Coming up on Dateline, the most divisive, emotionally-charged animal rights debate in America: what to do with unwanted equines.
“I’d rather see them slaughtered than starved,” says owner Sandy. “And that’s what’s happening.”
“There are sometimes too many dogs or cats,” argues Wayne Pacelle from the Humane Society, “but we don’t ship them to a slaughterhouse and export the meat.”
Video journalist Ginny Stein is at a horse auction in Indiana where she surveys what’s known as the “kill pen”. The horses don’t actually die here – that occurs thousands of kilometres away in Canada or Mexico, because wealthy and powerful animal rights organisations have successfully shut down America’s slaughterhouses.
Now these organisations say the long journey over the border is also inhumane, and they want to end the live export for slaughter trade entirely.
“We need to care for these animals because we have responsibilities. In the relationship between humans and animals we hold all the cards,” says the Humane Society’s Wayne Pacelle.
“They are not being mistreated,” argues Keith Lambright, livestock auctioneer. “We are only disposing of animals that are no good no longer. They are either lame, blind or whatever it might be and the reality of it is, they got to go somewhere.”
If the lobbying by animal rights organisations is successful, where will that leave the owners of unwanted horses? Will they just let their animals starve, as has been claimed?
A horse is for life – or is it? Judge for yourself, on Dateline. SBS, Wednesday July 2, 8.30pm
The video will be online from 03 July 2008 on www.sbs.com.au/dateline