U.S. Thoroughbreds Ending Up in Japanese Slaughterhouses: Killed for dog food

[Karmadillo]

The undercover video is difficult to watch.

http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=13152

Horse-Racing Shame Exposed in First-Ever Japanese Horse Slaughterhouse Investigation: American Horses Killed for Dog Food

Kumamoto, Japan -- On the eve of the Belmont Stakes and just one year after Eight Belles was killed after her ankles shattered during the Kentucky Derby, PETA is pulling back the curtain on another secret horse-racing industry shame. PETA undercover investigators have taken the first-known videotape footage from inside a horse slaughterhouse in Japan. Hundreds of thoroughbreds are sold from U.S. stables to breeding farms in Japan, even though 90 percent of all horses in Japan end up in slaughterhouses.

The video footage --released today on ESPN's Outside the Lines--was shot this year at the Kumamoto Shokuniku Center, Japan's largest thoroughbred slaughterhouse, which is located in the city of Kumamoto. The video includes footage of the final minutes of one thoroughbred's life. Workers are shown spraying water on the horse, who panics and temporarily escapes before being caught, slaughtered, and cut apart.

PETA investigators found and shot footage of Charismatic and War Emblem, two Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners who were sold to Japanese breeders in 2002. Ten years ago, bones in Charismatic's left front leg shattered during the Belmont Stakes. Both horses' breeding value has fallen, and PETA is concerned that they will face the same fate as Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand, who was slaughtered in Japan in 2002.

The overbreeding of thoroughbreds in the U.S., where 50,000 foals are born every year, ensures a steady flow of horses to Japan, where approximately 20,000 of the animals were slaughtered last year. Since Ferdinand's death, more than 2,000 American thoroughbreds have been exported to Japan for use in races and breeding programs, and most of them have been or will be slaughtered. In addition to the horses who are sent to Japan, at least 12,000 U.S. thoroughbreds are sent to slaughter in Canada and Mexico every year. PETA is calling on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association to rein in this carnage by urging its members to stop exporting horses to Japan and to set limits on breeding.

"These horses' fear permeates the slaughterhouse," says PETA investigator Philip Schein. "The horses who are brought in peer out of the trucks, smelling death, and their eyes show the terror that they feel. The racing industry and those who support it have these horses' blood on their hands."

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Awful. I can't watch the video. thanks for posting the story

[aquart]

2. Sick, heartless exploitation.

If necessary, set breeding quotas.

People organized to save racing greyhounds, but horses are so large, so few can come forward to save them.

[Triana]

3. I can't watch the video but K & R - every time I see stuff like this I think of that Ghandi quote.

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Gandhi

We're sad. We're all about "OMYGOD Gay marriage is wrong!" and "OMIGOD abortion is wrong!" - yadda yadda yadda. Ask any American what the definition of MORALITY is and no doubt those two things would instantly come up.

NOT lack of decent health care
NOT how we treat animals in this country
NOT how we treat the poor, sick, elderly
NOT how we treat the environment

Just abortion and gay marriage.

Pfft.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

Well, I care about all those things, so I don't understand the point of your post

Most people can care about more than two issues, and it seems a lot of people around here don't give a shit about gay marriage.

[Triana]

19. People on DU care about more than just those two issues but..

...out in society - not so sure. Like I said, ask most of them and you'd get those two things before anything else. Not that they're LESS important at all - but that seems to be the sum total of what many people think "morality" is about. They wouldn't mention animal abuse or poverty or the rotten "health care" system here.

(hint: it isn't all about you).

[Mari333]

9. why do you equate gay marriage as an issue not as worthy as those other issues??

please answer.

[Triana]

15. Turn off your defensive stance and read what I wrote. Take off the mental filter.

WHERE did I write that "gay marriage was an issue not as worthy as those other issues"? YOU said that - it came from your mind, not from mine or anything I wrote. Is that the ONLY way to interpret what I wrote?

I've been on here since 2001 and staunchly supportive of gay marriage and GLBT rights, as well as staunchly against animal abuse, poverty, child abuse, domestic abuse, for single-payer healthcare, against torture, etc. All of those can be called moral issues.

What do YOU think? Do you think that's what I wrote - that "gay marriage is an issue not as worthy as those other issues"? Those are not MY words. Nor are they my actions.

[I Have A Dream]

18. I understood what you meant, and I agree. nt

[I Have A Dream]

17. I understood the post to mean that the American public has a warped sense of morality.

I don't think that he/she was talking about people here at DU or liberals but the American public at large who seem to only want to take rights away from others but not really care about suffering and damage caused (unless it affects them personally).

(On edit: Removed extra lines that somehow got tacked on the end.)

[Triana]

20. YES! You get it. That's exactly what I meant. Thank you. n/t

[Patchuli]

4. Time to lean on the racing industry

and the stables that do this.

[Badgerman]

5. ah, not dog food 'dog' to the Koreans. Most are slaughtered in Mexico. n/t

[HEyHEY]

7. What does Korea have to do with this?

BTW, it's mostly only old people who eat dog there, like haggis.

[Badgerman]

26. ?????????????????

:shrug:

[HEyHEY]

29. Sorry, I just get sick of the stereotype of Koreans being dog eaters.

I wasn't meaning to sound like a dick.

[anneboleyn]

16. There is no horse slaughtering in the U.S. now. Horses are shipped to Mexico for this purpose (read)

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/541

"Horse slaughter has become a hotly contested issue in the United States in the past year. A large number of articles have appeared in the print media claiming that the closings of the three US based horse slaughter plants, all of which were foreign owned, in 2007 caused crisis levels of horse abuse and neglect and even wide scale abandonment of horses. None of these articles, however, cites any evidence for these claims beyond opinion or the occasional anecdotal story."

"All three of the foreign owned horse slaughter plants operating in the United States were closed under state laws during 2007. On January 19th, 2007, a federal appeals court overturned a lower court decision and ruled that a 1949 Texas law prohibiting the sale of horse meat was constitutional and valid. Although the two Texas plants continued to slaughter for some weeks under an appeal to the Supreme Court, they ceased operations in February when the airlines refused to ship horse meat to their customers in Europe."


"The Texas plants had been responsible for more than half of all the horses slaughtered in the United States. Within weeks of their closings, the Cavel plant in Illinois increased their production to take advantage of the opportunity.

On May 24, an Illinois law prohibiting horse slaughter went into effect. After closing briefly, the Cavel plant appealed the decision and reopened under a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order).

At the federal level, an amendment to the 2006 Agriculture budget had been passed with the goal of closing all US horse slaughter plants by removing USDA funding for their required ante-mortem inspections. This amendment, which should have taken affect in March of 2006, was sidestepped by the USDA when it instituted a pay-for-inspections program.

The USDA program was the immediate subject of a law suit but the plan was allowed to continue under another TRO as the suit worked its way through the court system. The lower court decided against the USDA as did the appeals court. The result was that the Cavel plant closed briefly on several occasions before slaughter ended there on September 20th of 2007 under the new Illinois law."

[Badgerman]

25. yeah, that is what I said! n/t

[Helga Scow Stern]

27. Except the planned euthanisation of tens of thousands of wild horses. n/t

[HEyHEY]

6. I don't understand how the life of a horse is above that of a cow.

[I Have A Dream]

22. I agree.

Pigs are very intelligent, but we don't have a problem eating them.

The point of my post is not to say that it's OK to eat horses but rather where's the outrage for other animals that most people don't think twice about eating?

I'm not saying that people don't have the right to decide what they'll eat, but I just can't get my mind around the disconnect between the outrage that's expressed when certain animals are eaten and the complete lack of concern for another less fortunate group of animals that isn't lucky enough to be considered "pets". :shrug:

Flame away if anyone must. I'm not posting any further here.

[opihimoimoi]

31. SASHIMI HORSE MEAT COMMANDS HIGH VALUES...... :o)

[flvegan]

8. People want to be entertained.

Horse racing is one form of it. Who cares how the animals are exploited or disposed of? That's what animals are here for, right? To feed us, clothe us and entertain us, right? Who cares what happens to them or how horrible it is?

:sarcasm:

[nosmokes]

10. I hafta call BS on at least part of this.

While they make a good point about overbreeding, the problem isn't nearly as extreme as PETA is attempting to portray.

As for not supporting racing, they can kiss my ass.while I'm not the track degenerate I once was, It;s an American Agricultural industry that should definitely be supported! My FSM, the race track is one of the few places where eccentrics are welcome and $2 can make you a hero.

And horses, even thoroughbreds, like most every farm animal, is gonna meet the butcher one day. That's just the economics of pastoral life.

[Stargleamer]

12. No, this cruelty doesn't have to continue. . .

not for horses, not for other farm animals. Humans can change their realities, including whatever pastoral realities we have. We don't accept that the prostitution of young girls, although extremely entrenched, is destined to go on forever; we don't resignedly say "boys will be boys" and nothing can change. Whatever income it generates, whatever part of the economy it plays, we still recognize that it can't go on, that it needs to end.

There was no fatalism among the supporters of abolition, even though slavery had lasted well for thousands of years, and one could say played a huge part of the "economics of the pastoral life" of the South.

The 41st anniversary of RFK's death is tomorrow. I remember hoping that he would win and become president and seeing my mom distraught at the news of his death. I remember seeing all the enthusiasm his campaign was greeted with as he campaigned throughout this country. Why? Because he inspired, because he brought hope for change. To paraphrase RFK, "some people look at things as they are and say "Why?" (or in your case, "that's the way things are"); I look at things as they never were, and say "Why not?"

[Karmadillo]

32. Excellent post.

nt

[anneboleyn]

13. ??? Horses are not typically butchered (especially not in the U.S.!)

So this is an exceptional fate for them, not a typical one.

[Greyhound]

11. This is a tough one. I feed my rescued Greyhounds lamb and rice.

I eat cow and chicken and pig and fish. I've worked around livestock including lots and lots of horses.

I've seen wild mustangs that are/have starved to death and it is something you have to see to understand.

All livestock create more livestock. Commercial meat production is horrible and could be far more humane than it is, nevertheless unless we are prepared to give up eating all meat, kill all of our dogs and cats, and pay for the care and feeding of millions of prey animals wandering everywhere, they have to be killed.

PETA has used the racing industry as their scapegoat, and I understand where they are coming from, but the fact remains that every horse born has to die because they are prey. My beloved greyhounds are the direct result of another racing industry and would not exist without them, so while I do not like the industry, never go to races, and find many of the practices of racing kennels to be objectionable, I am glad they exist. Are thoroughbreds more deserving than quarter horses or wild mustangs or wild donkeys? How about cows or goats or sheep?

And one more question, how many of his millions is Mike Farrel going to give to care for these beautiful animals over their remaining 25 - 30 years of life? Alfalfa isn't free, pasture isn't free, stables and grooming and mucking and farriers and vets are not free.

Give me an alternative.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. So you rescue washed up racing greyhounds, but think it's a-okay to slaughter retired racehorses?

That just boggles my mind.

[Greyhound]

28. I didn't say it was OK, I said I can see both sides of this.

Have you ever been on a farm or ranch?

I'm guessing that you are a vegetarian and that's great, my whole immediate family are too. They don't eat meat because they couldn't kill the animals they would otherwise eat, and I respect that.

Race horses are like race dogs in that they they were created by us to run fast and they should be cared for by the people that profit from their efforts.

OTOH, horses are the hobby of and for the rich and the wannabes, just look at the numbers of people tying to unload their horses now that the economy is in the shitter, you can pick up a horse today for $500 that would have cost you $15,000 5 years ago. It's not called "the sport of Kings" for nothing.

I think that requiring the breeders and stables to subsidize their care after racing is a great idea, but unlike dogs, they require a lot of time, facilities, and expertise even when they are out to pasture. They also live 25 - 30 years, so even if we do make the breeders pony up the costs (sorry I just couldn't resist), where are they going to go? You can't have regular people adopt a thoroughbred and put it in their backyard. In three or four generation you are going to have horses everywhere, there just aren't enough places for them right now, thus my question about how many millions Mike Farrel and his friends are willing to shell out to keep these beautiful animals for the next quarter century and the next and the next...

How much are you willing to pay?

And if we don't get the resources to keep them and we kill horse racing, there will be no more thoroughbreds.

So I ask you again, to give me an alternative.

[Greyhound]

43. wrong place

[Greyhound]

45. I too find the idea of killing them abhorrent and I'd really like to

know what the alternative is.

Let me know.

[Uzybone]

14. In Europe they eat the thoroughbreds, I thought thats what they did in Japan too

http://www.hbo.com/realsports/stories/2009/episode.146.s4.html

[LooseWilly]

23. Mmm... horse sausage.

Good stuff ( a friend brought me back some from Italy)...

[upnatom65]

24. Kumamoto is famous for horse meat

I visited Kumamoto with some friends and we stopped by a BBQ place for yaki niku. We had beef and horse. Eating horse in that part of Japan is part of the life there.

[Enthusiast]

30. Humans have been eating

horses for tens of thousands of years. It is no better of worse than eating beef, lamb or pork. But, the killing of any food animals should be done in as humane a way as possible. Once these animals leave the U.S. we can no longer control their treatment.

[Codeine]

33. Most of you eat pigs, cows, and chickens

among other animals. There is nothing about a horse that makes it more or less valid as a food animal than those creatures. At least the life of the horse isn't Hell on Earth before it dies.

The hypocrisy of a person who bitches about horses being killed with the whiff of breakfast bacon on their breath is sickening.

[superduperfarleft]

44. +1. n/t

[LeftyMom]

46. Seconded.

[Karmadillo]

34. 100,000 American horses slaughtered each year in Canada & Mexico for European & Asian meat markets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/01/sports/othersports/01rhoden.html?_r=1

<edit>

But in-competition breakdowns, dramatic as they are, account for only a fraction of the total deaths generated by the industry. The most significant source of racehorse deaths is the slaughter industry, one driven by overbreeding and demand from the lucrative global meat market. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, more than 100,000 American horses are slaughtered each year in Canada and Mexico to satisfy horse meat markets in Europe and Asia.

The slaughter of domestically bred horses represents a breach of the American covenant between horses and humans: horses bred for sport, industry and agriculture are not part of our food chain. They are not supposed to meet death in a slaughterhouse.

Breeding operations produce thousands of so-called surplus thoroughbreds. What happens to the excess, the often anonymous horses? Some are sold to owners who take them overseas. Some wind up racing in Japan. Some wind up in slaughterhouses.

According to Equine Advocates, a rescue group in Chatham, N.Y., the business of horse racing is a major contributor to the slaughter industry. Of all the horses slaughtered in Canada and Mexico every year, the group estimates that roughly a third come from horse racing.

more...

[JVS]

35. WTF! Why can't we keep the cheap horse meat here? I'm sick of paying top dollar for beef!

[aikoaiko]

36. I'm ok with horses being food for people.

Why not?

[Karmadillo]

37. Are you OK with people being food for people?

nt

[aikoaiko]

38. No, but we are food to other species so it all works out in the wash.

I'd give horsemeat a try if I had the chance.

[Karmadillo]

39. Why wouldn't you give human meat a try if you had the chance?

nt

[aikoaiko]

41. I consider myself in a social contract w/my conspecifics where they won't eat me & I won't eat them

Maybe in a pinch I would.

[BlooInBloo]

40. Oh noes. Killing animals for food.

[ControlledDemolition]

42. What do you expect from the f*cking mob? n/t