We eat cows, so why not horses?

I eat beef. Beef = cow. I eat ham. Ham = pig. I eat venison, chicken, tuna, and a whole lot of different plants, grains and even the occasional fungi that were once living things.

I believe all animals, whether used for meat or companionship, should be treated humanely. It isn't animal rights. It is higher consciousness.

The idea that horse, cat or dog may be eaten by someone else on a regular basis does not bother me. I expect responsible guidelines to be in place to minimize trauma and promote humane treatment of ALL food animals, both those I choose to eat and those I don't. I don't feel that a horse is inherently superior to a cow, or a pig to a duck, or a sheep to a chicken.

We have the responsibility to treat them all with kindness and respect, even if their destination is the dinner table. Torture and cruelty should never be tolerated.

However, we do not have the responsibility to police the world's plate and tell them, no, we will no longer sell horsemeat to you, France, now you'll have to get it from Mexico.

Because if you've followed that story, you know that the same horse that would have been slaughtered in Texas under much stricter guidelines is now being shipped across the border to be killed in more brutal ways, after enduring treatment that is far more cruel than US law allowed.

A ban on horse slaughter does not "save" any horses. If you want to save a horse, buy it and take care of it for the rest of its life.

In the late fall, I pick up a 20 gauge shotgun, suit up in orange and camo, and freeze my butt off up in a tree or in a ground blind. I see birds, squirrels, and no deer. Fortunately, I married a successful hunter, because I've never had a shot opportunity, save one. (That's a topic for another lens.)

I actually prefer eating wild game, such as venison, to eating beef. I feel that in comparison, the deer led a pretty good life, and that the meat is much healthier for me than processed and injected and growth-stimulated cow flesh could be.

Some people are against hunting, because you can just go to the store and buy a steak, why shoot a deer? I'm sorry ... is the cow somehow less dead?

I've been to a few wild game dinners and have sampled selections beyond the traditional American fare of beef, chicken and pork. At one time or another (usually only once) I've had alligator, elk, bison, beaver, goose, caribou, mountain lion, black bear, duck, European red deer, Russian boar, oyster, shrimp and squid. (Starting to sound a bit like the Tazmanian Devil, here.)

Point is ... I don't think it is right to pass judgement on my neighbor for eating horse, dog, cat, frog, turtle or snake, just because I didn't grow up eating those things.

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