By John Di Leonardo
New York state has finally banned the sale of horses for human or animal consumption. Like cows in India, horses in the United States have long been beloved, but our treatment of them for the cruel horse-racing, horse-drawn carriage, rodeo, and show industries has long been hypocritical.
'Retirement' for these horses, often disabled from years of overwork, has too often consisted of being sold into a life of servitude on Amish farms or to be turned into dog food despite their meat often being tainted by performance-enhancing drugs which contributed to their injuries or disabilities in the first place.
More than 100,000 American horses are slaughtered in Mexico and Canada annually, yet these cruel industries churn out hundreds of thousands of horses annually. The Thoroughbred-racing industry alone sends an estimated 10,000 horses to slaughter annually, meaning that half of the 20,000 new foals born each year will eventually be killed for their flesh.
Acharya Tulsi Ji (Photo provided by: Arvind Vora)
New York has taken a long overdue stand to protect horses in the Empire State from suffering this fate; however, the public must be cautioned that these new laws do not make the industries that abuse these horses any less inhumane.
1,600 horses have been killed at racetracks in New York State just since 2009. When they’re not being forced to run to their deaths, horses—who are naturally herd animals—are confined to solitary 12’-by-12’ stalls for over 23 hours a day. Horses in New York’s horse-drawn carriage industry have it no better, with New York City horse-driver Ian McKeever currently facing misdemeanor charges for working an elderly horse named Ryder to his death last year.
While needless killing should always be shunned, banning the slaughter of animals without banning the industries that exploit them is ineffective in adequately protecting them. For example, just like any other mammal, cows only produce milk when they are pregnant and shortly thereafter. The dairy industry, whether in the United States or abroad, invariably tears infant cows from their mothers so we can consume milk meant for them. Even in India, where cows are considered sacred and their slaughter is illegal in much of the country, bulls and “spent” cows are discarded to the streets or forced on death marches where they are often slaughtered and exported out of the country, making the country that is seemingly the kindest to cows the largest exporter of beef and leather in the entire world.
For this week’s Anuvrat, I invite you to not only take all meat and dairy off your plate, but remember that veganism is more than just a diet, and to pledge not to exploit animals for sport or labor as well.
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(This article was previously published in December 2023)
John Di Leonardo is the founding director of Humane Long Island. He was previously the Senior Manager of Grassroots Campaigns and Animals in Entertainment Campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has a Master's degree in Anthrozoology from Canisius College. He also earned a graduate certificate in Jain Studies from the International School of Jain Studies (ISJS) in India. John can be reached at [email protected]. (Photo provided by the author)
