Does President Obama really want to slaughter horses?

Answer 1

Horse slaughter was never illegal in the USA, it was just made so that the inspection of horse slaughter facilities could not be funded. Without the meat being inspected, it could not be sold. It was a roundabout way to try preventing the slaughter of horses.

What happened though was that the slaughter simply moved north and south to be performed in Canada and Mexico instead.

What Obama has done is removed the ban on funding, but no funding has actually been put towards it yet.

This paragraph is totally incorrect. He did this because horse slaughter was not stopped, it just moved out of the country where it could not be inspected, the slaughter methods could not be confirmed, and the animals suffered during transport. He'd rather that if it has to happen, the USFDA should be able to oversee it.

Horses are being sent to Mexico and Canada, but the slaughter plants in Mexico where most of our horses go are regulated by the European Union - the largest purchaser of our horse meat - as are all the Canadian plants. The regulation is at least as good as what we had from the USDA when plants were here, and in some cases better. However, given that there is no humane way to slaughter a horse, it's still absolutely inhumane.

Horses are different from food animals because they are prey animals and their flight response makes it impossible to get a clean shot - especially with a captive-bolt. I was in Texas when the plants were open there. I know what I'm talking about from first hand experience.

President Obama has said - as a candidate and Senator - that he is opposed to horse slaughter and said he would work to get it banned. So far, he has not done that. This bill however, was not his fault.

The removal of the language that defunded the USDA inspection of horse slaughter plants was quietly removed by threelegislators in a closed door meeting as part of the Conference Committee. This kept it from being discussed or having a floor vote in which case it would have been defeated. This was the Federal Budget and it had to pass to keep the government running. Even those legislators opposed to horse slaughter had to sign it - including Obama.

He could still stop horse slaughter from being reintroduced by an Executive Order. It remains to be seen whether or not he will do this however.