5 ms·

Agreed. As should Norway and Iceland.

irrational 9y ago
I feel the same way about horses. They serve horse steaks in Iceland (and probably other places) which I find equally as barbaric.
- dorchadas 9y ago
  The difference for me is that horses can be (and are) domesticated and raised for their meat. Nor are they necessarily endangered. If you find horsemeat barbaric, what about beef or chicken or pork? What about deer?
  - exclusiv 9y ago
    Horses are huge animals and often have to be put down for injuries to their legs. It's a shame to let meat go to waste. I don't know about killing horses in their prime though if that's what they do.
    - tgarv 9y ago
      You honestly think that most horse meat steaks are from animals that were put down due to a leg injury?
      - virmundi 9y ago
        No, OP said that it would be a waste to not use the meat from such animals. To the child of that person's comment, there is a presumption that a non-poisonous method was used such as hammer or bolt-gun.
        HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
        That won't happen. If the horse has to be euthanized, unless it happens far from vet care (say on a distant trail ride), it's going to be given a lethal dose of sedative. If it does happen far from care, then it'll be most likely shot in the head and the carcass burned or left for predators if it's not possible to dig a pit for it. Source: live on a horse farm and have had to deal with weak or dead horses.
    - hackbinary 9y ago
      Animals that have to be euthenised for one reason or another cannot, and nor should they enter the food chain for humans, cats, dog, or otherwise. Firstly, there are the drugs they use to humanely put down the patient which would be toxic to down stream consumers of the meat products, and secondly there maybe concerns about zoonosis.
      - ccozan 9y ago
        If they choose to put down a horse and decide to used for human consumption, then they will certainly use a different method ( shot, hammer, etc ).
        hackbinary 9y ago
        No, the problem is that there are other drugs that might have been administered therapeutically, so animals that are in the food chain have to be managed differently than ones that are for companionship or racing. For example Bute is commonly used in horses, but is toxic for humans. This in part was why the horse meat scandle was such a problem in the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21455419 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21455419
  - logfromblammo 9y ago
    Americans have a cultural attachment to horses that is probably related to them being used the modal means of transportation for hundreds of years in a country that is very sparsely developed, where most points of interest are separated by a great deal of distance. Horses are like cars that can be happy to take you somewhere. And you don't disrespect an American's automobile. We'd eat sausages made from horses that died normally, but slaughtering one for meat is like burning a car just to get warm on a chilly evening. There's also the potential problem of former racehorses, pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs, contaminating the food supply with their pharmaceutically tainted meat. It definitely isn't because horses are smart. It may be because some of them are movie and television stars, a few are star athletes, some are considered pets or companion animals, and many are considered tools or co-workers. They don't have great brains, but they do have personality, even if much of that has been supplied by popular culture rather than actual contact with the animals. Americans don't eat their dogs and cats, either. Some of them are dumber than a sackful of hammers, but you just don't eat family. Beef? Cows won't fit in the house. Bulls are dangerous. Pork? Most pigs turn into big fat jerks when they hit maturity, then they grow heavy enough to be dangerous. Also, they dig up everything they can smell, and are not overly averse to offal and excrement. Chicken? Chickens are non-mammals, so it's harder to project our mammalian attachment behaviors onto them. Deer? If they wanted mercy from me, they would have stayed out of all the gardens I have ever planted. But I also know people who won't eat venison because of Bambi. We just won't eat foods that have the wrong narrative. Horses have Mr. Ed, Trigger, Silver, Satan II, Secretariat, Flicka, that one you rode at summer camp that one time, Epona, mounted police horses, the Budweiser Clydesdales, etc., etc., etc. There's even a literary trope where the named horse character has more "common sense" than its rider.
  - irrational 9y ago
    No, I don't have a problem with those other types of meat. I've spent a lot of time around all those different kinds of animals (well, not deer) and none of them are on the same level of intelligence as horses. Horses are smart like dolphins. Cattle and chickens are just stupid.
- probablymaybe 9y ago
  Fortunately horses are about as bright as the average garden vegetable, so I've never felt particularly bad about eating them.
- lgessler 9y ago
  Do you feel the same way about pork or beef?
  - irrational 9y ago
    Nope. I've spent a ton of time around all these different animals and cattle and pigs (and especially chickens) are just stupid. Horses aren't stupid.
    - lgessler 9y ago
      I am sure that your prolonged exposure to these farm animals has given you valuable insights into the nature of these animals. But I think you'd agree that informal observation has serious epistemological shortcomings. (I presume from what you wrote you did not engage in rigorous scientific observation of these animals.) Personally, I've spent essentially no time around farm animals, but from what I understand about the scientific work in the area it seems likely that many farm animals have quite sophisticated minds. One review of experimental findings in pig intelligence[1] claims that "pigs possess complex ethological traits similar, but not identical, to dogs and chimpanzees". [1]: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sx4s79c https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sx4s79c
- brg1007 9y ago
  You can buy horse meat at the supermarket in Switzerland and I think in Italy also if I'm not mistaking.
- bdamm 9y ago
  Why is this any more barbaric than eating cows or pigs or chickens? We raise them, we eat them, and they're delicious. I hope for humane slaughter but beyond that, bring on the Sauerbraten!
- nkrisc 9y ago
  Well once you're down that path, why eat any animal?
digi_owl 9y ago
Last time i checked, Norway and Iceland enforce strict regulations to make sure the population is sustainable. That Japan allows boats to roam to far waters without punishment is very different.

I feel the same way about horses. They serve horse steaks in Iceland (and probably other places) which I find equally as barbaric.

dorchadas 9y ago
The difference for me is that horses can be (and are) domesticated and raised for their meat. Nor are they necessarily endangered. If you find horsemeat barbaric, what about beef or chicken or pork? What about deer?
- exclusiv 9y ago
  Horses are huge animals and often have to be put down for injuries to their legs. It's a shame to let meat go to waste. I don't know about killing horses in their prime though if that's what they do.
  - tgarv 9y ago
    You honestly think that most horse meat steaks are from animals that were put down due to a leg injury?
    - virmundi 9y ago
      No, OP said that it would be a waste to not use the meat from such animals. To the child of that person's comment, there is a presumption that a non-poisonous method was used such as hammer or bolt-gun.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
        That won't happen. If the horse has to be euthanized, unless it happens far from vet care (say on a distant trail ride), it's going to be given a lethal dose of sedative. If it does happen far from care, then it'll be most likely shot in the head and the carcass burned or left for predators if it's not possible to dig a pit for it. Source: live on a horse farm and have had to deal with weak or dead horses.
  - hackbinary 9y ago
    Animals that have to be euthenised for one reason or another cannot, and nor should they enter the food chain for humans, cats, dog, or otherwise. Firstly, there are the drugs they use to humanely put down the patient which would be toxic to down stream consumers of the meat products, and secondly there maybe concerns about zoonosis.
    - ccozan 9y ago
      If they choose to put down a horse and decide to used for human consumption, then they will certainly use a different method ( shot, hammer, etc ).
      - hackbinary 9y ago
        No, the problem is that there are other drugs that might have been administered therapeutically, so animals that are in the food chain have to be managed differently than ones that are for companionship or racing. For example Bute is commonly used in horses, but is toxic for humans. This in part was why the horse meat scandle was such a problem in the UK. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21455419 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21455419
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  Americans have a cultural attachment to horses that is probably related to them being used the modal means of transportation for hundreds of years in a country that is very sparsely developed, where most points of interest are separated by a great deal of distance. Horses are like cars that can be happy to take you somewhere. And you don't disrespect an American's automobile. We'd eat sausages made from horses that died normally, but slaughtering one for meat is like burning a car just to get warm on a chilly evening. There's also the potential problem of former racehorses, pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs, contaminating the food supply with their pharmaceutically tainted meat. It definitely isn't because horses are smart. It may be because some of them are movie and television stars, a few are star athletes, some are considered pets or companion animals, and many are considered tools or co-workers. They don't have great brains, but they do have personality, even if much of that has been supplied by popular culture rather than actual contact with the animals. Americans don't eat their dogs and cats, either. Some of them are dumber than a sackful of hammers, but you just don't eat family. Beef? Cows won't fit in the house. Bulls are dangerous. Pork? Most pigs turn into big fat jerks when they hit maturity, then they grow heavy enough to be dangerous. Also, they dig up everything they can smell, and are not overly averse to offal and excrement. Chicken? Chickens are non-mammals, so it's harder to project our mammalian attachment behaviors onto them. Deer? If they wanted mercy from me, they would have stayed out of all the gardens I have ever planted. But I also know people who won't eat venison because of Bambi. We just won't eat foods that have the wrong narrative. Horses have Mr. Ed, Trigger, Silver, Satan II, Secretariat, Flicka, that one you rode at summer camp that one time, Epona, mounted police horses, the Budweiser Clydesdales, etc., etc., etc. There's even a literary trope where the named horse character has more "common sense" than its rider.
- irrational 9y ago
  No, I don't have a problem with those other types of meat. I've spent a lot of time around all those different kinds of animals (well, not deer) and none of them are on the same level of intelligence as horses. Horses are smart like dolphins. Cattle and chickens are just stupid.
probablymaybe 9y ago
Fortunately horses are about as bright as the average garden vegetable, so I've never felt particularly bad about eating them.
lgessler 9y ago
Do you feel the same way about pork or beef?
- irrational 9y ago
  Nope. I've spent a ton of time around all these different animals and cattle and pigs (and especially chickens) are just stupid. Horses aren't stupid.
  - lgessler 9y ago
    I am sure that your prolonged exposure to these farm animals has given you valuable insights into the nature of these animals. But I think you'd agree that informal observation has serious epistemological shortcomings. (I presume from what you wrote you did not engage in rigorous scientific observation of these animals.) Personally, I've spent essentially no time around farm animals, but from what I understand about the scientific work in the area it seems likely that many farm animals have quite sophisticated minds. One review of experimental findings in pig intelligence[1] claims that "pigs possess complex ethological traits similar, but not identical, to dogs and chimpanzees". [1]: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sx4s79c https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sx4s79c
brg1007 9y ago
You can buy horse meat at the supermarket in Switzerland and I think in Italy also if I'm not mistaking.
bdamm 9y ago
Why is this any more barbaric than eating cows or pigs or chickens? We raise them, we eat them, and they're delicious. I hope for humane slaughter but beyond that, bring on the Sauerbraten!
nkrisc 9y ago
Well once you're down that path, why eat any animal?

digi_owl 9y ago

Last time i checked, Norway and Iceland enforce strict regulations to make sure the population is sustainable. That Japan allows boats to roam to far waters without punishment is very different.