Debate rages over slaughter of horses

One of the things I do in my limited spare time is manage a forum for business people who love horses.

Oddly enough, I called it “Horse Lovers of the Business World” and it has proven very popular since I started it about seven months ago with membership (now exceeding 1200) who originate from all over the world and from all walks of life, including many CEOs of top companies.

The forum runs off of a business/professional network called Linked-In, through which people can network with others in their profession or with those who have similar interests, such as horses! You can post your own profile for others to “link to” and build up a network of connections in your field, in the country or even internationally.

One of the advantages is that basic membership is free and there are a myriad of interest groups on there that one can join to post comments, ask questions, make new connections or just feel a sense of belonging to like-minded individuals.

But enough of the main site, and back to Horse Lovers of the Business World! I believe the success of this site relates to the fact that I have tried to keep it as a pure discussion forum of all things equine, and have discouraged advertising as much as possible.

Not because I just don’t want to see adverts on the forum, but because that is what the members themselves wanted; so much so that I had to create a sister forum — the HLBW bulletin board — on which members could post adverts to their heart’s content.

If you “Google” the name, you will find there are tons of discussions and news items on there — from simple stuff such as what feed to give a horse, what’s the best type of barn, tips on saving money in a tight economy, etc. to the very complex and occasionally upsetting topic of horse slaughter. It was this last topic that I started some months ago under the heading, “Okay this is stirring up a hornets nest” … but I honestly had no idea just how big a nest this was!

With more than 90 comments on this one topic, it continues to amaze me just how people will not leave it alone — just when I think the fuss has died down, a flurry of new comments starts and the whole thing takes off again.

I was trying to find a solution to the thorny problem of horse slaughter and how the “ban” in the USA has actually made things worse for the poor horse than it had previously.

Slaughter is a terrible thing, but unless the entire world turns vegetarian overnight (nobody seems to care about the plight of cattle or chickens, though!) or the ban is extended worldwide, then it is always going to be there. Today there is more suffering caused to the horse through travel to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada — who cares about an animal’s welfare if it is only going to be killed anyway? — than there ever was before the USA’s ban.

But that is only half the story. Since the ban, we have more worries over what to do with unwanted horses and more and more are being neglected, abandoned or in most cases sent across the border to a fate worse than death!

There is a lot more to say on this topic, but although space limits me here, I promise to return to it next time.

Hasbury’s column runs every other Wednesday. Carl Stafford returns next week.