When did horse slaughter begin?

Answer 1

Horses have been hunted/slaughtered since before they were domesticated. After domestication horse meat was consumed when animals were unable to perform their required function. The consumption of a horse's meat when an animal became aged or debilitated was not only practical but for people who had close relationships with them understood that it was wasteful not to use as much of the carcass as possible (for pigs the saying is that you use everything but the squeal).

Like many behaviors that began with people close to their animals and the desire/obligation to use everything in a frugal and meaningful manner... industrialization allowed many people to become removed from a direct relationship with the animals that they work/live with and consume.

Many times this has lead to interesting aberrations.

For example Karakul fleeces were seen by tourists who found them attractive. The amount of money that they were willing to pay for these lamb skins was more than

a farmer could have dreamed of making in years. Since the original fleeces came from aborted lambs (used by the farmers for clothing so as not to be wasteful) but the demand from foreigners was high, farmers started intentionally aborting their

sheep.

The horse slaughter industry is the product of people becoming isolated from their

farming roots, no longer needing to care fortheir animals and having neither respect or honor for them. The slaughter industry of all livestock is an expedient for people who live in cities, and the people that run them (and most of their employees) are equally removed from any investment in the welfare of the animals.

The issue is equally muddied by the elevation of horses to the animals that "won the west", making them "superior" to oxen that took most of the wagons west. Not to denigrate the role of horsesin any way.

The slaughter of all animals, not just horses, needs to be done in the gentlest, most appropriate waybased on the animal's natural behavior.

Answer 2

Horse slaughter has been going on for hundreds of years, if not longer. In most countries today, horse slaughter plays a big role in the meat of the country.