# How plans are moving forward for Humane Processing proponents



## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

PLEASE do not turn this into a general discussion of slaughter. There are more than enough of these threads elsewhere. This outlines NEW PROGRAMS that will be implemented by the organized group that intends to bring slaughter back to the United States with humane handling and new alternatives for unwanted horses.

As most of you know, I am a proponent of slaughter since I have not figured out anything else to do here and now. I have always been concerned, like everyone else, about humane handling and whether closer slaughter facilities will mean more horse theft.

The well-known group (United Horsemen) that has helped get the legislation passed to allow inspection of meat has sent out a letter to everyone on its mailing list. [I am on the mailing list but not a member.]

I thought I would copy this letter and see what the real horsemen on this board think of its provisions and of the new programs. Never before have re-training and marketing for resale been a part of any organized 'feedlot' or processing enterprise. I, personally, think it is a HUGE step in the right direction.


> *PRESS RELEASE*
> 
> 
> United Horsemen is a 100% volunteer and grassroots organization, supported entirely by the hard working, but economically hard-hit horse industry. The industry is slowly recovering from the perfect storm of overall economic decline, and a horse market crippled by a radical animal rights agenda, namely destruction of the secondary market for horses. United Horsemen is battling back, working to relieve the suffering of thousands of horses rendered worthless, at high risk of abandonment, or subjected to long transportation to other countries where they are no longer protected by U.S. law.
> ...


Up until now (or at least when this program gets started), the only way for a horse to get out of the processing system is for a horse-trader / killer buyer to sell to an individual before the horse goes on to a feedlot or goes straight to Mexico or Canada. There have been no other prospects for the thin horses that could not be re-sold shortly after the trader acquired them. 

What do you think of a totally new concept like this?


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Cherie, most slaughter buyers would rather sell a horse privately if he can make a profit.


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## kevinshorses (Aug 15, 2009)

I like it and would like to be a part of the retraining program if it gets going. I think one thing that should be added is a way to identify if a horse is known to have a problem that makes it suitable only for slaughter. I've ridden a few horses that had something wrong in thier head that would/ have hurt someone with little or no indication that they are inclined to do something like that.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Definitely a step in the right direction. 

I agree with Kevin's addition. I've met a handful that shouldn't/wouldn't be re-trainable and would hate to see those types of horses passed on to someone thinking they could fix them and get hurt.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I think it's a good start. I would like to see certain caveats about the horses like Kevin & MHF mentioned. I'd also like to see some loopholes tightened or closed, vis a vis, the scanning of microchipped horses, prices a facility could charge to reunite and owner with his stolen horse or one that a previous owner wanted returned. 

I think the training & resale is going to do 1 of a couple of things. 

1/ It will get abandoned when they realize just how economically challenging it is to rehab/retrain/resell or 

2/They will have a bunch of shady wannbe trainers who barely train the horse to accept a saddle and then sell so cheaply that it further depresses the market for a well trained horse. 

I'd really like to see a more fully fleshed out plan for this provision.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

It's a good start. And, I might be a little less worried than some of the others about the unscrupulous trainers. While they are always a black mark on the horse industry, I don't think this will bring out more.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

MODERATOR NOTE: removed due to removing post that the removed sentence was referring to.

OP, thank you for posting this. I really like the microchipping factor and contacting the previous owner. I just wonder if people will get sloppy and lazy after X amount of time. Im sure itll happen. I also like the fact that if they feel the horse will be a canidate for retraining, theyll help place the animal for a 2nd chance.

Great steps in the right direction.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Cherie, I must say that I am very glad to see someone taking steps to do things like this. I agree with Kevin about the marking of horses that are just "wrong" as slaughter only, I've known a few of those myself over the years and I would hate for one of their trainers to get hurt when just trying to find out what the horse was like.

I really like the idea of training and re-marketing the horses with potential, but I am unable to see how they can maintain that portion of the process without good trainers just volunteering their time.

UNLESS, they did something like they are doing with the mustangs and the prison training program.... That might be something to think about.

Thank you very much for posting this. :happydance:


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

I really like the general concept. I know quite a few people who already have chipped their horses. I would be happy to chip mine just in case. 

I believe that the retraining program could catch those few that just wound up there by bad luck - and hopefully won't put those who seem fine but are flippo-kitties back into the system.


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## JumpingPaints (Mar 11, 2012)

All I can say is LOL. Yes, I can really imagine an adoption program operating out of the same facility as a slaughter plant. And they have five days to rehabilitate the horse. Could it be anymore ludicrous?


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

^^Actually, not so ludicrous. Do you know how many perfectly good riding horses go to slaughter every day because their owner didn't have the money to feed them or just wanted rid of them and dumped them at the auction instead of trying to find them a real home?

How many good horses that maybe nobody wanted to look at because they were lame from a minor abscess or a slight pulled muscle so they got snatched up by a meat man?

Given a few days with educated eyes looking at them and educated hands touching them, many of those types of horses could get a second chance.

Actual rehab on problem horses, no, but taking a horse that was once very broke but hadn't been ridden in 2-5-10 years and spending a few days re-acquainting them with their former training is actually relatively easy for folks that know a little bit about horses.


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## JumpingPaints (Mar 11, 2012)

smrobs said:


> ^^Actually, not so ludicrous. Do you know how many perfectly good riding horses go to slaughter every day because their owner didn't have the money to feed them or just wanted rid of them and dumped them at the auction instead of trying to find them a real home?
> 
> How many good horses that maybe nobody wanted to look at because they were lame from a minor abscess or a slight pulled muscle so they got snatched up by a meat man?
> 
> ...


Oh, I'm well aware of the diamonds-in-the-rough dumped at slaughter by lazy owners and breeders.

Point being, trying to rehab horses in a mere 5 days, and on the same site they can hear and smell their brethren being butchered is totally beyond the realm of reasonableness. Sorry I've been handling horses my entire life, and their proposal just ain't remotely realistic. 

For those of us who've removed the rose colored glasses, it appears simply an attempt to appear as making an effort to provide horses with alternatives.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

LOL, I see the world a lot of ways, through rose colored glasses is certainly not one of them :lol:.


Mayhap you are reading too much into what Cherie posted?? Nowhere on there does it say that they will be attempting to rehab the potentially useful horses on the exact same property as they are butchering the others. 

Also, you are not the only one here with horse experience. I've had horses my entire life, my father was a trainer, I am a trainer, and I come from a long line of horsemen. No, I am not some naive little teenager from the inner city who's seen "spirit" too many times.

Yes, their proposal is _completely_ realistic...if they can maintain the budget and funding for it.

More than likely, it will be run similar to the cattle industry. Feedlots where horses are fed back up to a healthy weight, treated for any injuries/illnesses, then (when they are deemed fat enough for slaughter but unfit for life anywhere else) they are transported to a slaughter house that is off site. It would be my guess that likely, the re-training facility would probably be located on the same site as the feedlot. The SH would be a completely separate facility on separate property where the animals would have to be transported _to_.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I see it as a very realistic approach. Everything is determined by value and worth. If a horse is worth more to be resold as a saddle horse and the whole program revolves around making him worth the most that they can, then that is where he will go. If the horse has soundness or mental issues or is just butt-ugly, his chances of leaving the place on his feet are slim.

When I started out training in 1960, I bought a lot of prospects from the Columbine Packing Company on the east side of Denver. They sold them for what they cost + $10.00. They made a $10.00 profit without putting a penny in the horse. Horse Traders buy horses at every sale. The ones that will make money being sold privately on Craigs List or through the paper are sold that way. The ones that can't, will head to the processing plant. It is just plain economics 101.

Right now, there is a horse feed lot in Morton Texas. It usually has from 1000 to 2000 head in it. They are held in big pens that have big square bales of alfalfa in front of them 24/7. Thin horses usually stay there 90 days. I am told that they gain around 4 pounds a day. I have had horses gain 5 # a day on wheat pasture if I turned them on it when they were thin. This is the only US feedlot that I know of, but it is owned by the Belgian Company that owns the processing plant in Mexico. Horses never get out of that feedlot except to go to Mexico. They are not tried for anything else. The owners only want these horses for meat. Once they have left the Traders' hands, there is no 'get out of jail free' card for them.

I watch 'broke' horses go through the local sale every two weeks that have no one bid on them but the same traders that buy killers. They are not set up to fatten horses up and most are not trainers. They have to figure out in a matter of days if a horse is worth trying to sell privately or if they should just send the horse straight to Mexico. I see a lot of possibilities for a set-up like the one planned for Oregon. I see decent horses having a lot better chance of getting out of it on their feet. 

I also think more young horses will go to a place like this with their papers. Right now, many young horses are not being registered or the owners are throwing the papers away if they have to sell them at a sale. 

So yes! I think a set-up like the one planned is very realistic. I think it is a very good way to go about it.


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