When the last U.S. horse slaughter facility was closed. But immoral and greedy people figured out pretty quickly that all they had to do was ship horses to Mexico or Canada.

Its horrifying. Horses are quite intelligent. They are terrified, and scream. They trample and kick each other trying to escape the death they see coming. Many are already injured because they are crammed into trucks--mares, stallions, babies, all together. Nasty wounds, broken legs, crushed. Horse owners used to always be afraid of their animals being stolen and sold for 69 cents a pound. And then there's always the, "kill pens," where the unfortunate are auctioned off for slaughter.

I know many people are okay with it, or have never thought about it. They need to be reminded--or educated--that horses are not livestock. They are companion animals. Would you eat a poodle?

None of this would be happening without a market though. Europeans eat horse meat. Its a cheaper alternative to beef. Compassionate people get sick about the dog meat trade in Asian countries. This is no different.

And, as the article says, there is no FDA inspection for horse meat. It could have all manner of horse meds in it (anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, inoculations, wormers, etc.) Of course, animals on those types of meds usually don't end up in slaughter houses unless they were stolen. Its usually the sad and broken down ones that people consider disposable.

At least the BLM is more careful now about who they adopt wild mustangs and burros to. Far too many of them were going to the meat trade under false pretenses.

Please sign every petition you can. Its how the U.S. slaughterhouses were finally shut down.

Thank you, Bayard. Most informative post.

I am disgusted by what some Americans and other cultures will eat.

I stopped trying to cook beef while living in England for 3yrs because it smelled so strange & unpleasant.
So I stuck to cooking chicken and prawns.
Prawns are very much like shrimp.

Speaking of shrimp (thread drift)....
I'm preparing this for C'mas dinner...

2nd Helping Shrimp

2 pounds quality shrimp cooked and cleaned (I buy frozen with the tails removed and, of course, and I cut the shrimp in half.)
1- 2 T lemon juice
3 T oil (or a bit more to cover.)
1/2 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 cup onion, minced
2 - 3 T butter
3/4 cup rice, uncooked (I add a bit more.)
1 cup heavy cream
3 T sherry
1- 2 t salt
1/8 t mace
Dash cayenne pepper
1 cup condensed tomato soup
1/2 t pepper
Dash paprika
1/4 cup sliced, lightly toasted almonds for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cover shrimp with lemon juice and oil. Place in refrigerator until cold, crisp. Stir often so that all shrimp marinated.
Saute green pepper & onion in butter.
Lightly drain shrimp and add all remaining ingredients.
Pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish.
Sprinkle almonds & paprika on top.
Cover.
Bake 45 mins. to 1 hr.
Serves 6.

"Almost everyone asks for a second helping."

Moral of story, please do whatever you can to endure your "beef" isn't horse meat.