Congress Needs to Stop Horsing Around

Posted by Joshua White on 09.06.2006

Congress is debating one of the most important bills to ever be debated. And it could change what you have for dinner.

I was actually planning on writing a column that would have had my liberal followers raving. I was actually going to defend liberals from the mean, cruel jerk republicans. I was going to defend myself against the attacks from Mr. Crow. But there are more important issues that must be discussed. So I will conceded defeat in the "diss war" that I instigated so that this topic can be given all the necessarily gravity and time that it deserves.

In a time where terrorists want to destroy our way of life, where the minimum wage has been the same for years, and a woman's right to chose is either under attack or the fetus's right to life is (depending on how you view the subject) , when congress comes back from their August recess there is one issue that must be debated and it must be debated this week! This issue my friends concerns our way of life as AMERICANS! The issue is horsemeat consumption and the bill that is going to be debated is H.R. 503, the "American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act."

I think that it should be clear now that I was being sarcastic in my preceding paragraphs. I think that to debate this, at almost any time, is a ridiculous use of federal money. However, if congress is going to debate it, then dammit(!), I'm going to add my two cents.

A little background information: as we all know, very few Americans actually eat horsemeat. Horses are seen as pets, hunting partners, and farm animals. There is an American taboo that says that, like dogs and cats, horses are not to be eaten. However, in many European countries and a few in Asia horsemeat is a delicacy. To satisfy this demand, there are three horse slaughtering plants in this country (two in Texas, one in Illinois). Together these three plants slaughter somewhere between 60,000 and 90,000 horses a year. And according to one site this is a $40 billion a year industry.

Where do all these horses come from? Well, it seems that a lot of them come from people who can no longer, for one reason or another, take care of their horse. Either the horse is lame (not like uncool...but injured), or the owner can no longer afford to take care of the animal. Yet, there is a more sinister method of collection that proponents of this bill like to stress. Apparently, there are those who steal horses and sell them to these plants. In return for the horses they get $300-700. The owner really doesn't have much time to find the horse, as there is little to no evidence of the animal within days.

So, knowing all of this Republican New York congressman John Sweeny (who obviously had nothing better to do with his congressional time) has decided that enough is enough and it's time for a change. Sweeny introduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA). The AHSPA is designed to stop the slaughter of horses in this country. It would do this by putting "stipulating that U.S. tax dollars can no longer be used to fund U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections of horse slaughter plants or to approve the export of horses slated for slaughter outside the nation's borders." If the USDA doesn't inspect it, it can't be sold. If it can't be sold, then the plants go out of business.

I have a problem with this bill for many reasons. Firstly, I think that the we're being lied to. I don't believe for a moment that the reasons that this bill is being passed has anything to do with stolen horses or a real interest for how animal slaughter is performed. Sure, Sweeny and all the rest of the co-authors are telling us, the gullible masses, that be passing this bill they'll be protecting healthy horses from slaughter and cruelty. But there are already laws in place to stop both of these crimes. There are laws to protect people from having their horses stolen, and there are rules as to how an animal must be slaughtered. This bill would be nothing except for redundant.

This bill is about American's reluctance to accept the fact that other cultures eat what we don't. Horses aren't food in America so to have them killed here for food is something that just rubs us the wrong way. But seriously, what is wrong with eating horses. I think that Mike Markarian of the Humane Society speaks for most people, "I think that Americans clearly don't want these beloved companions ending up on someone's plate in Europe." Why? If we were to hear of a country banning the slaughtering and eating of pigs and beef in a certain country, I think that many would be shocked. "What kind of country wouldn't allow its citizens to eat what they want?" Yet, this is exactly what we're doing here.

People have sheep, goats, ducks, and frogs as pets, and yet none of these animals get this same sort of protection. And it really rubs me the wrong way that the federal government is not only getting involved in what is clearly a state's rights issues (the notion of horse slaughter) and making a decision based on what we think of as "pets."

If you got to PETA's website you'll find all sorts of admonitions of eating meat. At least, however, they are consistent. They believe that NO animals should be killed and eaten. (As a side note, if you take a click look at PETA's video site, you'll question eating meat...it's true.) This bill however is saying that the only reason we shouldn't be eating, or slaughtering, an animal is because it is more closely thought of as a pet.

I have actually tried horse meat. While living in Belgium as an exchange student I saw it for sale at a local grocery store. I don't remember exactly how it tasted but I do remember be neither amazed nor disgusted. It tasted like meat. But some people really seem to like it. Further, it is a healthy, lean meat. And finally, it is bringing in tons of tax revenue to not only Texas and Illinois, but also the federal government. Doesn't it seem silly to end all of these positive consequences?

Followers, I'm not saying that we should allow the slaughter of animals. I go back and forth on this issue. Certain times I think that it is immoral ...and then there are times that I really do love me a nice steak! But if we're going to allow for the slaughter and consumption of almost any animal, why make a very costly (because of the loss of taxes) decision based on what we've had as pets?

And seriously folks, aren't there more important issues to be debated in the grand halls of congress?

Until next time…believe nothing unless you read it here.