Man, talk about "beating a dead horse"......  Back to the subject of horse trailers, how about those "double deck horse trailers"...?? Stole a little article about them.... Another law, rule, etc...

 http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/bill-to-ban-double-decker-horse-trailers-introduced/

I don't know that burying a horse would be any cheaper, unless you have the ability to dig an appropriate hole yourself. I have buried many myself, but I have the ability to dig a hole that is long enough, wide enough, and deep enough to keep critters from digging them up. But if I didn't have the ability to do it, by the time I paid someone to dig the hole and then fill it back in, and paid the vet $65, it would cost me around $175.

As far as having a renderer come, there aren't left left in our area that I know of. You have to haul them off yourself, and there's only one landfill in the area that accepts carcasses. And they charge $50 for that.

I do agree that the limited slaughter has effected the horse market as a whole. There is no bottom to the market anymore. I have watched many well bred mares in the 8 to 12 year old range, that have been producers, bring $500. The same type of mare used to bring $2,000 to $2,500. And that wasn't even at the top of the market.

The number of horses has exploded. Careless breeding is a cause, yes. But careless breeding has alway been there. The change has been the slaughter plants. And with our holier than thou attitude in this country, we have gone from what was believed to be inhumane, to standing on trucks for days instead of hours, and slaughter at plants with little or no regulation. So tell me, has the situation been made better, or just changed to help with consciences?

Retento

Can you post the link to the USDA APHIS site with the regulations for slaughter horse transport?

(sorry I cannot figure out how to do that)

I will agree with you to the extent of legislation, but where I stand it is over legislation, not poorly written legislation. So we no longer consider horses livestock? Where does it stop? Cattle, pigs, sheep, goat, chickens, turkeys...

As I said before, holier than thou attitudes and consciences, that's all it is about. We do not believe it to be right, so we will force our beliefs on everyone else.

Unless I was willing to put a bullet in my horses and kill them myself, which I would admit is the better option than filling them with poison, there is no cheaper option.  I don't have a gun, so I would have to invest in that, and quite frankly, don't have the stomach to kill my own pet. This, of course, is something you want to do correctly the first time so the animal doesn't suffer.  

All six of those horses were ill, I could have let them die on their own, suffer their final hours in agony, that would have saved me the vet bill.  That would be my cheaper option.  If I weren't so careful about checking on my horses probably one or two could have died on their own without my intervention.  Obviously I am not that type of person, nor am I the type of person that would take an old, lame horse to the auction, knowing that his destination would be the slaughterhouse, but I understand the economics of why some people can't afford to feed horses and I am not opposed to having an animal used as meat.  That is why local slaughterhouses are needed.

Two of those six horses were taken to K-State in hopes of saving them which entailed about $1200 each not counting the cost of transporting them.  That was on top of the original vet bill which was significant, I can't remember now, but it was probably at least $300 each.  Also, I left out a 37-year-old pony that I had the vet come out on Sunday to put down, she was down on Saturday, had the vet out, was hoping that she would recover, but when she didn't get up within 24 hours I didn't want her suffering until Monday so I paid the emergency charge to alleviate her suffering. I have spent quite a bit of money taking care of old and sick horses, but I don't expect the average animal owner to be able to do that. 

The local dead animal company around here only picks up dead animals for a fee.  They don't kill them for you, so the only option is a gun or a vet.  I stand by my statement that it costs about $300 to get rid of a horse if you have to put him down and have the dead animal people come and take them away.  I don't know where you get your information, Phoresic, or where you live since you are unwilling to provide that information, but I can say you are not knowledgeable regarding the cost of getting rid of a horse here in eastern Kansas.  I know rural vets may charge less than my vet, some may charge more depending upon where you live.  I know many people just haul the horse to the far end of their property and let the coyotes finish them, well, once they are full of the poison that is an irresponsible and illegal act.

I am sure that Dr. Temple Grandin would be more than happy to be a consultant on designing humane slaughter for horses. Perhaps she already has.  There is a video of Dr. Grandin lecturing on the behavior of horses so she is not just an expert on cattle and pigs. It is obvious she has been involved in the humane slaughter of animals for many years. 

I do know that years ago you could take your unwanted horse to the dog food plant in Topeka.  I know some people have been able to give their dead horse to a zoo, but not if it were put down by a vet, can't feed that poison to animals. I don't like the idea that there are no options in the US. Now that the Texas and Ill., plants are closed horses may end up in Mexico.  I realize there are efforts to prevent the exporting of horses for slaughter, but if efforts and money to end slaughter were put into making slaughter humane there would be a win/win situation. 

I don't buy into the premise that horse slaughter is inherently inhumane or that it has to be.  I have seen cattle and chickens butchered on the farm when I was a kid so I have witnessed it firsthand, tho I have never been to a slaughterhouse.  I doubt that you, Phoresic, visited Ill or Texas slaughterhouse before they were shut down in 2007 and I am aware that at least some of the Humane Society propaganda videos were from Mexico, not the US., although I don't know that all of them were exclusively from Mexico.  When we are viewing propaganda from an organization that has a one-sided agenda it must be viewed with a critical eye and we have to acknowledge that we may not be getting the full picture.   I realize the beauty and spirit of horses and the way the American public romanticizes horses in general has more to do with this debate than common sense and economic reality.  The American public is basically ignorant of the reality of rural America. Because of the Humane Society misrepresentation of this issue they will never receive another dime from me.  I don't use those free address labels they are always sending me wanting contributions either.

Loss of freedom never happens all at once. It comes in small steps. The slaughter of horses is an easy place to start because of our emotional attachment to them. Once done there, it is easier to justify other areas of livestock.

I don’t believe that common sense is that far gone, or ever will be, but stranger things have happened. However, there are people and organizations that believe strongly enough to take up that cause to sue someone on behalf of the animal.

There are people that argue against eating meat due to the enviromental impact. The United Nations published a report in 2006 that stated "livestock is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions." The report was controversial in the methodology in which it was used, however it still attacks meat consumption as being one of the issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livestock%27s_Long_Shadow

While we all believe our horses are our friends, they are still livestock. We form a bond with them, an attachment, but the same can be said about other animals. They all have their own personalities. As someone stated earlier “just ask any 4-H kid about their cattle, pigs or sheep.” We have horses, donkeys, cattle, goats, pigs, chickens and a few other miscellaneous creatures around the farm. I love my animals, but that does not keep me from knowing that they are all a commodity and they all serve a purpose. However, slaughter can be done humanely. Quite honestly, in my opinion, this is an area where we have shipped jobs out of the country while a valuable commodity is being wasted. The worst part of that is the chain effect that it has on the rest of the market.

Yes they would all still exist. And there would be a glutton of them just like the horses right now. Prices would come down and new people would think they want one for a pet much like what has happened with horses. Then they would get tired of them and try to get rid of them because they are tired of feeding them.

Here is what happens when the market comes down as far as it has. The normal person can now afford a horse. But they can't afford the upkeep and they don't realize it yet. Or how much work it is. Now all of the sudden we have horses starving, being turned out, being left to starve. This is a really bad example but I have to use it... the home market. It was pushed that everyone should be a home owner. So thanks to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae we have all these houses selling. Now the economy tightens up and people can't afford them. So they fall into disrepair, and get repossessed. And now Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have all these bad loans they can't collect on...and we are still living that story.

The slaughter market is all about money. I am not going to argue that. But the slaughter market helped maintain a bottom line. Call it artificial if you want to, but it was still there. And it kept every John and Jane from trying to own a horse. You said... "it is always better to allow the free market to resolve a problem", but in this case the free market isn't deciding it. Exactly the opposite. The free market had the slaughter houses here in the U.S., but now legislation put a stop to it. And that is a dangerous slippery slope.