HORSE SLAUGHTER DEBATE
10:46 PM by 
Greanville
Dateline: 5.13.07
Re: “They eat horses, don’t they?” May 13 Ed Quillen column.
Ed Quillen’s column about the slaughter of horses in the United States for consumption by Asians and Europeans was shocking. Is it “cultural arrogance” to stand by our companion animals and wild stallions? We keep dogs and cats for our pleasure. It’s our ethic not to cram those dear companions into overheated trucks without food or water to be shipped to a slaughterhouse at the end of their lives. That’s unconscionable and barbaric behavior. The same standard should apply to horses. People ride horses and use them for work. It’s a betrayal to sell them to a slaughterhouse when their guardians no longer want them.
Our wild horses and burros are part of our Western heritage, and the vast majority of people want them to run free. If it’s “cultural arrogance” to protect these beautiful animals, then I am guilty and proud of it. I’m glad not to be counted among the barbarians who cruelly kill these magnificent creatures for food.
The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act must be passed to save these animals and show the world that we are a compassionate nation. If we follow Quillen’s logic (letting slaughter be a choice), we’ll have to make murder legal.
Valerie Traina, Centennial
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