Why the meat truck comment all the time? - Page 2

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Why the meat truck comment all the time?

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  • Meatman dead horse
  • Dead horse meat trucks

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    07-05-2011, 10:29 AM
For the disposal issue, everyone who owns a horse should have a disposal plan. What if you walk out to the barn one day and the horse is dead? Meat man isn't going to clean up that mess. So you do have to have some type of disposal plan if you own a horse. At some point, the horse is going to die.

But I guess I just take issue with people who make it seem as though the meat truck was something they were forced to do rather than a choice. If you feel there was nothing wrong with what you did, just own up to it.

I don't see how someone could feel bad shooting their own horse, but not feel bad sending it on the meat truck. I think part of horse ownership should be the good, bad and the ugly.

Thanks for answering everyone. I honestly couldn't understand why the meat truck was always brought up, but nobody mentioned euthanasia.

If somebody just sells them for slaughter before trying to sell them to an individual buyer it tells me they don't care one bit about that horse and just want it gone.
That's how I see it. I just people would be more honest rather than act like they loved their horse but the meat man became their only option.
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    07-05-2011, 11:28 AM
Green Broke
Originally Posted by Heelsdown    
But what about people who just flat out sell to a meat buyer and act like they had no other option? I don't get that.
Maybe it is their last option. How do you know what they have and haven't tried? It is very possible that they tried to market the horse unsuccessfully, and sending it to auction was the last chance the horse had at going to a good home.

I have never heard of someone selling directly to a meat buyer.

I can't see how a person could say they put so much time and money into their beloved pet but then had no choice but to sell it to the meat buyer?
Not everyone views horses as pets. There are still a lot of people who view them as their income, and therefore stay detached from them. Yeah, they may enjoy their horses or the horses that they train, but they also realize that that is how they make a living.

Plus, horses in some parts of the country are still working animals, not a pet. If that horse isn't working out, then it needs to be gone, yesterday, so that money isn't being put into a non-working animal.

Not to sound callous, but some horses aren't worth the money that the meat buyer pays for them, and the owners are lucky to get something to cover the fuel they spent to get the horse to the auction house.
    07-05-2011, 11:51 AM
I completely understand that some horses aren't viewed as pets. That isn't news to me.

I know a lot about horses. And I also know that what I know is the tip of the iceberg. I'm here on this forum to learn.

I honestly didn't understand why some people acted like they had no other option but the meat buyer. And there ARE people who have said they sold to a meat buyer. Perhaps they meant they sold the horse to a middle man, I don't know. But they sold the horse knowing fully well it was going to be meat.

My question wasn't, "How could they do that to their pet?" because I understand that it wasn't a pet to them.
My question was, "Is euthanasia not an option in some places?" Because selling your horse for meat is never your only option IF there is euthansia available.

I guess it's the word "only" that I was stuck on. To say the meat truck was their only option is kind of a swiss cheese argument. It's full of holes.

"Euthanizing costs money." But if a person doesn't have the money for euth. Then how were they planning on feeding and caring for the horse anyway? If you can't afford to kill your horse, then it's probably a good indication that you can't afford a horse, period.

"Disposal costs money." But what would that person have done if they came out to the barn one day and the horse was dead? They'd still have to find a way to dispose of it. If you can't afford to dispose of a horse's body, you can't afford it to begin with.

I've read people flat out say the meat truck was their only option after spending so much time and money on a horse. So at that point, euthanizing it is just throwing good money after bad. They don't want to spend any more money. I get that. Don't agree with it, but I understand that.

But then why not just say, " I didn't want to spend any more money on this horse". Why make it sound like you had no choice but to sell it for meat?

That is misinformation and really kind of annoying for people like me who are here to learn. It just sounds very shady.
    07-05-2011, 11:57 AM
I see your point, op. But I think I know the thread you are talking about, and I think the comments of the poster meant the following (In summary):

They bought the horse and tried to train it but found that with all their efforts it was downright dangerous. Because of this they were not able to sell the horse, mainly because there are so many good horses out there, no one is willing to pay for one that might kill them. (At this point the poster could have made a profit by selling to a killer, but decided to give the horse away in the hope that someone could help it). The meat truck comment was supposed to mean "the horse probably ended up on the meat truck because I doubt anyone could get through to it". The poster did not WANT it to go for meat, and they did not KNOW it had gone for meat, but probably felt that it was unlikely that someone paid hundreds to euthanize a horse that they had already made a loss on.

Of course I understand that your horses are your babies. Mine are too and I would not sell them for meat. But A horse that puts your life in danger is different. I would not feel the sentiment for it that I do for a horse I could actually bond with. I would not want to send it for meat, but cannot see myself willing to pay hundereds to have it put down. If I am completely honest, I would probably have given the horse away. And when you give a horse away, you don't know where it will end up.

I think the comment is fair because I think most people I know would be reluctant to spend the money to euthanize a dangerous but otherwise healthy horse.

I will also add that sometimes it is kinder for a horse to go than it is to have them moved constantly from place to place because no one wants them. Also just because they have gone for meat does not mean they will suffer a terrible death that is so much worse than slaughter. Not all places are inhumane, despite a lot of PETA dramatisation.
    07-05-2011, 12:02 PM
Originally Posted by Heelsdown    
I agree with this in theory.

The problem comes in when what you thought was your disposal plan was not available anymore.

I was shocked to hear that the rendering company in my area will not pick up horses anymore.
    07-05-2011, 12:15 PM
Don't have time to read the whole thread but I wanted to add about disposal. Some counties will come out and dig a hole on your property for you to bury a livestock animal. In the case of my county, you have to call the sherrif's department and they bring a backhoe out usually the same day, especially if it's a death by disease. Ensuring the animal is burried deeply is the counties most effective way to prevent the spread of disease. Call your sherrifs department and/or city hall, I'm sure someone would know if there was a program like that available in your county if need be.
    07-05-2011, 12:38 PM
And then there are other areas where it not legal to bury on your property, period. (Risk of contamination to the water table.)
    07-05-2011, 12:54 PM
Plus, a lot of horse owners don't even think about what they'd do if their horse just died unexpectedly. People just assume the horse will live to be old and they don't have to think about disposing it when the horse is still young. Usually when their first horse dies they think about a disposal plan for future horses. It's like young people in general don't write out a will in their 20s, they expect to live a full life and worry about it later on ;)
Even if you don't like the horse you shouldn't be ok if it has a terrible fate. I had a Paint gelding who turned very aggressive towards people, charging and running at them, trying to bite,etc. He wouldn't do anything under saddle and when he became aggressive on the ground he had to go but I was very honest about what he acted like and ended up doing a partial trade for my next horse. The people who took him were horse trainers and I know they were good with horses. They couldn't do anything with him either and in the end they sold him at a horse auction and that's the last I know of Sleepers White Pride. But I did my part in trying to get him to a good home with people who had a good chance of turning him around.
    07-05-2011, 01:02 PM
Originally Posted by Alwaysbehind    
I've heard of this, too. So there has to be some type of disposal option for a horse owner. Surely someone has had a horse die on their property. I'm just a very detailed person and this is the kind of grim stuff I think about. I would have to know what I would do should I walk out to the barn one day and find a dead horse.

I'm of the opinion that there is no place in this world for a dangerous horse. Unless you are living alone in some cabin in a remote area, you are at some point going to put someone or some thing in danger if your horse is a danger. But I guess I still can't understand why you wouldn't have the horse put down yourself. I can see not wanting to spend the money. I mean, who likes vet bills? Lol. But I guess I view it as all a part of horse ownership. Caring, feeding, vet bills, euthanizing, disposing. I'd see it as all my responsibility. I'd feel, I don't know, cheesy, selling the horse for meat and then saying I didn't have a choice, ya know?

I've read many posts where I wondered if maybe people didn't realize they could have a horse euthanized based on their posts. Or maybe it wasn't an option.

I honestly wish slaughter was legal in the US. Peta tactics aside, there is just no way that horses packed inside trucks with no food or water for days before they are killed isn't cruel. But I realize that's another issue.
    07-05-2011, 01:22 PM
Originally Posted by Heelsdown    
I honestly wish slaughter was legal in the US.
It is legal, Heels. It's just not legal to sell it for human consumption in the US.

I can take one of my horses to the local slaughter house and have it butchered for my own consumption. I just can't sell the meat. I can give it away, but I can't sell it.

Except for California and Oregon, horse slaughter is still legal in the US.

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