"I have been studying the use of bute as a pre-race medication for racing in California. California is one of only a few states that publishes this information in the past performances of the horses entered to race. Bute is a prohibited substance for horses heading to slaughter. No quarantine period, it is simply prohibited. Anyway, thanks to the Daily Racing Form I got data on all runners for 2009 in California. 99% of those runners pre-raced on bute. I used this data for the following essay: http://www.facebook.com/l/41592;www.paulickreport.com/blog/keeping-bute-out-of-the-foodchain/ It seems to me this is one anti-slaughter argument that is "bullet proof". Our horses are not fit for slaughter from a food-safety standpoint. We know it as horsemen. Vets know it. We now need to invest our time in determining other end-of-life solutions for our stars, when the time is right. Slaughter can no longer be an option if food safety is a concern."
We don't (knowingly) allow these products in any other part of our food chain. Horses are regularly given routine medications that are clearly labeled "not for use in animals to be used for human consumption."
Everyone who clamors for slaughter is overlooking the above. You wouldn't want to eat a sick horse and you wouldn't want to eat meat from an animal that has been given medications that are known to cause cancer in humans. Sounds like some folks have a severe case of denial. "We won't eat it, but its okay for the Europeans?" How fair is that?
No comments:
Post a Comment