The collapse of the Horse Market....

by Nimal Sedera

The horse is symbol of Majesty. More than for sports the horse was a brigade of the royal army. In many parts of the world the elite including the king went on horse back, or travelled in a carriage drawn by the horses. The horse is part of a royal deco and pageant. This great animal is considered a god's great creation...

Times have changed and fate of the horses have become so pathetic. Lets read the story of the American horse. Kentucky is the famous city for thoroughbred horses. The horse auctions and horse sales were so common here and it was a key way of making life. Today the Kentucky horse farmers are totally stranded as there is no demand whatsoever for the horses.

People cannot find food for the horses. There is no work for the animals to be used. The horses and the horse breeders both suffer. Horse owners let loose the horses and there are thousands of horses roaming on the streets without any owner. According to reports there are even blind horses among them.

One might just raise the question why cannot the horses be shot down? Yes shooting the horse involves money. A vet will charge a minimum of 150 dollars to kill a horse. Who has the money for that?... A horse cannot be sold even for 75 dollars. There are no bidders even for 50 dollars. Then after killing, burying the horse itself is a major problem.

Where to bury? Then the problem of the environmentalists begin. They protest on pollution problems.

In the past horses were sent to the glue factories for gum making. That too is not possible as the gums are now made of synthetic stuff. Then there is anti horse killing organisations. They protest on shooting the animals. Even if the horses wish to end the suffering these organisations stand against..?

Making the situation much more grave there is a drastic reduction of horse meat consumption in the USA. Maryland, New York, Illnoise and some other key places have prohibited the sale of horse meat in public places. The horse slaughter figures show the drastic drop in the slaughter of horses for flesh.

In the year 1990 three hundred thousand horses have been slaughtered for flesh and in 2005 the amount has dropped to 90,000. (ninety thousand) California is the only State that has banned the horse slaughter.

The advancement of science and technology has made the Majestic animal a liability to the society. May be a drastic birth control measure is the long term answer to the problem.

(facts extracted from Las Vegas Review-journal)