Back in the Stable and Off the Table

Americans so cherish wild horses as symbols of the American west that in 1971 Congress passed a law to protect them from slaughter. But last year, a Montana senator essentially reversed the measure with a little-noticed provision in a larger spending bill. At least 41 wild horses have been killed since. (http://www.justsaywhoa.org/news/GannetNews.asp) "Not just wild horses end up being slaughtered," said Nancy Perry, vice president of government affairs for the Humane Society of the United States. "What's really going on is the use of American horses to feed foreign diners."( http://www.justsaywhoa.org/news/GannetNews.asp) Horsemeat is a delicacy in places like Japan and Europe. While the killings of 41 wild horses at an Illinois slaughterhouse drew attention to the issue, about 65,000 horses were quietly killed last year. (http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_news/save_the_wild_horses.html) As Americans, this odious, ugly, and gut-wrenching practice should not even exist. Why? The reason is simple. Horse slaughter is not and never will be part of our society. In our country and culture, we do not eat the animals we have domesticated, i.e., dogs, cats, or horses. If they have been tamed, trained and given a name, we as a society, do not to eat them.

The American west has its own mythology and its own rich history in literature, film, and television—one that no other U.S. geographic region can ever hope to match. If any one animal symbolizes our own—or even the world’s—fascination with the American west, it is without doubt the horse. Many of these wild animals were tamed and they, in turn, helped Americans tame the dusty frontier that lay west of the Mississippi. The horse, both wild and domestic, has earned its rightful place in American hearts and minds.

Wild horses have a long history with North America. Fossil records show they were living in North America millions of years ago, gradually spreading to Asia likely via the Bering land bridge before...