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animal, with different physical needs. The conditions under which horses have been transported to slaughterhouses-the types of trucks, the way they were crowded in, the shape and size of enclosures, the lack of food and water during transport, etc.-are fundamentally cruel. Many more horses than cattle come out of the transport with injuries, some crippling; having been exposed to diseases the other horses carry; having been stressed and lost condition from hunger, thirst, and fright. From the point of view of the horse owner, even if I were able to beat the truck to the slaughterhouse after a horse of mine was stolen, I'd be likely to find a horse both injured and exposed to disease, besides its mental trauma. And now that the nearest horse-slaughter facility is in Mexico (and there is no law-yet-against shipping horses out of the country for slaughter there), we still have horse thieves around here looking for slaughter prospects.

Fifth, the argument that the slaughter market is necessary or the country will be overrun by sick, ailing, starving horses is false economics. "Killer" buyers do not rescue sick and starving animals for slaughter: the feed and vet care it would take to put weight on these animals would destroy their profit. You don't get nice steaks off a skin-and-bones rescue case. Nor do they stick to unwanted animals-they'll take anything meaty enough that comes in, including thousands of stolen horses a year. There are breeders who intentionally overproduce, knowing they can sell their "excess" to the killer-buyers...but this in itself is unethical. The ethical breeder goes for quality, not quantity. I find it appalling that some of the largest breed organizations support horse slaughter for export-it's one reason I no longer support the AQHA.

Finally, if an animal is so badly injured or sick that it must be humanely put down, it can be done best at home, in familiar, quiet surroundings with familiar caregivers in attendance (or, if the horse has been in care at a clinic, right there without another transport.) It's been my unfortunate duty to give such ease to two horses, and since the two I have now are "lifetimers" promised care to the end, it may happen again. While it's heart-wrenching for the caring owner, it's also a consolation that the horse does not suffer the trauma, physical and emotional, of being taken away in painful and terrifying circumstances.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Moon.
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