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What's wrong with horse slaughter for human consumption abroad? Lots.

First, there's the question of why people in the countries where horsemeat is on the table insist on eating US horses...why don't they kill their own horses? All of them have a horse industry. All of them could find horses there...but most of their citizens are not in favor of horse slaughter and have outlawed it. So instead they come here and take our horses. If they want to eat horses-let them eat their own horses.

Second, a high-dollar market for horseflesh is an open invitation to horse thieves, and the well-behaved, well-fed pleasure horse is exactly what the horse thief can make the biggest profit from. As a horse-owner, with two nice meaty geldings in my pasture, I am well aware that these horses are a prime target for horse thieves, and that the slaughter prices paid for horses are sufficient incentive for them to cut my fences and lead out my two gentle, obedient horses. Horse theft is a huge problem; horse slaughter facilities for years refused to do anything to ensure that the horses they received were actually intended for slaughter, not stolen. People who've kept watch on horse slaughter facilities have intervened when they've spotted horses with brands, freeze-marks, and obvious signs of being stolen...but the slaughter facilities do not care. (In one horrible case, someone who discovered their horse had been stolen hurried to the nearest such slaughterhouse, several hours away, and was shown the hide of their horse, already stripped from its dead body...and were told they could have the hide.

Third, such stolen horses are not safe meat for human consumption. My horses, like most private owners' horses, receive medication to prevent worm infestations. Sometimes they get pain medication (one of them is on Bute now) when they're stiff or injured. Some are on other medical and supplement regimens, with substances banned in the cattle industry because they persist in the meat for at least 30 days and render it potentially harmful to those who eat it. Yet-as investigations have made clear-horse slaughter houses were never required to test for such residual substances, were not required to hold horses in quarantine to ensure they were drug-free, and collected no history indicating whether the horses were on medication before they arrived at the facility. The same is true of racehorses consigned to auction (which too often means slaughter.)

Fourth, horses are not cattle: they are a different

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