Montana Horse Processing

 A recent article in a Wyoming newspaper said: Tough economic times are apparently driving a growing number of horse owners into cruel choices. "We've seen a large increase in the number of horses that are being set loose and just left as strays, and also cases with people who have a large number of horses and just can't feed them anymore," said a Wyoming official.

 Meanwhile, Montana is very close to approving a slaughterhouse for horses. Horse salesman Bill Parker of Billings uses different language: “First off, let’s change our language to make that processing plant. I am very strongly in favor of a horse processing plant somewhere in the U.S. whether it be in Montana or N. Dakota, the necessity is dire.”   This from a horse lover?

 (Parker) “Correct. There’s never been a day in my life where I did not own a horse.”  That said, Parker reasons: “The first reason is excess numbers of horses in the U.S. that the opponents have no plan as to how to feed them or take care of them. Should we be able to open a plan in the U.S., we can regulate how the horses are handled and cared for and euthanized.

 And Parker says that animals left to their own can die of starvation or end up being shipped to processing plants outside the U.S.  Either way, he thinks Montana’s solution is more humane.