.Horse meat.

[teach1rusl]

On a detached level, I have no problems with others raising one type of animal for food (even dogs really) over any other. I just wish any animal raised for food was treated humanely while it was alive, and was killed quickly and humanely. I also don't like an animal being killed just for one small part (like the brain for example) and the rest being wasted.
That being said, unless I was starving, my chickens won't even be killed for food...they will live out their lives fat and happy here. My cats and dogs are safe too...lol.

 

[EweSheep]

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2x

I don't have a problem eating horses if they are raised for meat consumption. Or pet food. People have been eating horses for thousands of years and everything is fair game. We do have alot of horses and I would not be surprised if horses were sold for food overseas but it would be one expensive steak. However it takes a LONG time to get a horse fatten up, probably two to three years to get a good weight of a beef cattle, probably more like QH crosses or some mean QH that does not need to breed on (there is ONE QH mare I would love to see her on the dinner table!).

If it is a beloved horse, I can understand the feelings behind it. I don't think I can eat my own horses but I can eat someone else's rejects...I've never had horse meat but it is one of those things I would not mind trying, along with Kangaroo, alligator, maybe monkeys.

 

[welsummerchicks]

People started to eat horse meat in Europe because there was a lot of less desirable, less fertile, light sandy land on which cattle could not be profitably grazed. Too, work horses were slaughtered when they could no longer work - and work horses were seen in many European countries til fairly recently - they're still common in the eastern European countries.

That meant that a pound of horsemeat was cheaper than a pound of beef. During many periods of time, it was the only meat many people could afford. People actually would often get only a few ounces of meat a week, or a month - that's all they could afford. In France, people looked for any inexpensive source of protein - undesirable 'peasant' sources like frogs, cockles, sea urchins, etc.

Beef, eggs, chicken - they were farmed on a small scale with lots of hand labor, and even when I first went there a few decades ago, were just so astronomical in price that for most people, they were rarely purchased treats.

For a long time people in Europe have eaten horsemeat, but it's mostly managed just like cattle - big farms, lots of animals, stocky, heavily muscled breeds are used and they are farmed just like cattle - and appear in the frozen food section in a wrapped package just like beef.

I've only eaten it once, by mistake. It is generally leaner than beef, and a little tougher. It doesn't taste much different, though.

I was a guest at an elderly lady's home in Nimes during a brief period of my life when I still ate meat, though I was already to where I didn't ever buy any or cook any myself - I only ate it if I was a guest and didn't feel I could politely decline.

She served dinner - meat, a salad, an apple tart.

I sliced into the meat, chewed a mouth ful, and said, 'Qu'est que c'est?'

'Oh, c'est du cheval.'

BARF!

 

[corancher]

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I agree with this 100%.

 

[lasergrl]

I dont understand why some people think that a horse that has been loved on and around humans shouldnt be eaten, but if its raised like livestock that is ok then. We strive on small family farms to make sure the animal had a good life and is loved on before slaughtering so i dont understand the double standard with horses. It wouldnt be betrayed to slaughter it if it had a good life. Every animal should be raised and slaughtered the same. Quick and painless. Horses are slaughtered with a captive bolt gun just like every other large meat animal. Most humans that have suffered gunshot wounds and lived will tell you they never felt it, so I am inclined to think it is humane. I think its a terrible waste to kill a horse then let the meat rot. I probably wouldnt eat my own horse but would be thrilled to give the meat to hungry people. My pet pig that had mammary cancer I couldnt imagine shooting her and letting her rot, so I gave her to a raw dog feeder. I hate waste even if I cant eat it myself.

 

[greymane]

If I were eaten after I was dead, I really wouldn't care. I have eaten rabbit, goat, chicken, duck...but, I have all of these as pets now. Emotionally, I don't know if I could bring myself to knowingly eat dog, but I don't have an issue with people who do. (As for cats, I say "slap on the BBQ sauce"....just kidding!)

I understand the emotional attachment to horses, but in India, they feel the same way about cows. Are you ready to give up your burgers? I think whitetail deer are beautiful creatures, but I also love venison. It is truly a quandry.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Some people - probably still a big majority - aren't just emotionally attached to cows - they believe that a cow helped one of the gods and that cows are sacred - cows have become like 'the mother of us all'.

 

[Peaches Lee]

I don't have a problem if someone eats/raises/sells horsemeat. But for myself--no way!!

For me it is a big emotional attachment. I can't even slaughter my naughty roosters!

 

[animalpro24]

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Good point about the war. My sister said it was good, about the same as cow.

 

[satay]

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Actually some people over here do eat Kangaroo as part of their daily diet. I however are not one of them. I could never eat one. For me if it is on the coat of arms ie Kangaroo or emu or it is bambie (deer) or horse it aint going anywhere near my mouth lol. Propbably the fact to that we have wild kangaroos on our property means i could never eat one . We have koalas too but you don't see anyone eating them. Each to their own i guess if you are happy eating horse then thats fine too.