Federal court upholds Illinois law banning horse slaughter

[bretonbanquet]

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

I was under the (perhaps false) impression that the horses going to slaughter either were simply no longer wanted or no longer usable for riding, feral horses from government round-ups, and mares and foals that are "by-products" or "surplus" from the production of estrogen therapy drugs (like Premarin).

Although I'm sure there are farmers who breed horses for meat, your other points are the kind of thing I was initially worried about. Riding horses tend to be reasonably well looked after until they're too old to ride, here at least anyway, and most riding schools would make sure they're euthanised humanely. But as for the government and the medical industry, I doubt very much that animal welfare is anywhere near top priority. But if this horse abattoir is the last one in the US, surely pharmaceutical companies that are based nowhere near this last slaughterhouse have found other ways of disposing of their animals?