Farm Animals - Horses

In 1900 approximately twenty million horses lived on U.S. farms. This number declined significantly over the next century. The USDA's agricultural census of 2002 found 3.6 million horses living on approximately half a million farms in the United States. The country's total horse inventory is somewhere around five million; however, this figure includes horses kept for racing, breeding, showing, and pleasure purposes.

Although horses are not specifically cultivated in the United States for meat for human consumption, there is a growing overseas market for this meat, primarily in FIGURE 4.15
Number of horses slaughtered at USDA-approved horse slaughter plants, 1989–2003
SOURCE: Adapted from "Number of Horses Slaughtered under Federal Quarantine, 1989–2003," in Number of Horses Slaughtered under Federal Quarantine—1989–2003, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 2004, http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/equine/horse_transport/yearly-rpt.html (accessed February 10, 2005) Europe and Asia. Horse meat is increasingly popular among Europeans because of the scares concerning mad cow disease. As shown in Figure 4.15, 63,300 horses were slaughtered at USDA-approved horse slaughter plants in 2003. More than two million horses were slaughtered between 1989 and 2003.

According to the USDA's Web site, some of the horses were blind, some were lame, and some were "quite old." The horses were sold at auction terminals and transported in trailers to horse slaughter plants in the United States or Canada. There are only three such plants in the United States: two in Texas and one in Illinois. The plant in Illinois burned down in 2002, but reopened in June 2004. Horses are covered by the federal "Humane Methods of Slaughter Act." They must be rendered unconscious prior to being hoisted onto the bleed rail and cut open. Like cattle, horses are stunned by a shot in the head with a bolt gun.

Horses being transported for slaughter are covered by a federal regulation published on December 7, 2001. It calls for elimination of the use of double-deck trailers by December 2006.

Banning the slaughter of horses for food is the goal of many animal welfare groups. The HSUS advocates humane euthanasia for horses that are severely ill or injured. The organization also promotes horse rescue and adoption programs.

Controversy over Premarin

Another issue of concern to animal rights activists is the use of urine from pregnant mares (pregnant mare urine, or PMU) to provide an estrogen drug for humans called Premarin. Premarin was once widely used by menopausal women as an estrogen replacement therapy. It was also prescribed for people suffering from heart disease and osteoporosis. During the early 2000s government studies revealed that women using Premarin had a higher risk of breast cancer and other serious diseases than women who did not use the drug. As a result, demand for Premarin plummeted. At that time the HSUS estimated that there were approximately 500 PMU farms in North America, mostly in western Canada, and that more than 100,000 horses were involved in the PMU industry. However, that number is believed to have decreased dramatically after demand for Premarin dropped.

PMU-producing mares are tethered in tight stalls for six months of their eleven-month pregnancies. A collection system including a rubber cup is placed beneath each mare's vulva to collect her urine. Welfarists say that the horses are prevented from moving around and usually cannot lie down in a comfortable position. The mares are released from the system to give birth and then are reimpregnated as soon as possible. Animal welfare organizations claim that the mares' male offspring and spent mares often wind up at slaughterhouses. The spent mares have little commercial value because they receive no training in riding and are difficult to handle.