Tracking the Story Got You Confused?
Following the story of contaminated “beef” containing horsemeat in common products in the EU and UK has managed to make everyone a little dizzy so our good friends over to the Australian Institute of Food Safety put together a graphic that might help to sort out the details.
Related Articles
- Where’s The Beef! Horsemeat Scandal Reveals U.S. Illegally Exports Horses & European Meat Tainted With Drugs (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Ikea withdraws hot dogs in Europe after horsemeat detected (cbc.ca)
- EU ministers set for horsemeat talks (bbc.co.uk)
- Horsemeat scandal set to spur tougher food tests (healthnexercise.com)
- IKEA says meatballs in China not contaminated by horsemeat (wantchinatimes.com)
- UK lawmakers say horsemeat discoveries “tip of the iceberg” (healthnexercise.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Well it looks like the human race is going to eat horses into extinction,makes me sick to be human!
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As long as there is a huge profit exists, somebody to immediate interests and put aside a moral and legal constraints. So to really completely put an end to this ugly behavior, would be a long-term process. We need to have more general like moderators are people really love horses from within, to maintain horses the most basic survival issues
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Reblogged this on Serenity's Musings.
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Under the heading “So What’s Wrong With Horsemeat?” it states that so far no traces of bute have been found. I thought that they had found bute in some of the sampling.
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There have been traces of bute, and another toxic drug made for race horses from the venom of a frog. This article does not fully describe the dangers of ingesting toxic horsemeat.Nor does it mention the worst case of animal abuse perpetrated by government officials in the BLM on behalf of the meat packing industry. And it’s being fraudulenty mislabeled as beef.It’s definitely made a vegetarian out of many people I know who have always eaten meat.
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Heres the Thing !!!! Horses were never meant for a food source !!!!!!! These are intelligent beings that are very family oriented, , they are natural born healers, they are a wonderful thing of extreme beauty , a gift to us……. I can remember the first time I seen one, I was captivated, i was only 5 , I looked at them on the desert in Nevada and that is all she wrote , I had my Mother read everything she could find on them………to me………………… How they built the West , how they can heal us,how everything about them was so surreal and so important , they are here for reasons that some will never understand or feel ………I know I have said hundreds of times , but here it is again, they are singlely Natures Balance !!!!!!! They were created with such love,and services , that cannot be denied, by anyone who knows about them………………..There is no other animal created with the qualities and the beauty of the horse………. We are their appointed caretakers !!!!!! What they have given and accomplished cannot be matched by any other animal !!!!!!! Surely Natures most precious gift !!!!!!
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I agree with you Arlene, horses were not meant for food. Neither are dogs and cats, but in many parts of Asia they breed, then brutally slaughter, cats and dogs for human food. Also, (off topic) do you know that meat by-products listed on pet food can contain horse entrails as well as rendered dog & cat – especially if that pet food was processed in Asia. In America pet food companies from the 1970’s onward decided to stop using horses in their food. Bad publicity or fear of lawsuits from contamination from veterinary toxins, whatever. Now that much of the pet food comes here from overseas I’m not so sure of the purity. Make your own! (Our dog is an extremely healthy vegetarian).
What I am trying to point out is that, while the horse is an exceptional animal to you and me (as well as cats and dogs for me), to much of humanity they are just another cheap source of meat. In this day and age we don’t need to eat animals at all. In fact, doing so has greatly compromised our health. Call it karma for human excesses if you will, but the fact is that the eating of animals – especially by gluttonous Americans – is causing an epidemic of obesity and the obesity related diseases of some cancers, type II diabetes, and heart disease. Most of these are slow growing diseases that take years, analogous to smoking and lung cancer, so no-one feels the pressure to even cut down – despite what their physicians tell them.
Saving horses and other animals, helping to clean up the planet, and restoring/maintaining good health is a daily decision made by you and me.
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Thank You Judywendt, I also love dogs and cats , have 2 cats now……. Had a German Shepard for 15 yrs…. he died 4 yrs ago, he was always a pleasure and I loved him dearly !!!! I have loved horses all my life also……………….
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This is being hammered on the basis of economics…we should fight it on the basis of economics.
Horses have a terrible feed-conversion rate compared with beef, this referred to the amount of plant protien that must be consumed in comparison with how much animal protien is produced.
I have never heard the exact feed conversion of a horse, but it must be avaialble someplace….
Second, horse meat is not “green”; what are the exact proprotions of useable product to waste? That info has got to be out there someplace!!! We need to use it!!!!
I am tired of hearing human arguments against slaughter…..NO ONE IS LISTENING…. i think its actually hurting us!!!
Out naivete is condemning horses to death….we need to frame our campaign based on what’s important to the other guys, not on the basis of what it important to us.
Particulary in this time of sequester, I am hoping that horse advos will holler their heads off on the economics of this proposition.
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http://www.foodpolitics.com/2013/02/the-horsemeat-scandal-an-object-lesson-in-food-politics/
I got info from an interview from Nestle to a EU paper….I have some serious concerns about the statement in the article that if horsemeat is used it would have to be revealed, all the pet food ingrediants say is “meat byproduct and animal digest..a trip to the FDA website discussed slaughter and rendering plants..I got these facts,, a 1200 lb horse produces 360 lbs of meat or only 30% of the carcused is used..840 lbs goes to the rendering plant..usually located near a slaughter plant..is ground up guts and spine brain et ..all the parts containing the most toxic carriers..it becomes the protein in farm food for livestock, and it lists on the website 36% to poulttry-36 to pet foods and then down to hogs ect and lists 3% to misc..it cannot be included in cow feed since the mad cow outbreak which came from feeding dead cows rendered into feed..but they allow this by product of horsemeat..which is the most toxic part in other animals food we eat and in our pet food..that is appox 20,000,000 lbs just from US horses f this rendered cooked product..which is considered protein..Also rendering plants is where our Euthanised horses go that are full of the chemicals vets used to put them down..sick horses, cancer cows and downers..all suffering from disease
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I don’t know about all pet food brands, but the ones we buy for our cats & dog specifically say: chicken, & poultry by-product meal. The only mystery ingredient is “animal fat”. Also, when I buy eggs, it is from free range hens fed a commercial vegetarian diet, not counting all the insects they naturally eat while outside! The problem is that my husband & daughter still eat meat! I do NOT, nor will I ever go back! I keep trying to get them to understand the possible consequences of continuing their present dietary choices. My husband says, oh well, I only eat chicken, if it kills me someday, well you gotta die from something! Our teen daughter tried being a vegetarian for a while, but she is easily influenced by her peers. What’s a mom to do?! This whole mess is making me sick, YUK!!!!!
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My cat food says poultryproducts as first..my dog fod lists corn and then meat and bone meal, that could easily come from a rendering plant..but if suppliers sell beef and use horsemeat instead..why would we think they are not adding meat meal from horsemeat to pet food???? which we are less likely to test…labeling of mixed ingrediants are a likely hiding place
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Sandra, I found the FDA info on everything but the 20,000,000 lbs. from US horses. Where did you get that?
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Linda horn..I took the number of horses that went to slaughter( I used 150,000 as an average) and multiplied by the 850 lbs of waste from each carcass that went to the rendering plant..the number 19,644,450 rounded up to 20,000,000 to make it an even number..not every horse is going to weigh 1200 lbs ..so you could say between 19 and 20
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Very good points. If its not cost effective to raise horse for meat, that’s a plus. But when they obtain wild horses for practically nothing, and send them to slaughter, it’s all profit. Correct me if I’m wrong.
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BLM branded wild horses are $400 a semiload -plus they even deliver the load ..so yes..the horses are already fat..so they bring top dollar as opposed to skinny horses.and it is almost pure profit
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Those facts may be accurate, however, in my book, those wild horses & burros belong to ALL of us, to America, NOT to our idiotic government to do with as they please! WE ARE the “government”, I think way too many people have forgotten that “little” fact! Or, they’re not teaching it in our schools any longer?? If we elected them into office, we CAN & BETTER take them out! Most “lay-people” off the streets would be better qualified. They’d actually know, first hand what America needs. Those animals are OURS, & our future generations, they are not here for our government to destroy. They belong to US, but we are only borrowing them from the future, so in fact, they really belong to no one anymore than the other, they have the right to exist, & to co-exist with us, without fear.
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Taking wild horses from BLM land is theft . They give you 10 years for stealing dinosaur bone or Indian relics from BLM land, so why are our wild horses any different? I lived in Utah and Salizar went hard on those thieves.
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They don’t care how terrible horses are at feed conversion. They don’t pay to feed them, they only pay the “scrap” value after the horse is used up. Or, they steal the horse from its pasture, or they answer ads on cheap or free horses to “good homes only.”
There is almost twice as much waste on a horse carcass as there is on a beef carcass. That’s why all the horse slaughter plants in this country were environmental messes. I have been to several beef slaughter houses, and I’ve never smelled anything, never seen blood or bones or hide anywhere. They weren’t big commercial plants, so I don’t know if those are the horrors that horse butchers are.
I just don’t see the reason to slaughter horses. We don’t have humane transport or humane slaughter, and we can’t be sure the meat is safe. I also don’t believe we should ship cattle, pigs or sheep long distances, but this is what happens when we allow big corporations to feed us.
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Valerie – The Humane Society recently sent out a legislative scorecard for all U.S senators and representatives on their recent voting history concerning animals. You may be able to look it up on-line. It is an eye opener.
The represenatative for my area scored a “0” as he works primarily for special interests – and strongly favors a horse slaughterhouse in this area (friend of local horse slaughter advocate David Duquette and fellow travelers).
My two awesome senators scored 80% which is pretty good, but they can do better and I will hold them to it. Both of them said they would vote for the passage of The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act after I contacted all my legislators with that request. The senators each responded by letter – one in print and one by email. The represenative did not respond at all to a mere citizen. You know who will and who will not get my vote (or respect).
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My rep from Bend, Greg Walden- Republican- won;t even respond on WH issues or slaughter..merkley gave me a personal response and wyden a canned response to WH issues
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I can find no date on this information from australia..but the PDF from the EU on imports exports and tonage is different..China is shown as a leading importer.not exporter.I am more inclined to go with the EUs figures..mexicos export figures are alot lower and we know americas horses are split between canada and mexico..bute has been found according to EU reports makes me think this is an old report..According to our FDA reports horses yield 360 lbs per 1200 lb, cows 567.8 lbs per 1,000 lbs
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Click to access horses_EU_facts_figures_EU_horsemeat_trade.pdf
by far the most comprehensive explaination and figures from the Humane Society international..I am still lookin for something to support the fact that Russia is the worlds leading exporter…because they are not connected to the EU..but it certainly is not showing russia as shipping meat to the EU countries..In fact the news stories TODAY say Russia is thinking of banning beef imports from EU over this horsemeat scandal..so go figure..when I can find corroberating info that russia is the worlds leading exporter i will post it
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http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2013/02/27/who-knew-canada-is-no-3-in-global-horse-meat-export-trade/?mod=google_news_blog
From WSJ lists argentina as leading exporter, Belgium second and Canada 3rd..this is from 2010..United Nations..Since China is not very transparent…that is an understatement, I am not sure that anyone could ascertain there exports..what I have seen of horses in china..they are small ponies not big drafty type horses..maybe RT knows more about this from his trips to china
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YUK..I found websites that do international buying and selling of horsemeat and donkeys..somewhat like the stockmarket..orders are posted from countries seeking meat, for sausage, whole meat pet food ect…China is in fact the worlds largest consumer not exporter..they are importers and were the most frequent buyers on the site I was looking at
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Yesterday on Jerry,s Habitate for Horses LNORMAN posted a video in the artiscle HSI/Canada (extremly graphic) that rocked my soul-I could not even watch it all, it’s horse slaughter in Russa-I think we are turning the corner back to barbarianism, and we have seen similar things in Florida with Cujo, we need to have a bigger plan, if horse slaughter opens here it is only going to open the door to this behavior in our own country.
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Thank you for these articles, Sandra. It is gratifying to hear that because of the scandal in Europe there is less demand for horse meat from Canada. That should slow down the slaughter mania that has engulfed Oklahoma, New Mexico and any other state that hasn’t been pro-active in riding themselves of this spector.
By the way, I am from Pendleton, so Walden is the do-nothing rep for this area, too. Merkley shines – for animals as well as for people. Oregonians Against Horse Slaughter are a very active united group, so I don’t see slaughter happening in this state anytime soon, but we will keep fighting! Glad you are an Oregonian.
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I’m getting the feeling that some in America are starting to excuse this, the fraudlent labelling and dangerous chemicals are being downplayed in favor of ‘let’s not impose our values on othe cultures’. It’s become comedy on late night talk shows; we take nothing seriously. It’s too bad we don’t keep our nose out of other countries’ business all the time.
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Like I’ve mentioned in my previous comments, you just can’t fix stupid! Stupid is what stupid does. No traces of “bute” have been found, DUH!!! For one thing, there are NO known, or reliable tests even available to check for certain drugs, as these have never before been allowed in animals “farmed or raised as food animals”, there for no tests are available, nor are existing tests going to give correct results! Never before in the history, at least not in the written history, of this country, America, have we ever viewed horses as food animals, nor ever raised them or regulated them as such! How is it that WE know all this stuff, & our stupid, brainwashed government & general population, does not know, or even refuses to entertain the possibility that WE may actually be right. What gain are they really hoping for? People have been eating horses for 10,000 years, yeah, cavemen, neanderthals, & backward, living in the dark ages, remote, isolated, uneducated peoples, communities, or countries, or back in the long ago days, a native may have eaten his horse if either it died, or he needed it to keep himself or family alive! Oh, & I left out all the other stupid people that don’t seem to give a crap about what they eat or feed their families. Notice I used the word, “stupid” (actually several times!), that’s because stupid refuses to believe or change or join the modern, “civilized” world. Ignorant means they just haven’t had the opportunity to become better educated on any particular issue or subject. Besides this being a moral, ethical, or animal abuse subject, this is about the health & well being (or not!) of a unsuspecting or suspecting public. Shouldn’t it be part of our dear government’s “job” to keep her public safe?? How then can they even consider justifying allowing or funding, USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities in America?? I am NOT afraid, if they build them, I say, burn them down to the ground, BEFORE any horses or workers are brought in! I wish we had more than one car, I’d certainly try to be wherever I could to help in person! Right now, I am ashamed to be an American.
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I found 1 buyer for horsemeat in the USA on this 1 website called “Iron Lightning Meat, they are looking for whole quarters of horsemeat
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http://gulfbusiness.tradeholding.com/default.cgi/action/viewcompanies/companyid/554807/
Lynn Williams partner, location South Dakota, business..meat wholesaler, distributer
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http://importer.tradekey.com/horse-meat-importer.html
this is the link where horsemeat is traded..there are other websites doing this as well..this was just my first stop..they advertise you can connect with 6 million traders worldwide..sign up..IT’S FREE!
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I am confused as to who is who. Not why shouldn’t I be concerned because it isn’t in back yard. Cause it damn well will be if it isn’t already.
So here in my simple world I live in I try to keep track of the names of co’s. I recognize. Like Nestle’s, Birds Eye etc. For me these co. may as well shut their doors now cause I won’t be back purchasing anything from them. Even when God himself tells me their clean–nope not good enough.
Somewhere, somehow someone was allowed to switch my cow to horse. That’s just simple reason enough not to ever purchase anything from them again.
Now about the USDA funding horse slaughter…how in the bleeping bleepers can Washington begin to justify spending that money when its clearly not going to have people lining up to buy? All this stuff is giving me a migraine…
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I live in a small town in China.。In my hometown, Yes, dogs and cats might be food on the table, but the horse, I’m sure I’ve never heard of metamorphosis of think of them as food.
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According to statistics, China is the number one horsemeat producer.
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