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The Lone Star State has found itself in another morality debate. Has the time come to dust off the old standard transportation of cowboys and gunfighters, the majestic horse, and prepare it for a new role? This one is a lot less romantic. It’s the task of occupying the dinner plate.
There are two companies in Texas that have been putting horses in processed meat for years. The horses were packaged and sent to foreign countries. They only recently discovered there’s a ruling by a former Attorney General – that hasn’t been enforced – that disallows the sale of horse meat for human consumption. There is a bill in the Texas House of Representatives that will reverse the ruling if it passed.
Horse meat is leaner than beef, but has about the same nutritional value. France and Italy, countries associated with culinary masterpieces, both consider horse a delicacy. Can you imagine how cool it would be to go to a restaurant and order a mustang with mustard?
Animal rights activist Skip Trimble, armed with a sense of duty and a surplus of free time, is trying to have the horse meat plants shut down. Skip claims the horses are being killed in a cruel manner, since the slaughterhouses use cattle killing methods. The difference in the shape of the animals’ bodies makes the slaughter technique less effective.
The executive director of the Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas parried, saying that without the option of selling old horses for meat, some ranchers will not be able to afford to euthanize animals that have outlived their usefulness. They will allow these horses to just rot. Either way, it seems like bad news for the ponies.
What really bothers me is the inconsistency with disallowing horse meat. Nobody blinks an eye when cows and pigs are taken to the slaughterhouse, but when it’s ol’ Silvers turn at the chopping block people decide to make a stand.
I’ll be the first to admit a draft horse kicking up a spray of delta water is a majestic sight. But so is an old cow crushing an aggressive coyote into a muddy field with its broad head to protect its calf. Or what about two hulking boars circling each other over a fat sow? Who decided that some animals deserve a blanket and a water bowl with their name on the side, while others get the business end of a sledgehammer between the eyes?
If you’re going to eat meat, then you have to be consistent about it and consider all animals fair game. The only type of meat I refuse to eat is veal, because of the way they force the animal to live, not its species. Last year, one of my roommates showed me an article about a restaurant that serves lion. I wasn’t grossed out. I was turned on. Can’t you see yourself dethroning the king of the jungle?
We are omnivores. It’s our nature and our duty to scoop up all of those little beasts and remind them that humans are here to regulate. If taking a bite out of a thoroughbred nourishes me and tastes good, then I’m going to do it.
Michael Hartwell is an aspiring equinivore.
