Cavel, Last U.S. Horse Slaughterhouse, Loses Fight to Survive After Ruling

Cavel International Inc., owner of the last U.S. slaughterhouse for horses, lost its challenge to an Illinois law banning horsemeat production for human consumption. via Bloomberg

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[GOOD NEWS for DeKalb]

...and good riddens. What a source of contention and pollution, not to mention the terrorizing of innocent horses that Americans don't eat nor do they want to have slaughtered. I don't feel sorry for this foreign owned corporation, they have horses in their own country, leave ours alone. What a disgusting business.

[YEAH YOUR BATTLE IS WON]

I am sooooo happy that the last slaughter house is closed here in the U.S. I have a wonderful TB mare the was on her way to slaughter so thanks to her I got involed in wanting this barbaric place closed down. Horses are not a food commodaty nor will they ever be in this country. Thank God the peple of DeKalb will never have to see another trailer pack full of horses heading to Cavel or hear another horse go down in the knock box. Maybe I'll never have to see another double deck trailer pull out of the Sugar Creek Auction loaded with horses heading to Cavel for slaughter. It the most sicking sight kowing where all those beautiful animals are going.. God Bless you..

[hrstrner]

Ya know...if all the of the very uneducated bleeding hearts hadn't pushed to shut down our US slaughter houses these horses wouldn't have to be shipped to Mexico. The United states contains 1,000's upon 1,000's of horses that are indiscriminately bred horses that are dangerous, or lame or completely useless. What are we to do with them? Start humane societies all over the country? That is a great idea considering it costs a minimum of 700 dollars a year to take care of a healthy horse, not to mention lame, sick or old horses, whose cost can double or triple. Since these laws have passed I have had 6 free horses offered to me in only one month! Why do I want free horses that buck, limp or are old? My friend just had an abandoned mule dumped onto his property that proceeded to tear down all his fences...he was just trying to take care of it? What do you want us to do? Shoot them...maybe accidentally miss and have to shoot them 3 or 4 times? That is real humane! Or should we give them to the non existent horse humane societies here in Montana...or maybe I should spend my own hard earned money to run a give away ad in the paper or haul it to a humane society that takes horses out of state? Not likely!
Or maybe I should apply for food stamps, since the bleeding hearts have caused a complete collapse of our horse market so 50% of full time horse trainers/breeders/brokers can no longer make a living. When those slaughter horses closed our horse market crashed...it is the money per pound that drives up the price of an average horse, if there is no slaughter market there is no upwards drive in price and you can now pick up horses for less than it costs to raise them until they are old enough to ride. So...there you go...save the horse...the beautiful, wonderful animal all the animal rights people see on Black Beauty and Dreamer...but forget the horses that would sooner stomp you as look at you and the horses whose legs are so crooked they will be useless to ride. Forget the ranchers and equestrians whose lively hood depends on a strong horse economy. But please save those poor horses. People who believe this live in a fairy tale, in a world that doesn't exist...what's next? Chickens, cattle, and all other agricultural animals that we depend on for food? They are not slaughtered any differently than horses! Or maybe we should all be vegans? Then would these bleeding hearts be happy? Come on America...horses are awesome, I love them, but they are agricultural animals and not all will be family pets. Wake up and think about things from a broader horizon.

[Ange]

Perhaps we could start educating the folks who breed them. if there is a problem with over-breeding we could start there.

you could use the internet to advertise. There is no charge there. I see you have internet access. Post a comment on eBay or some horse-lover's site saying that you're about to euthanize your horse - unless someone wants to come pick it up. I'm sure you'll have folks on their way in no time.

Just because something has been done doesn't mean it should be done. americans need to start reflecting on things like over-breeding (dogs, horses, cattle, whatever) and factory farming and making changes to our standards. Considering that meat consumption is declining, perhaps some cattle farmers (and other meat-producing farmers) need to start thinking about career changes. Perhaps organic farming- perhaps cloth production...?

[Caretaker]

Killing them using barbaric techniques sickens thousands of people. Do the humane thing for the sick the old the lame and the unwanted. Beating them in the head, stunning them, stabbing them with daggers as they do in Mexico? Bleeding hearts are human hearts and suffering of a beautiful creature by beatings is an outrage!.

hrstrner wrote:

Ya know...if all the of the very uneducated bleeding hearts hadn't pushed to shut down our US slaughter houses these horses wouldn't have to be shipped to Mexico. The United states contains 1,000's upon 1,000's of horses that are indiscriminately bred horses that are dangerous, or lame or completely useless. What are we to do with them? Start humane societies all over the country? That is a great idea considering it costs a minimum of 700 dollars a year to take care of a healthy horse, not to mention lame, sick or old horses, whose cost can double or triple. Since these laws have passed I have had 6 free horses offered to me in only one month! Why do I want free horses that buck, limp or are old? My friend just had an abandoned mule dumped onto his property that proceeded to tear down all his fences...he was just trying to take care of it? What do you want us to do? Shoot them...maybe accidentally miss and have to shoot them 3 or 4 times? That is real humane! Or should we give them to the non existent horse humane societies here in Montana...or maybe I should spend my own hard earned money to run a give away ad in the paper or haul it to a humane society that takes horses out of state? Not likely!
Or maybe I should apply for food stamps, since the bleeding hearts have caused a complete collapse of our horse market so 50% of full time horse trainers/breeders/brokers can no longer make a living. When those slaughter horses closed our horse market crashed...it is the money per pound that drives up the price of an average horse, if there is no slaughter market there is no upwards drive in price and you can now pick up horses for less than it costs to raise them until they are old enough to ride. So...there you go...save the horse...the beautiful, wonderful animal all the animal rights people see on Black Beauty and Dreamer...but forget the horses that would sooner stomp you as look at you and the horses whose legs are so crooked they will be useless to ride. Forget the ranchers and equestrians whose lively hood depends on a strong horse economy. But please save those poor horses. People who believe this live in a fairy tale, in a world that doesn't exist...what's next? Chickens, cattle, and all other agricultural animals that we depend on for food? They are not slaughtered any differently than horses! Or maybe we should all be vegans? Then would these bleeding hearts be happy? Come on America...horses are awesome, I love them, but they are agricultural animals and not all will be family pets. Wake up and think about things from a broader horizon.

[Ron]

now those poor animals will really meet a terrible death in mexico.You people that were so against killing horses here in the US should go to Mexico and watch you would be proud of yourselves!

[Debrah]

It was an error in thinking, not considering the move to sending animals out of the country to Mexico and Canada. But with any luck, the laws will be changed to end the transport of horses across borders. Then people who have bred too many horses will be forced to rethink the wholesale and thoughtless breeding of horses because they will find themselves paying for euthenasia instead of making money by sending their mistakes and overproduction off to the auction where killer buyers pick them up cheap. And at this point in time, the medical community is having serious doubts about the safety of Premarin and there is currently a vegetable based hormone replacement available to women who are dealing with menopause which has encouraged Wyeth to withdraw contracts from 30% of their PMU suppliers. So there are, thank goodness, fewer PMU foals being born than in past years.