John Holland, Equine Welfare
Alliance
February 2013
The reason for both the scandal and the contamination lies in the nature of the horses. US horses being sent to slaughter are overwhelmingly young sport horses, four to eight years old, and at the end of very short careers. The horses are comprised largely of Quarter Horses (~ 70%), followed by Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. Most were used in rodeo and racing before being dumped to slaughter....Since the horses are a byproduct of these sports, they were not raised for slaughter and were almost universally given drugs prohibited in food animals. The low cost of these horses ($100 to $500) makes them far cheaper than beef, thus providing a huge incentive for the fraudulent substitution.
Chicago (EWA) - According to USDA statistics, the slaughter of US horses
soared by 32% in 2012 to over 176,000, a twenty year high. The horses were
exported largely to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada, which then
shipped the meat to the EU (Europe Union) where horse meat has subsequently
been found to have been fraudulently substituted for beef in everything from
burgers to lasagna and even school lunches.
The number of horses exported to Mexico increased from 68,429 in 2011 to
110,202 in 2012, a 61% increase while exports to Canada actually decreased
slightly (7.5%) to 59,812.
Despite the EU repeatedly finding the prohibited carcinogen phenylbutazone
and other banned substances in the meat of US horses, and despite its own
audit reports stating that they still have no effective way of preventing
contaminated horse meat from entering their food chain, the authorities have
allowed the trade to continue to expand.
Both Canada and Mexico require slaughter horse sellers to provide Equine
Information Documents (EIDs) stating any drugs the horses have been given.
But inexplicably, Mexico does not test for phenylbutazone or even include it
on seller affidavits despite the fact that the drug is at the top of the
EU's banned substance list.
Until recently it was thought that this endangered only consumers of horse
meat, but now it is clear that is not the case. The finding of horse meat in
meals supplied to schools and hospitals is of particular concern since
children are extremely vulnerable to even trace amounts of phenylbutazone,
which can cause potentially lethal aplastic anemia.
The reason for both the scandal and the contamination lies in the nature of
the horses. US horses being sent to slaughter are overwhelmingly young sport
horses, four to eight years old, and at the end of very short careers. The
horses are comprised largely of Quarter Horses (~ 70%), followed by
Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds. Most were used in rodeo and racing before
being dumped to slaughter.
Since the horses are a byproduct of these sports, they were not raised for
slaughter and were almost universally given drugs prohibited in food
animals. The low cost of these horses ($100 to $500) makes them far cheaper
than beef, thus providing a huge incentive for the fraudulent substitution.
Increases in the cost of keeping horses in recent years have suppressed the
domestic market for recreational horses, leaving the kill buyers with
bargains galore.
A ban on funding for US horse meat inspections, which was passed by Congress
in 2006, was rescinded in 2011, but to date no horse slaughter plants have
opened in the US.
Despite the devastating effect of the scandal on beef sales in the EU, and
endless revelations about contaminated horse meat, Oklahoma is considering
repealing its own ban on horse slaughter in hopes of enticing a plant to
that state.
The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 275 member organizations and over 1,000 individual members worldwide in 18 countries. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.
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