Its about time that personal property rights are asserted in the matter of slaughtering horses. A line must be drawn. Misguided animal rights groups are slowly but surely chippping our personal property rights away. In California you no longer own your dog or cat but are its guardian. Horse ownership is headed that way if something isn't done. You can count on spaying and neutering laws and license requirements to breed or own horses. Where will it stop. The animal rights groups will use any ground they gain to move on to regulating other livestock. Their mission is to eliminate animals as a food source once and for all. They want our cattle, sheep and hogs to be considered pets. They have all but done this to horses.
While I hate to think that some of my horses may have gone to the killer, it is necessary. A killer market sets a floor for horse prices. The lack of a killer market in this country as led to the total collapse of our riding and breeding horse market. It is estimated that 100,000 head of horses per year where taken out of the system by slaughter. Given horses live into their 20's, we are looking at several million unwanted horses to be cared for over the next 20 yrs. Who is going to buy 150.00 hay to feed them. The BLM has 30 or 40 thousand head of wild horses on feed. What a waste of tax money. This planet can't waste the resources needed to feed and care for all the unwanted horses. It would be much better to provide them to the many people in the world who eat horse meat.
The fact of the matter is that horses are personal property. They are livestock, not pets. A horse can't sleep at the foot of you bed, ride next to you in the car or curl up next to the fireplace. They are big animals with big appetites. Unlike a fluffy little kitty, they can be dangerous to people who have no experience handling them. Livestock is personal property to be disposed of as the owner sees fit. So if I want to send a horse to the killer that is my right. If some bleeding heart wants to save one and waste their money on feeding it until it dies of old age that is their loss or right whichever way you look at it.