Australians get to ride a horse and eat it, too

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Western Australia has approved human consumption of horse meat. Between 50,000 and 70,000 horses have been slaughtered there annually, but the meat was not available in Australian stores. It was exported. According to Food And Drink Digital, the top eight consuming countries eat 4.8 million horses a year.

The trend is reversed in North America. Between 1993 and 2007, when a ban was forced by the Humane Society of the United States, about 75,000 to 150,000 horses were sent to slaughter nationally each year. Now, breeders and the racing industry complain they are up to their ears in live animals. Veterinarian Alison LaCarrubba, who heads the equine ambulatory section of the University of Missouri, blames a "double whammy" of the slaughter ban and "economic turmoil" on the growing number of unwanted horses. "Equine veterinarians are seeing more thin, poorly cared for and unwanted horses than ever before," she says in a news release.

The university is looking at new ways of controlling the horse population, including a low-cost or no-cost castration program, and is asking for donations to offset the costs of holding sterilization clinics, which run to between US$500 and $1,000 each.

LaCarrubba says it costs about $60 a month to provide hay and grain for a horse but other costs, such as vet care, dental and hoof care and housing, add up quickly to about $15,000 a year. Meanwhile, the horse supply is so high that an "entry level" horse can be purchased for $50. BF