The Last Roundup

For Americans out of touch with their rural past, horse auctions offer a vivid and nostalgic reminder of what life was like before the horseless carriage. But appearances can be deceiving. The lively, competitive bidding for everything from month-old foals to worn-out quarter horses masks the fact that the great majority of these horses will be sent to slaughterhouses, where they'll be processed into meat for foreign consumption.

The slaughter of more than 125,000 horses a year is an ugly business, and it's not surprising that it's largely hidden from the horse-loving American public. But the economics of the situation (the "killer-buyers" are often willing to pay three or four times the going rate, and will take old, lame and diseased animals) ensures a steady supply of horses for slaughter. Demand for horse meat is, in fact, up in Europe and the Far East because of mad cow disease fears. Among the profiteers, according to recent reports, are the federal employees charged with managing the 42,000 wild horses and burros on America's public lands. Such revelations have bred revulsion, lending enormous support for an upcoming California ballot initiative that would ban the sale of horses for slaughter, making it a felony crime.

---

Want the full story? Subscribers may log in here Subscribe to E (immediate access to this and all other content) Free Trial Issue (immediate access to this and all other content) Order This Back Issue