Australia has its kangaroos. China, its beloved pandas. In the United States, we have horses. We love them. We revere them. Children delight in seeing them. We cheer them on when they race around tracks from sea to shining sea.
But there’s a rancid underbelly to our treatment of horses, and a new investigative report, “U.S. Live Exports Fade as Foreign Demand Abates | An Investigative Report on Horses and Other Equines Sent to Slaughter in Canada and Mexico,” looks into it. It was published by Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy and Animals’ Angels. The results are by turns stomach-churning and heart-breaking.
The dark side is this: While it is illegal to slaughter horses in the U.S., it remains legal–and profitable–to sell horses for transport into Canada and Mexico for that purpose. Yes, as foreign demand dries up, fewer horses are so destined. But with about 20,000 horses a year still sent to the kill plants, we have a long way to go.
Retired race horses. Spent carriage horses. Unwanted companion horses. Any one of them may end up thrust into an overcrowded and often uncovered holding pen, shoved into an overcrowded and sweltering truck, and finally corralled through a maze of gates until the end finally comes.
“We documented that cruelty goes hand-in-hand with horse slaughter. Every step along the way,” said report co-author Sonja Meadows of Animals’ Angels. “It's really like somebody flips a switch. The minute a horse is unloaded at the loading dock of an auction and labeled a kill horse, the minute that determination is made, everything that horse experiences from then on will be dramatically different and completely inhumane.”
Meadows is joined in this podcast by Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, and Scott Beckstead, director of campaigns for the organizations. They review the findings of the report with host Joseph Grove. Shown are some images from it as well as some video that was captured along the way. Notice: they are not pleasant to view.
Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action, provides a legislative update at the conclusion of the interview.
You can watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/QsQhaMMlmMA
Ending the abuse for carriage horses | Episode 47
Dan Buettner on living better, longer and kinder with Blue Zones lifestyles | Episode 46
Harness racing: A struggling enterprise grapples with animal wellness | Episode 45
Will the Supreme Court side against animals? The attack on Prop 12 | Episode 44
The fight to spare animals through FDA Modernization | Episode 43
How a California lawsuit may change things for kangaroos | Episode 42
Monty Roberts, ”The Man Who Listens to Horses,” talks whipping horses in races, the wild ride of Rich Strike, and the Queen | Episode 41
Animal Abuse and the Connection to School Shootings | Episode 40
Wild Horses and their Mishandling by the BLM | Episode 39
The sad fate of Thoroughbred horses, with Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron | Episode 38
MISSION POSSIBLE: The struggle to rescue dogs from Afghanistan...and the CDC | Episode 37
Carole ”Tiger King” Baskin updates us on the Big Cat Public Safety Act | Episode 36
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.): A rising star in Congress talks about her work for animals | Episode 35
Rep. Mike Quigley and his fight for lions, tigers—and roosters | Episode 34
Milk: It Does a Body Bad | Episode 33
Team Biden: Are they helping animals? | Episode 32
Minks, COVID and captivity: What's bad for them is bad for us--Episode 31
Emotions, Spirituality and the Rich, Valuable Lives of Animals--Episode 30
Wild horses and the fight against round-ups and slaughter | Episode 29
Bob Baffert, doping and an industry in need of further reform--Episode 28
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