How many horses are slaughtered in the US each year?
According to the USDA, the three horse slaughter plants remaining in the US (two in Texas and one in Illinois) killed over 94,000 horses in 2005 for human consumption. An additional twenty thousand horses were transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. How will banning slaughter affect the economy? The three existing slaughter plants are foreign owned, and pay no corporate taxes or export tariffs. The entire horse meat industry is only 0.001% the size of the U.S. meat industry, making it economically insignificant. What types of horses are being slaughtered? Aren’t these old, sick, horses? According to 2001 field studies conducted by Temple Grandin, 70% of all horses at the slaughter plant were in good, fat, or obese condition; 72% were considered to be sound of limb; 84% were of average age; and 96% had no behavioral issues. For obvious reasons the meat of old or sick horses is not acceptable for human consumption. Isn’t the transport of horses to slaughter regulated by the feder
