Would You Be Upset?

[magsmay]

I am getting rather sick and some what upset about all these 'horse meat' jokes -and I'm not alone -in the UK there are presently in excess of 4 million people who either own a horse as a PET or ride one regularly. My horses are part of our family -we have had them since foals and would be devastated if anything happened to them -Unfortunately only a small amount of horses are bred for meat - mainly in Eastern Europe - most are unwanted race horses, injured or sick animals that are sold on and end up in the food chain - even some stolen ones -peoples loved pets. If you are not a horse owner but maybe own a dog or cat -how would you feel about joke after joke about your loved pets being killed for meat? Would it upset anyone?

[Ann]

I may boycott eating lamb after seeing DT's cute little sheeeeep xxxx

[mrs.chappie]

I find it sad but try not to think about it too much, as the thought of any animal being slaughtered upsets me. It's hypocritical of me though, as I love my meat.

I think the most you can hope for, is that the slaughter was quick and humane. Sadly, that's not always the case.

[NOX]

No it doesn't upset me, I have several horses and can understand the concept of humour without getting all bent out of shape about it. Much as I love horses I cannot in all truth and honesty see the difference between killing a horse to eat it or killing a lamb, pig or cattle- they are all equally dead, they all think, fear and feel- so why should horses be viewed any more delicately than any other carnivorous food source?

[Buenchico]

I love dogs but jokes about Koreans eating them doesn't offend me.

Anyway, one of the reasons I love Belgium is the fact that I can buy horse steaks in the restaurants there!

[echokilo]

Until recently I owned my own horses - so understand how they are part of the family - HOWEVER, no on eis making jokes directly aimed at you and your equines, so I personally would not be upset by them. 8,500 horses were slaughtered in the Uk last year and the majority were shipped to Europe - perfectly fit for human consumption, but, understandably no demand for it in the UK ................ I am annoyed at the manufacturing industry for letting this happen in the UK food chain and am more upset by the fact thay I may have eaten horse without knowing - I can say I have previously tired horse in France, was not keen, would not wish to again - but only because of the taste not morally. I spent 8 years as a vegetarian years ago when welfare in UK let alond over farming left a lot to be desired, but now things are much better and I only eat Uk raised livestock, and know a lot about farm assured produce and conditions .................... I am getting slightly fed up with seeing the horse related jokes, now thatt's "old hat" and a little boring. But to return to you point of "how would you feel about joke after joke about your loved pets being killed for meat?" ..... I don't believe anyone has done this publically to anyone have they? And I am sure if this has happened to you privately, it was meant to be a lighthearted reaction to something I personally feel is a shocking state of affairs that we cannot trust out food suppliers. I buy meat from a local butcher with 100% UK traceability, I buy no processed food - nor would I.

[joko]

are you suggesting that some gang of horse snatchers are going round the country stealing peoples horses - in huge volumes - to put in burgers, then selling them to tesco?

do you bet? do you support horseracing?

i would suggest you focus your anger on the horseracing industry then ... because it is very likely that that is where these horses came from ... they have served their 'purpose' - ie making the owner cash in horseracing, and are then sold 'as scrap' to whoever wants them to do whatever with them...
the horses are a commodity to these people - nothing more - and supporting that industry perpetuates this.


i woud also add - people keep lots of animals for pets - pigs, fish, sheep etc ...they are all living creatures

meat is meat - if you eat one you cant complain because others choose to eat another


from someone who has been a vegetarian for 20 -odd years.

[owdhamer]

Pets do die and that causes heartache,you have got rise above the jokes

[LyndaB]

It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, some of the jokes have been hilarious, although it's wearing a bit thin now. I don't even object to eating horsemeatm even though to my knowledge, I haven't. What I do object to, however, is horsemeat being passed off as beef. Lets hope it's the wake up call that some people need to push them in the direction of the pots and pans - if you cook it yourself, using meat you have bought from a reliable butcher, then you KNOW what's in your food. To the OP - lighten up, the jokes aren't personally aimed at you and your horses!

[emmie]

not so much upset, but i am worried that what we are putting on our plates isn't necessarily beef, pork, but horsemeat, and that isn't something i would do voluntarily,

[emmie]

lynda, no one knows for sure the source of the beef they eat, even reliable butchers, and please find me one, could be using other sources, and the meat could be halal even, and you wouldn't know one way or the other.

[magsmay]

Thanks for your answers. Just to clarify - I have actually had jokes shouted at me whilst out riding -maybe light hearted - and also a few comments left on FB -but I guess I'm not 'upset' as much as sick to the teeth of the jokes which are taking over from very serious issues on food safety. Up until a few years ago before passports and microchips horses were regularly stolen and ended up in the food chain -now most of the horses being slaughtered into the food chain in the UK are horses and ponies that have started their lives as domestic, not farm animals -lots of these cute gypsy foals we see on the side of the road end up at the abattoir -they have not been bred for the table, are often riddled with redworms or have diseases such as Strangles -but thats not what my OP was about. At the beginning of the 'saga' I even laughed when my son suggested I change one of our horses names to 'lasagna the wonder horse' after he was being a particular prat one morning (the horse not son lol!) But I guess after a couple of weeks of it the jokes in the media are getting more vicious and upsetting.

[RATTER15]

Magsmay, //the jokes in the media are getting more vicious//

They are? I havnt seen anything vicious!

[China Doll]

There are frequent jokes about putting my cat on the BBQ or making him in to a kebab... they don't seem to bother him.

And no, the jokes about animals being eaten makes not a jot of a dent in my head, I think a lot of them are quite funny. I also don't see why people make a distinction between why it's ok to eat one kind of animal and not another, it's all meat. I'm of the mindset 'when in rome...' and all that kind of thing.

[lozzer50]

a joke is a joke , no its not nice to hear we may have eaten horse but it is eaten abroad as are cats and dogs. it is awful to think as consumers we are being mislead, but if we all stopped buying these ready meals etc there would be no way for these less than honest people making a profit from these animals.

[venator]

We humans tend to defuse shocking events by making jokes about them.

If you look at it that way, it shows that the jokers realise how unpleasant it is.

[naomi24]

No, I wouldn't be upset. People eat all sorts of things. That's life.

[dollie65]

why get upset its only peoples way of making light of the situation...

[Old_Geezer]

I understand what you are saying magsmay, but I think you are probably being oversensitive. It's not as if anyone is suggesting eating your pet. Nor do we worry about, for instance, those who keep pigs as pets when we discuss eating pork, ham, or bacon, etc.. I can understand complaining about the quality and the excess of, and the regular repeating of jokes on this subject, but to be upset because folk are using humour to cope with the situation is IMO a little excessive.

[888sally888]

The horse jokes are repetitive and boring now. All I can add is that I am so happy to be a vegetarian!

[LyndaB]

emmie - my local butcher has a sign in his shop saying where his beef has come from, and where it was slaughtered. The same family has owned the shop for about 60 years so I do trust them. As for halal meat, there are several halal butchers within a 10 mile radius and I wouldn't mind eating it in the slightest.