" If you cant bury horses in the ground, why is ok to eat them? That is what happens to slaughtered horses, they are shipped to europe and eaten at higher end dining establishments. Belgium companies own all the slaughter plants in canada and mexico and its all for export. I hope those euorpeans know what they are eating. Wormer, steriods, bute, you name it. Some horse killers take pride in "stable to table in 7 days".
Not nearly enough time for all that to clear.

Right now we are essentially breeding for slaughter and nothing prevents a horse from ending up in the slaughter line. Not breeding, not training not owners who care and would give the horse a lifetime home. Fancy high end quarter horse breeders have their horses end up this way too. They breed 50 mares in hope one will be a star.

Nothing prevents sleazy owners from taking $200 bucks for a horse so it can be steaks in france.

The horse market is depressed - that is an understatement. PLEASE STOP BREEDING! NOW! "

" The industry needs to address these issues from where they start. Overbreeding is the main issue, but if you have a horse that needs to be put down its hard to find options too. "

" Not to be crude, but horse lover made the point so I've got to expand. You say you hope the Europeans know what they're eating... well do you eat beef? Pork? Chicken? Do YOU know what YOU'RE eating? You froth at the mouth to defend the rights of horses, but what about other animals? I'm just sayin'....

Now, that all being said, I wanted to commend the Journal Star for publishing these articles about the horse market. It's something people very rarely think about, and I'm glad to see some light shed on the subject. "

" It's extremely hard to loose a friend, but to see them lying on the side of the road, rotting just makes it worse. I think with the prices people have to pay to dispose of their animals, and with the economy it will be more common to see people improperly disposing of their animals - either by dropping them off in creeks, ditches, etc. I like this new option by Gretna, but there again it is expensive as well on top of the vet fees.
These are issues that need to be addressed and hopefully a relatively cheap, easy fix everyone can agree on will come about. "

" I live out in the county, so we can still euthanize and bury a horse – but it is expensive. $125 for the vet and last year is was $125 for the man with the bobcat. I am sure the price for the bobcat burial is up $25-50 for the gas increase, both for the truck to haul the bobcat across the county and the actual gas used in burial. Responsible horse ownership should include lifetime care of the animal, this includes their death, however that occurs. When a horse steps foot on our property we know that in addition to feed, vet, farrier, etc; there will be an end cost of $250-$300; more if you can’t bury on your property. Acknowledge this expense and prepare for it, or don’t acquire the horse! "

" I take exception to the headline of this article. Why are we getting "rid" of horses? Its not like its a couch or something people. Do we get "rid" of our dogs and cats?

The woman who had to deal with her 28 year old horse's death, I do sympathize with her, but her problem is not in any way shape or form related to the problems in the horse industry today. If you are going to own horses, you need to deal with this inevitability. They die. They are large and they require rendering or some other disposal that usually involves a backhoe. I do commend this owner for giving her horse a dignified end, far more so than a slaughterhouse or starving or being in pain until natural death occurs. Kudos to her, she did the right thing. The right thing is not usually the easy thing unfortunately, but its still the right thing.

I am sick when horse owners and vets advocate slaughter as a "humane" end to a horses life. Dennis Hughes, get a clue and start actually helping for a change. "

" It's pretty obvious you do NOT have feelings for animals. I would have to say you would be the last vet I would take my horse to. On that note....if you any of you horse owners are looking for an outstanding horse vet....try Aurora Vet Clinic. They have the most wonderful, caring, sympathetic vets "THAT TRUELY CARE!" "

" Another option for disposal.....reopen the US slaughter plants. "

" How in the WORLD could anyone interpret that Dr. Dennis Hughes does not care about animals? That remark is completely unfounded.

And how is slaughter any less of a dignified death for horses than it is for cattle? "

" Americans need to get off their high horse and stop looking down on Europeans for eating horse meat. My son is appalled that in South America the locals eat guinea pigs. Regional dishes are often traditional uses of local resources. Face it while most of us love horses it is not the norm to consume them in the US. We send beef, pork and chicken overseas-horses are only different because of our mind set. But this is not the point of the article. The cost of disposing of such a large animal is. Many local rendering plants have closed and fuel prices are an issue. There should be an easier and more cost effective way to do this and relieve the stress on the people who have lost their animal. "

" The alarming rise in the number of horses going to the slaughter pipeline is the direct result of a number of factors. Principally the collapse of the economy and frankly, far too many horses bred in two chief industries (racing; either TB or QH and the show horse trade) random back yard breeding which produces poor individuals at best and no training to give the animal a chance. The latter no longer applies to giving the horse a chance when the economy took a nosedive and people had to send their well trained horses to slaughter as the market is flooded with horses for sale. Just check out Dreamhorse.com and Equinenow.com. It has been the contention by the radicals of the animal rights movement that there are no unwanted horses and that the closing of the slaughter houses is not to blame, (in fact the comment in the article about no good statistics to prove that case that there are increasing numbers of unwanted horses in the US bears on the most immediate issue). We need good statistics, that is one that tells the truth and does not allow propagandists on either side to use the emotional manipulation behind all of this discussion. This cannot devolve into single issue emotive bs. All that would need to be done is to have individuals attend auctions (literally hundreds of them in the country) and take an average of how many horses are there, what is their type ie trained riding, unhandled stock, aged, pregnant, foals etc. and then extrapolate from that, watch the numbers go up as the prices of fuel and fear of the future of the economy go up. Simple, right? And you would have thought that the anti slaughter advocates would have demanded that and carried that part of the equation out themselves since there are thousands and thousands of horse lovers in the US. The reason it was not done was because it did not fit the agenda, same thing with the slaughter advocates. This is not a slaughter versus anti-slaughter discussion, it is an economic question. How can we put the agro industrial economy back on the US map, grow our industries, expand the numbers of HIGH paying jobs so that the average person can live the dream of home ownership, having a family, fueling the car without taking food out of the mouths of the family, pay the bills etc. We have two different tiers in the nation right now, the filthy rich who seem to stay that way, and those who are struggling, some who used to be comfortable because they made their money on some aspect of the post industrial/funny money economy ie the Information Age. We as a nation are losing far more than the right to own and care for horses, we are losing the right to life a productive, economically viable life that depends upon growing an economy that makes us self sufficient. Nuclear power, construction of high speed train systems, water projects, we have alot to do and we need to do it or we will all perish along with our precious animals. "