The Path to Slaughter at a Horse Auction

I was coming off the racetrack this morning at Woodbine, and Nancy, assistant trainer for Roger Attfield, hollered at me, “Alex, if you need space to stash a horse for a few months, I have a spot for you.” It was a gesture triggered no doubt by the knowledge that I attend a “livestock” horse auction once a week about an hour west of Woodbine. Tuesday was that day.

I attend auctions primarily to study the behavior of the kill buyer, whose main client is a slaughterhouse, and to provide more transparency to this aspect of the horse industry. Occasionally I buy a horse.

While there is currently no horse slaughter in the United States, auctions like this exist all over North America. They are part of the clearinghouse for animals that eventually wind up on dinner tables around the world. But, as I have come to learn, not just any horse will do for slaughter. Kill buyers prefer healthy horses of medium size. Consequently kill buyers often end up bidding against those looking for a horse for their daughter or their farm. As for the horses that receive no bids, they are sometimes picked up by rescue farms, or are euthanized.

With about 60 horses for sale, Tuesday’s auction was similar in size to those I have attended on recent Tuesdays. In recent weeks two to three kill buyers have attended. This week, only the main kill buyer attended. Because of that, he was able to buy horses almost at will. He bought about 40 horses (most were standardbreds, owing to the many trotting tracks in Ontario), paying from as low as 15 cents a pound to as high as 49 cents a pound. He bought three of the five thoroughbreds for sale.

The odd thing about his most expensive horse is that it is not the type of horse he typically buys for kill, at that price. I have come to learn the types of horses and conditions of horses that are ideal for kill. This was a big black percheron. At 25 cents it would have made sense. The best conclusion I could draw is that this horse was bought for someone else. He did pay 43 cents a pound for another horse, a gorgeous and healthy-looking one. That price made sense and is what I would consider his top price for a meat horse yesterday. In recent weeks the top price paid had been about three or four cents higher. On Tuesday we had the same number of horses, fewer bidders, and therefore lower prices all around. The median price was down about 5 cents a pound.

What becomes clear at these auctions is that kill buyers pay a premium for healthy-looking horses. On Tuesday the kill buyer paid as low as 15 cents a pound for a couple of underweight horses. And there were other horses, which were worse off, that the kill buyer simply did not bid on. The point is that kill buyers are not simply buying up horses that have no other demand. They are bidding on healthy horses, paying more for those horses as they outbid private buyers and other dealers. A healthy horse bound for slaughter will provide a better-quality meat, and more of it, to the meatpacking company I assume.

Last year I bought a horse, Kiss My Hoof, for $300 from a kill buyer. He was perhaps the slowest racehorse in Ontario. Beaten about 50 lengths in his final start.

A week later, I watched Magic Flute go to slaughter. Magic Flute was a winner three times in six starts in Canada. He was second in the other three starts.

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Alex am I reading this correctly?? You bought Magic Flute at auction and then U let him go to slaughter??? Is this correct??

no. He was at the auction, I did not bring him to the auction. I did not buy him. I identified him, a day later. he had already shipped to slaughter.

Thanks so much for this article, Alex. I have added it to my blog!

//arizona1-aahsbloggingupdates.blogspot.com/

I think it means he simply didn’t buy him, no direct involvement from what I can ascertain.

this is what I wrote about Magic Flute for the ABR Facebook Group (kjust to clear things up):

I arrived at OLEX (the auction at Kitchener) and walked through over head of where the horses were in their pens, awaiting the sale. I noted a nice looking chestnut in the pen closest to the sales ring. When I sat down to watch the sale, I got a text message from another person (Ellie Ross) “Did you see the good looking chestnut”. I did. I waited for him to go through the sale. He was one of the last to go through. I forget the price now, probably around 25 cents / pound. After the sale I went to the kill pen to take a look at him, and to read his lip tattoo. He was nervous and took some coaxing to get the number. A day later we determined who he was. I made a couple of calls.

He had already shipped to slaughter.

I will never forget Magic Flute. It still sickens me as I type. Seven starts. 3 wins, 3 seconds including a Grade 3. 1 no finish.

So who were Magic Flutes connections and what were their excuses for sending a perfectly good Thoroughbred w/ some talent to slaugher? Someone should try to interview the owners. Make them squirm a bit at their callousness.

The story of Magic Flute still makes me sad. We remember…

maureen Johnston May 20, 2009 · 9:59 pm

Hi Alex. Any time you feel the need to purchase a horse, we will always make a spot for you. maureen

Bless you, dear Alex, for having the courage to go to these auctions, it can’t be easy. It’s really awful, but I think it has to change eventually as more people become educated about the slaughter of horses. Your high profile alone is bringing attention to the issue. I salute you!

Horse slaughter is necessary to take care of excess horses in the same way that euthenasia is necessary to control the wild dog and wild cat population and why deer hunting is necessary.

What would we do with all the excess horses? In a perfect world they will all find homes but in the real world they’ll starve to death. What we must do is make sure they are treated with respect and that their last ride and their end are safe and humane.

Although I own four horses and four cats and three dogs and give them all a loving home I don’t condemn people who eat horse meat. Or dog or cat. You do what you need to do to survive and different cultures have different food. I’m just warning you that you better not try to eat my horses. Or dogs or cats.

Great job in alerting people to the problem. But REALLY LOUSY job in alerting people to what they can do. And you did not mention a bit about people fighting to stop this. So, once again, fabulous NYTimes reporting job.

Editor’s Note: Horse slaughter is a controversial topic we explore regularly on The Rail. We invite you to do a search for previous articles.

I farm, have livestock, and to be very clear love all animals big or small.
But to be realistic it’s all about demand. I admire and salute all people willing to take horses or any animal in simply out of compassion. I don’t own horses and never have.
So far this is nothing more than a rant but with all the seemingly depressing news all the time about animals it really is just so important to just keep making the effort no matter how small it may seem.
From something as small as a daily hit on the animalrescuesite.com to the emails that I will always believe helped encourage the EEC to ban the import of seal fur thus slowing to stopping the slaughter of baby seals all the way up to the people who actually put up the money to take in something as costly as a horse, it all adds up to good things for animals.
Keep up the effort people and understand there are many of us out there that really do appreciate what you do.

we are almost the only country in the world that does not consume horsemeat. While I personally have no desire to eat horse, I do not understand people’s squeamishness, as well as their moral outrage at the slaughter of horses for food? Is the life of a pig, chicken, or cow, somehow less valuable than that of a horse?

just curious…

Melodee Campbell Shelley-Bolmgren May 21, 2009 · 12:48 am

Thank you Alex for doing all you do to help thoroughbreds in need and by continuing to speak out on their behalf-On our Chez Chevaux blog, we recently posted about some Pacific NW Tribes considering building/reopening equine slaughter houses on private land (as Montana and Tennessee are as well)-Regionally-this is even more horrifically scary-one reference we’ve cited (re:above) states locally that “skinny” horses here may go for a mere 6 cents per pound.Again, THANK YOU for being another voice for thoroughbreds that cannot speak for themselves.
Best, Melodee C. Shelley-Bolmgren
Chez Chevaux Thoroughbred Rescue, WA

It seems to me that because horses are both common and relatively easily manipulated, we allow ourselves to avoid the fact that they are miraculous.

I am struck by the callousness, again, of our presumption, as humans, that we can do what we please to other creature, without consequences. This is of course, false. The consequences are merely difficult to trace. But they are clear to those willing to see them.

What is not stated above is that the industry (racing) that produces all of these excess horses is responsible for their subsequent mistreatment and slaughter when their value as a racer is gone. The kill buyer is just the agent of the larger rotten industry.

Truly, a nation and a people’s morals can be clearly seen in how it treats its animals.

For the chance to wager on a thing as paltry as a race, we are willing to breed and then destroy without a trace of regret so many beautiful, spirited animals. Very sad.

As long as one is going to eat meat, why not horse meat? I wonder if it’s because people are under the impression that horses are more intelligent than other animals that we send to the slaughterhouse. But if you keep a pig as a pet or if you read the essays of Jon Katz about his pet cow, you’ll learn that pigs and cows are just as smart and sensitive as horses. There is no moral reason to prefer the consumption of pork and beef to that of horse meat.

It is especially silly, if you stop and think about it, to propose that the slaughter of a good racehorse is more tragic than that of an inferior racehorse. Why should the athletic ability of a horse dispose us any differently toward its slaughter? If you prize the fast horse more highly and would sooner send the slow horse to slaughter, then you care more about horse racing than you do about animal welfare.

Pam, you raise a good question. We should distinguish between animals. Shouldn’t we feel greater moral outrage at the slaughter of a chimpanzee than at a cockroach? We should draw distinctions based on levels of intelligence, emotional development, and sentience. It would be horrifying to kill a dolphin, but less so for a clam or sardine.

Horse is popular in Europe, possibly even more so since the repulsively shallow Karl Lagerfeld publicised it as his weight loss secret

Meat is meat usualy the better looking the animal is the better it tastes. I have eaten just about every species of wild and domestic animal. But never a horse. I guess i will have to go to Canada for that one A. As long as my tax dollars are not going to someone to resque them I do not have a problem with the ban to slaughter them in the U.S.A But if it is . People have to realize that like any other animal their populations have to be controlled. If not starvation and disease will shurley follow. What then I supose we could just dig a big hole and dose them in Then we could tell the starving masses around the world sorry but we do not feel we should send you a horse for table fare .

Max, you said: What we must do is make sure they are treated with respect and that their last ride and their end are safe and humane.

This is NOT happening. How safe do you feel eating food in this country, or buying toys from China, etc, etc, etc, despite the supposed safeguards that are “in place.”?

Remember the downer cows video? The USDA and the FDA are not doing their jobs. Why should horses be entrusted to a broken process?

Since human overpopulation is at the heart of all problems on this planet, why not just slaughter humans? It’s the same rationale.

Recently on HBO, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel did a piece on horse slaughter. They took under cover cameras into a slaughter house in Mexico. Everyone should be made to watch this. It is totally despicable and outrageous how they slaughter these horses. They are not mercifully euthanized by any means at all. It was barbaric and something you’d expect in the medieval times. I will not go into how it is done, but after watching this show, it made me feel sick to my stomach. Shame on the people that exploit these animals and when they’re done with them, they throw them out like trash!!

They will continue to overbreed horses as long as there is an “easy way out”. The owners of horses need to be held accountable, and the racing industry needs to admit that the public is not too stupid to know what is going on with these animals. They whine that their “sport” is dying, but what other so called “sport” allows it’s athletes to be brutally slaughtered? Americans have pretty much told the racing industry that they have no desire to see horses injured or killed. Racing is dying, but it is a much less painful death than that of those who sacrificed their lives for the “sport”. I am disgusted enough to say, “Let racing die–save the horses.”

OLEX records don’t show you buying any horses from the kill auction