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JoyceJ (Anonymous) says…

It absolutely amazes me when I read an opinion similar to this one, and it is common, that totally fails to mention the alternative to slaughter or starvation: humane euthanasia, administered by a veterinarian! How can people who claim to be so familiar with animals choose to ignore this possibility? It is the option chosen by dog and cat owners who are responsible enough to want a calm, peaceful, dignified death for their animal when the time comes; why should horses not be afforded the same opportunity? Anyone who buys an animal and does not understand that they may someday have to be able to afford the cost of euthanasia is as stupid and short-sighted as a person who buys anything that requires care that they might not be able to afford but buys it anyway. Plan ahead people—don't use the slaughter option as your out when reality hits!!!
Here's a novel idea: how about we advocate for less breeding? If something isn't born, we don't have to worry about ridding ourselves of it when we no longer enjoy it or it gets too expensive to care for, do we? Slaughter, no matter where it is performed or how it is done, should never be an answer for keeping a population in control, as this writer suggests. Wanton killing as a form of population control isn't acceptable for humans and it should not be acceptable for any living species.
The analogy used here makes no sense to me, no matter how many times I read it. What does concern for the environment have to do with animal rights? Anyone who is familiar with horse slaughter knows the damage that has been done to the environment, much of it yet to be realized, in the areas where the plants operated. The foreign owners couldn't care less about how they polluted the water and soil in OUR country when they allowed carcinogenic drug-laden horse blood to be dumped whereever they chose to dump it. Research the violations that Cavel was cited for in DeKalb Illinois. Let someone build a slaughter plant in your town; we will see the NIMBY syndrome appear pretty quickly. Keep slaughter legal, build more plants but don't do it in my town—I guarantee it!!
Horse slaughter will never be well-regulated by this government. The USDA can't oversee cattle slaughter adequately.The last I knew, they had hundreds of job openings for inspectors that they couldn't fill. Would you prefer that they hired people to inspect and regulate horse slaughter in deference to inspection of the plants that produce the meat you and your family members will eat? they don't care about regulating horse slaughter and have said as much.
It does not take a genius to answer your concern: geld the stallions, keep them separated from the mares, do whatever needs to be done to prevent the conception of foals who stand no chance of having the kind of life they deserve, dooming them to having their lives ended horribly because noone was responsible enough to assure that they were never born. Or is that too simple?