breeding, shown till 6
yrs old, trail rides, No Saled at $1200
#14 – Bay gelding, very broke, calm $600
#15 – 19 yr. blk/wht tobiano mare, very well broke, calm,
comes when called, dbl registered. $300
#16 – 6 yr sorrel gelding, nice riding horse, well broke No
Sale
#17 – 8 yr AQHA gelding, well bred, well broke, roped off,
spins, slide stops, nice nice horse $225
#18 – 15 yr. pinto mare, well broke, $225
#19 – 8 yr. grey/blk gelding, gentle, anyone can ride,
neckreins, nice boy, easy ride, No Sale
#21 – 8 yr. AQHA buckskin mare, very gentle, very quiet,
$700
#22 – 10 yr. gray Percheron/Qtr gelding, from ranch in
Nebraska, done everything $550
#23 – 4 yr grade roan gelding, 30 days riding, going very
nicely, No saled at $825
#25 – 7 yr bay roan gelding, used in feedlot, safe, gentle,
side passes, spins, good looking boy. No
Sale
#30 – 4 yr reg. Appaloosa gelding, chestnut with blanket,
well bred, good looking, well broke No Sale
There were many more horses still waiting for their turn in
the ring but I had to leave. I heard the
prices went lower and lower as the day went.
I have auction results of a sort.
ReplyDeleteA pair of good friends of mine went to this auction in IL http://www.salem4youth.com/how-to-help/sale-for-the-right-reasons/
(You may have scroll down a tiny bit, but there is also video's of most of the horses.
These are donated horses for the sale and some from their breeding program.
Here is the PDF of the catalog http://www.salem4youth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/24th-Annual-2013-Auction-Catalog.pdf
My friend recieves one every year but we have only gone 2x. I didn't go this year.
One friend wrote down prices on all but three or four of the last ones.
Most went for $200, that was the lowest beginning bid they would accept. A kill buyer was there and bought most of the horses.
Apparently the pics are not as good as the horses themselves, the horses were gorgeous, all but one yearling were ridden through.
The highest bid horse was the palomino half arab gelding Lot #13. All the colorful half arabs OR grade stockbreeds brought the most money.
And before they left, some one did say the kill buyer would most likely resell the better horses. Not that it is much comfort. I wonder how the owners who donated their horses would feel to know that their good stock, show horses (some) went to a kill buyer and are probably in Canada by now, being cut into pieces to be shipped overseas to be eaten...
Some had show points