This is the argument I heard recently in a post online, expressing outrage at the recent revelations. It's a very common response from animal lovers and in particular horsey people (pictured above).
It's true though, I can't fault the argument, in this country we do not eat horses. Knowingly.
Unless you have been roving on Mars, locked in the big brother house or in a coma you can't have failed to see on the news that horse has made it's way into our food chain by somewhat nefarious means. At the time of writing it is not clear whether it has been by illegal activity or human error but in all honesty the scale of the problem suggests that it's been something dishonest and it looks to be widespread. I'm sure more meaty details will be splashed across the news in due course.
In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that I have, in the past, knowingly chosen horse off the menu and eaten and enjoyed it. I'm not a horse lover, although I don't dislike horses, I have no particular attachment to them. I love animals and find any kind of animal cruelty abhorrent but I don't have any issue with eating them. In fact the notion that its fine to eat sheep, cows, pigs and chickens but not horse leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I just don't understand the criteria that makes some animals ok to eat and not others. While discussing this point recently on a social networking site with a stranger I was met with the response that nothing so majestic should end up on the dinner plate. So it's majesty that's the ingredient so many find hard to swallow? Well to my mind deer is a pretty majestic creature but it seems to be fayre game!
I guess I'm not going to understand this point as I don't own a horse, nor have I ever ridden one or experienced their majesty first hand. I do understand the depth of feeling that people have and I understand why some people don't want to eat them. I am fine with that. I don't like artichokes either and would balk at being forced to eat them. I certainly have a problem with meat products being mislabeled and that is the real issue here. As the products are labeled as beef but are not in fact beef, this is a very serious problem and this must be dealt with. This is where the focus of outrage should be directed. For starters as the horse meat is coming from unknown sources and is not going through the proper checks it could be from anywhere. It might be a pet that was put down by a vet and could have chemicals in it which are unfit for human consumption. Equally it could contain bute, a painkiller used in horses that can cause serious blood disease in humans. These are issues that should not be ignored and it is for this reason that I find the whole situation to be of concern. If I was feeding these ready meals to my kids and thought for a second that they were in danger I would be in uproar. But this doesn't seem to be what the majority of people are getting angry about.
I will leave you with this food for thought. The primary concern amongst animal lovers would appear to be that horses are pets and beloved animals and should not be eaten. I would agree. If it is your pet you probably shouldn't eat it. But it's not my pet so why should that concern me?
The thing that crossed my mind is this: there is no money in breeding horses for food. They just are not efficient in terms of fattening them up with grain in the same way that other livestock is. So the horse that ends up on people's plate was not bred specifically for eating. Cows, sheep, chicken, pigs, all of these animals were bred for food. They probably didn't have the best life as they had one purpose and one purpose only, to be sold for meat. Horses on the other hand are beloved pets, or work animals, they might run around in fields being ridden or perhaps they are thoroughbred race horses or police horses. Whatever life they were going to have they had it. Then at the end of their life when it is their time to go they are then used as food. Who would you say had the better life? The cow or the horse? Just saying.
Anyway, I'll trot along now and leave you to chew that over.
-- Post From My iPhone
