I'm appalled

[ohwin94_61]

You all have posted a topic on eating horse

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... f=1&t=6378

Then cut me down about my views on eating horse meat how do you think this guy feels http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... f=1&t=6378 well let me tell you I know how he feels I have been there! I ahd a horse that we had from as long as I can remember then when I was 20 years old had to have the horse put down it like putting down the family dog and later having it for dinner I even got this personal message

Hi ohwin, just wanted to let you know, that of the 60 or so posts about eating horsemeat, it was you who said about the least---in your posts---but actually said the most with those few words. I came away believing that I could come to your house and be invited to set down to the table to eat a meal with your family, and would/could enjoy it. I am not a religious nut cake at all, but if a person has some faith in God, reads Lev. 11 and sees what the creator of a man has to say about what is fit, and what is not fit to eat, you come away with a different approach. I believe that most people deep down want to put in their gut only the best quality and best for the health, type of food, especially meat. But as I saw, most of our forum guys would eat about anything that comes along. I can't even imagine a man going to a sale barn, buying some old scrawny and perhaps diseased horse for 50 bucks, butchering it and feeding his wife and kids meat of such dubious integrity. Oh well!! Thank you for your sensible and meaningful posts on this, I respect you for what I could see through those few words. That one post that said "Meat is Meat guys"---That's a statement coming from a man with little understanding. Bruce W 44

so please be careful of what you post

Dennis

[Griff]

No comment, or I'll never get up by 3AM

[ohwin94_61]

No comment, or I'll never get up by 3AM

[gunslinger598]

same here

[FWiedner]

There is a distinct over-overabundance of sensitivity in these forums lately.

[AJMD429]

If you're not a vegetarian, you eat meat. Even if you're a vegetarian, your appetite still alters plant life, and ecosystems, and impacts animals in some way or another. Besides, is eating a plant less 'cruel' than eating an animal? If you can say that, then is eating one kind of an animal less 'cruel' than eating another? If so, why? Is it only animals we find 'cute' or only animals we find 'intelligent' or only animals that we think are 'like us'? Is it cruel to eat an animal at all?

Our family eats meat. Most of it is 'anonymous' meat - rarely some from a store, and mostly some from an un-named deer shot by one of us last year. Some however is from livestock, and we have a small farm, so the animals are named, and to us, have personalities. That is hard sometimes, because the decision is do you hire out the butchering (saving our own tears or emotions) or do you have a duty to do it yourself out of reverence and respect, rather than let your animal be treated on an assembly line? In our situation it is easy, because we have like-minded friends, and we will butcher 'personal' livestock for each other. Some lack that option, and would either have to do it themselves, which could be tough on the emotions, or let some commercial operation do it. Neither is a good option.

Personally, I don't feel a goat or chicken is something I 'relate' to, but my kids who handle the goats, know them by name and all their personalities, and they feel differently. Our dogs are in my book like the goats are to the kids; things with personalities. Our only pony we had to sell for lack of pasture space, but to my wife it was almost human; to me it was not much different than the goats, but I didn't spend time with it like she did.

Bottom line is - you can't tell ANOTHER PERSON what to do, what to eat, what animal to befriend vs. consume. Be 'appalled' all you want, but some of us may bond tightly to an animal of whatever species (heck, I've had pet BOX TURTLES I really loved), and WE aren't going to want to eat those animals, or others like them, unless we were literally starving! Others may have no such 'attachments' and will gladly have same for dinner.

As long as you are always KIND to other species, and treat them and their environment with respect, you can consume what you feel comfortable with. Remember, 'cruelty' is how something is treated, not what happens to the body after death. After death, there is a corpse or body to deal with, and that should ALWAYS be treated with respect, whether you intend to have a funeral, or a barbeque.

We always give a prayer of thanks before eating ANY meat, because something died, and is being in turn used for our nourishment. Come to think of it, we also give a prayer of thanks before eating vegetables too, because even though they only have the intellect of a politician and the personality of a bureaucrat, they are living things we are going to destroy for our personal gain.

[Blaine]

Horse meat was served in the Military mess halls up until about 1973, or until Congress forbid it.....It was the "mystery meat" that everyone liked to eat, but made fun of anyway. Please: One should be able to make a distinction between livestock and pets. 4H kids raise, lovingly, their livestock for the fair and then sell it off for meat...... Get a grip.

[Bruce Scott]

...... how do you think this guy feels http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... f=1&t=6378
Dennis

Unless I am thoroughly confused he said exactly how he felt:
"While I was burying the horse I was thinking the whole time
what a waste of a bunch of meat and if not for humans at
least for the carnivores at the local zoo or dogs at the animal
shelter etc. "

[Last Spike]

I won't eat horse meat, but if it came down to survival from starvation - me or the horse - the horse would be humanely put down to feed me and my family, assuming I can't feed them any other way. Pretty much a long shot that things would work out that way at the present time, but if circumstances happened...

[Buffboy]

I see it a little different. They've closed all the kill plants for horses in the US (not sure of Canada) because it's just cruel to eat horses. That's good right?

I hang around people that raise horses and I've been in their shoes (though not anymore). Horses are like any other form of livestock, they have to pay their way. They love horses but goodness of your heart can only go so far, even if it's the noble horse. If you can't make money on them, they don't get raised. Horses ain't cheap, never have been, not to raise, not to maintain, not to train, and most assuredly not to feed. A cow/calf eats half (roughly) as much as a mare/colt. An unusable horse cost just as much to feed as the champion roping horse.

Well, if you own a horse that's lame, now what? The reality of this action is it's dropped the bottom out of the horse market. You take a "killer" to the sale barn now and you don't get gas money. There's nowhere to get rid of a "bad" horse and it's been destroying the "good" horse market. Used to be, you could get $.50@# if you had a horse that was healthy but otherwise unusable. This never made much, if any, profit for the person raising horses but it cut the costs down at least. This also leads to increased neglect of horses. Can't afford to buy feed, you sell it, even if it's for slaughter, used to be what happened. Now you can't even give it away. What do you do? There's seems to be a lot of "letting them starve" happening out there.

The only humane answer left is put a bullet in it and push it into a hole or pay for a rendering truck to come pick it up. Personally, I think that's not a good solution and it's really bad for the bottom line, but that's all you have left. That appalls me a lot more than someone eating a horse.

[Scott Young]

i believe i am the one that said i could purchase a horse for 50 bucks. i will ignore the derogatory nature surrounding your inference of me. i will simply say that you can purchase some healthy horses for 50 bucks. the price of them have plummeted to nothing because people have fallen on their heads trying to be pc. griff posted a link to an article that accurately explains my position. as romans 14:20 states all food is clean but it becomes wrong when it cause someone to stumble. i am sorry i offended you.

[gunslinger598]

I've been in the horse business for the last 20 years. I've seen it at it's height when a "killer" would get ya a $1.10 a lb. Now it might bring ya .25 a lb if you are lucky. Most of the killer buyers around this neck of the woods ship em to Mexico. About 50,000 horses a year end up down there from the U S. So basically we've sent our business south. In the northern states many horses end up in Canada. Some bills that are up for consideration include making it illegal to transport horses to sell or slaughter for human consumption. So at some point these horses wont even be exported as slaughter animals if the " animal rights" folks have their way.

Most horse rescue places are already full and if you want to place a horse with many of them you are ask for a donation. They then attempt to place these horses at an adoption fee that is often 2 to 3 times higher than the fair current market value. Then place stipulations and you don't really own the horse but co own it. Often you can't breed it, sell it etc. What you do get is the use of the horse if it's is usable at all, you get to pay all the feed, vet, farrier, & other maintenance cost.

before the U S closed the slaughter plants they were processing approx 90,000 head of horses a year. these were for whatever reason unwanted horses. An entire industry has been crippled.

I attend horse sales every month. I see young horses as cheap as $35.00. The person who cosigns those kind actually will owe the sale barn money after expenses. Many I see bought up by the killer buyer average from about $150.00 to $275.00 a head. young horses in the year old to 2 year range may sell for about $100.00

I don't sell mine at these small local auctions, but I do attend always looking for a well bred young horse I might buy cheap to add to my herd. I can't buy them all that's for darn sure.

I know of a branding party a few months ago where a burro was BBQ'd. They can be had in good health for about $25.00.

Would I eat a horse? Not as my first choice. Nope.

I have about 30 years ago cut up more horses to use as dog food than most folks have seen. I worked on a ranch where part of the operation was raising greyhounds. The horses we cut up we picked up dead from other ranches or the vets office. the meat was ground for a stew cooked daily in a big open pot outside. Mixed with surplus bread & milk and served to the dogs. after the meat was cooked off the bones the bones were collected in a trailer and sold to make bone china. In 1979 they paid $200.00 a ton for clean bones plus round trip gas from anywhere in the nation. The hides we also sold. we did get more for a cow hide than a horse hide. The intestines were fed to hogs.

In the real world people "eat horses"

[kirkwood]

If you've ever taken a trip to europe and eaten something on a menu listed as beef, then you most likely ate horsemeat. Steer meat is not as common and more expensive, so europeans often eat horse. I've seen many butcher shops over there with half a side of horse up on a hanger and various cuts of horse in the cabinet.

[GANJIRO]

I personally could never eat an animal I raised, I just get too attached to them, couldn't eat my own horse nor my own pig as some had suggested when I was trying to figure out what to do with Lucy. I couldn't even sell her for food even though I had several lucrative offers. Sheesh I haven't even hunted pigs since I found Lucille 3 year ago. I'm sure I will eventually but this island (Oahu) sux as far as hunting is concerned and airfare is crazy expensive so not sure when that will be.







I miss my stupid pig.

[Scott Young]

we miss your pig too!

[rjohns94]

the eating horse thread started in April. perhaps you were thinking of the forum member that recently lost a horse and you were concerned we were being insensitive? the thread you quoted I think spoke for itself. I am a horse (mule) owner and I found nothing offensive in that thread.

[Old No7]

Gi:

I was expecting to see some "lipstick" on those pigs...

Or was that pit bulls??? I forget...



Old No7