Letter to the Editor: No horse slaughter
BY Loyd W. Cox, Tulsa
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
2/19/13 at 8:11 AM
Bravo to the Feb. 13 Tulsa World editorial "Horse slaughter."
I am a third-generation Tulsan and have always been proud of our state, and want the best for its citizens.
If the Senate bill allows horse slaughterhouses to open in Oklahoma, it will be a travesty not only for our horses, but also the citizens of Oklahoma. It was tried for a few years in Texas and did not work. Those who lived nearby the slaughterhouses were constantly agitated and depressed having to see good, healthy horses being trucked in daily then whipped and hit with battery sticks to get them unloaded and into the killing arena with chutes. Many good mares (that were carrying foals) were hit between the eyes with a stun gun (which does not kill right away) and then strung up by their hind legs to have their throat slit and bleed out.
Horses have always been known to serve humans by providing labor, transportation and pleasure. They are smart, sensitive and sense what is going on. Americans do not eat horses any more than they would eat dogs and cats!
Surely our great state is not slipping to a low of now allowing horse slaughterhouses to become established. This would not be a boon to our economy as it would provide very few jobs at very low wages for a few who could even live with themselves for doing it.
While horse slaughter was going on in Texas and Illinois, the rate of horse theft rose at a high percentage.
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