I would like to address the horse slaughter issue (Feb. 10 Beacon: “Hard Times for a Western Icon”) and put it in terms that can be understood. One of the first principles of life is that we all must eat. In the animal world there are some that eat vegetation only, but many do not. The two most popular house pets are meat eaters. Mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, eagles and hawks are meat eaters and don’t think twice about letting their meals suffer a bit. Mankind, for the most part, also eat meat with few exceptions, and those who don’t, live only through the blessing of modern transport and grocery outlets.
People from the earliest days have eaten fish, pork, chicken, beef, turkeys, geese, sheep and a host of wild game animals. To say humans are not meant to eat meat is a lie. So just as people from the far reaches of the north eat whale, seal and caribou and people in our locale eat beef and chicken; people in Europe eat horse. The horse is no more sacred than any other animal except to an activist with an agenda and those willingly duped. Whether it be animal or eco-activist, in general you will find that these same people will think nothing of eliminating the unborn child from the face of the earth. The mass of humanity could easily perish without a tear as long as they themselves are spared.
There is nothing inhumane in killing animals for food as long as proper methods are employed; some are able to do this while others are not. All life on earth dies – some young, some old, some suffer, some don’t, some willing, some not, but common sense decision making is required by people who have it, those opposed to horse slaughter do not.
Mark Gluth
Kalispell