Horse Slaughter - Argumentative Paper
Horse Slaughter
The topic of horse slaughter doesn’t usually come up very often in everyday conversation. Horse slaughter is more of an implicit subject, which your everyday person doesn’t know much about. Because it is highly controversial, it has gone through the cycle of being banded and then reinstated twice in the last 5 years. With being involved in the horse industry my entire life, I have witnessed the effects first hand. Some people see it as killing pets, animal cruelty, and morally wrong. However, I see it as a source of income, a way to stop the starvation and abuse of horses, an export industry for the United States, as well as a quality meal for in times of despair. The history of people eating horse meat dates back to the early 1800’s when the French were at war with Russia. Emperor Napoléon advised his starving soldiers to eat the dead battlefield horses. Because horse meat is sweet, lean, protein-rich, and finely textured, it sufficed as a quality meal. Due to the high cost of living in France, in 1866, the French government legalized the consumption of horse meat because it could be bought at a lower price than pork or beef. (Sherman) Countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Chili, Japan and many others still consume horse meat today. The history of horse meat for human consumption in the United States has a similar story. “No longer will the will the worn-out horse wend his way to the boneyard; instead he will be fattened up in order to give the thrifty another source of food supply. This new meat is to be put upon the city’s platter under the protection and encouragement of the Board of Health. The Board at its meeting yesterday made several radical changes in the Sanitary Code, and one of them was to revoke the present section that forbids the sale in this city of horse flesh as food.” (Allow Horse Meat for Food in City)
This is a segment from an article by the New York Times, published in 1915. Also in the article, Health
The topic of horse slaughter doesn’t usually come up very often in everyday conversation. Horse slaughter is more of an implicit subject, which your everyday person doesn’t know much about. Because it is highly controversial, it has gone through the cycle of being banded and then reinstated twice in the last 5 years. With being involved in the horse industry my entire life, I have witnessed the effects first hand. Some people see it as killing pets, animal cruelty, and morally wrong. However, I see it as a source of income, a way to stop the starvation and abuse of horses, an export industry for the United States, as well as a quality meal for in times of despair. The history of people eating horse meat dates back to the early 1800’s when the French were at war with Russia. Emperor Napoléon advised his starving soldiers to eat the dead battlefield horses. Because horse meat is sweet, lean, protein-rich, and finely textured, it sufficed as a quality meal. Due to the high cost of living in France, in 1866, the French government legalized the consumption of horse meat because it could be bought at a lower price than pork or beef. (Sherman) Countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Chili, Japan and many others still consume horse meat today. The history of horse meat for human consumption in the United States has a similar story. “No longer will the will the worn-out horse wend his way to the boneyard; instead he will be fattened up in order to give the thrifty another source of food supply. This new meat is to be put upon the city’s platter under the protection and encouragement of the Board of Health. The Board at its meeting yesterday made several radical changes in the Sanitary Code, and one of them was to revoke the present section that forbids the sale in this city of horse flesh as food.” (Allow Horse Meat for Food in City)
This is a segment from an article by the New York Times, published in 1915. Also in the article, Health
References: "Allow Horse Meat for Food in City." 22 December 1915. New York Times. 20 April 2012. <http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03EFD61239E333A25751C2A9649D946496D6CF>. NM Meat Plant Owner Defends Horse Slaughter Plan. 14 April 2012. 19 April 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nm-meat-plant-owner-defends-horse-slaughter-plan-16139981?page=2>. Ott, Kathy. Doctor Kat Fucile. 19th April 2012. PETA. Horse Slaughter: Setting the Record Straight AGAIN! 3 Feburary 2012. 21 April 2012. <http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2012/02/03/horse-slaughter-setting-the-record-straight-again.aspx>. Sherman, David M. Trending Animcals in the Global Village. Baltimore : Lippencott Williamss and Wilkens , 2002. Shesgreen, Deirdre. USA TODAY. 1 December 2011. 20 April 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/fitness-food/story/2011-11-30/Horses-could-soon-be-slaughtered-for-meat-in-US/51495306/1>. Society, Humane. Responsible Horse Ownership. 20 July 2010. 20 April 2012. <http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/horses/facts/responsible_horse_ownership.html>. Weil, Christa. "We Eat Horse Meat, Don 't We?" 5 March 2007. The New York Times. 20 April 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/opinion/05weil.html>.