The proposed "horse slaughter" bill in the Montana Legislature has generated passionate feedback from both supporters and opponents (read story here). Here is a sample of some of the e-mails that KRTV received.
Cyren71: Horse slaughter is a HIDEOUS INDUSTRY! Horse slaughter breeds ABUSE, THEFT and more ABUSE. People are having their horses stolen right off of their property. As a horse owner I am AGAINST HORSE SLAUGHTER. If you can afford to own a horse, then you can be responsible for it until the end, And I mean the decent, responsible humane way to end the horses life...I know NONE of MY VACATION DOLLARS WILL EVER BE SPENT IN ANY STATE THAT HAS A HORSE SLAUGHTER FACILITY.
Ellen: And as far as the horses, give them to people who would want them, or put them down humanely. we do not need another slaughter house, enough is enough. did you know that we have dead horses and cattle all the time sitting by the road next to the slaughter house here near butte. ?Yep, if you drive past you can see dead animals on the road and beside this place stinking up the palce and its just down right sad. do not do it near butte if it comes thru, we do not need any more death and smell!
Terri R from Indiana: Don't these people realize that if they allow a horse slaughter plant in their state that they are inviting ecological damage to their land, horse theft, low paying jobs, higher taxes to support the infrastructure that the slaughter plant requires, and a drop in their tourist business. Nobody wants to go to a place that supports/promotes such an abomination as a horse slaughter plant. I certainly wouldn't spend my money to go to such a place. People also need to be aware that a business such as this offers no economic value to their state, no taxes since more than likely it will be a foreign company that will take up residence (that's our good ole foreign trade agreement), and they certainly better lock up their horses because they will be a target just as anybody else for horse theft...I cannot tell you what to do but I sure hope that you understand the final consequences of your own votes. I think that you'll be sorry in the long term.
Marie Carew: Slaughtering Horses is an outrage and a violation against humanity! The human mind is the cruelest most vicious creation on earth. Isn't it time human beings acted humanely? Let the chain of humanity start with you! Use your positions in power to better this earth and stop the slaughter and torture of innocent lives.
Chuck D: Not having local slaughter plants is causing the torture (of) horses totally by taking away the base of the horse market, that being local slaughter of livestock. By not having local slaughter plants,these animals are being shipped hundreds of mile to plants that are not legally monitored by the U.S and this is definitely not humane. With this situation that currently exist, horses have little value and are being treated as trash that being dis-carded on public lands or not properly cared for...When something has no value, then it is discarded like trash and this is what is happening to the horses in the United States.
Ernie F: I feel it is great that someone finally stood up to the do gooders that live in the cities and have no idea what it is like in the country. Yet they still think they know what is right for us. There are litterally hundreds of horses running wild on the ranges and in the mountains because of the closure of slaughter plants. For years people raised hoses around here to sell for slaughter and with the closures came no income and no money to buy feed, yet the horses have still bred and reproduced without any reduction in the herds leaving hundreds of horses to fend for themselves. They are finally hitting the point of starvation and are dying daily. With this bill they will soon be rounded up and controlled without starving to death. Has anyone that complains about horse slaughter been to a place like the Blackfeet Reservation where horses have been raised for slaughter for over a hundred years and all of a sudden it is illegal? Bet not.
Sharon: I live in horse country in Northern Alberta. I have saved a few so called slaughter horses which were on their way to market and they became some ones pet. This needs to be monitored extremely closely. Humane slaughter. Investigate how it should be done. There are many slaughter houses which were used for cattle and are not humane when converted for horse slaughter.
Pam L: I think it is appalling. Here it is the 21st century, and we are still destroying God's creations. God created horses. God did not mean for MAN to slaughter horses.
Linda S: As a horse owner for my whole life I think that the bill is a good one. Horses are not PETS, these are livestock. I love my horses and won't send them to a slaughter house but I believe that people have the right to do that. I don't eat horse meat but others do. Do we as a nation have the right to decide who should and who shouldn't? There needs to be regulations on how the animals are handled and shipped. Right now horses are being shipped to Mexico and are being slaughtered in non-humane ways. If we have a plant here we can regulate what happens to them. Horse owners are being taxed for each animal as livestock and now the do-gooders want to be able to decide what the owners can and can't do with their livestock. Horses are being abandoned to starve because their RESPONSIBLE owners don't know or can't deal with them...The bottom line is that people need to be responsible for their animals.
Terry L: Get over it PETA... What animal do we not eat...Why should the horse be any different. If you want to give the money to feed all these animals that are dying or cannot be broke or are being starved show us the money. This is better solution than seeing a starving or old horse suffer.
Kim K: What a lie, slaughter houses are not humane and do not create attractive jobs or wages. If Europe wants horse meat let them do the slaughtering.
Linda S from Oklahoma: I'll never visit Montana now for sure, and I'll keep a watchful eye on my horses. You have no idea what you have brought to your state.
