From: Mary S. Nash
To: againstslaughter@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2003 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: [againstslaughter] Livestock?

"Perhaps we need to publize more widely those organizations that are pro-horse slaughter and ask them why."
 
Here's my perspective on why some people and organizations continue to support horse slaughter.  My perspective is from Kaufman, Texas where so many people have accepted horse slaughter for so many years. 
 
After accepting something for so long, it is hard to make a 180 degree turnaround and suddenly say, "I was wrong."  That is the mentality I've been battling here in Kaufman.  For so many years, people in Kaufman have been told that the horse slaughter plant provides a service in disposing of old, sick and crippled horses.  It's hard for people to suddenly accept that they have been told a lie for so long.  It's embarrassing.  It's embarrassing to realize and admit that you've been duped.  No one likes to look like a fool.
 
Mary Nash
Kaufman, Tx
 
----- Original Message -----
From: vickysecho
To: againstslaughter@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 8:52 PM
Subject: [againstslaughter] Livestock?

Ok - lets talk a bit about the livestock issue and those proponents of horse slaughter. The pros and cons on their stance on horse slaughter.

The Texas Cattlemans Association collects $3 per horse slaughtered in the guise of horse theft protection.  Yet we still don't have a national horse theft database.  The Illinois Agricultural department does not consider horses as livestock since their feed is taxed differently than cattle and they have been classified as companion animals.  The renderers also obviously don't consider horses livestock since they charge less than $50 for a cow and over $200 for a horse.  Do the registries consider horses livestock or companion animals?  It seems that the beef industry would want to make horse slaughtering illegal because of the potential to ship more beef and to get the issue of slaughter out of the media.

What is their reason for being pro-horse slaughter besides the $3 per horse?  It can't be only for fear that it will transgress into the beef industry - that's not logical.  The beef industry to the horse slaughter industry is like comparing a mansion to a mole hill. 

Vicky Secho