In Defense of Using Horses for Meat

Re “When a Horse Isn’t Just a Horse . . . but a Meal” (Aug. 8): To “save the horses” and domesticate them doesn’t even make good horse sense.

So it’s OK to turn a horse into paint thinner, soap and dog food, but not all right to eat horse meat? Ridiculous, sentimental nonsense. I love horse meat and nearly survived on it when I was poor and working my way through UCLA. There used to be a market on Pico Boulevard where you could buy horse meat for human consumption.

So let’s consider the food value of horse, think of the millions of people who starve to death every day worldwide, and consider horse a worthy and useful part of the food chain for human beings.

BRUCE TASCHNER

Lake Arrowhead

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I love horses as much as anyone. I’ve rescued a number myself. Your article states the problem clearly when Cathleen Doyle says, “There aren’t enough of us to rescue all the horses in line for slaughter.” Horse owners who breed for fun contribute to this problem.

So who will care for the rescued horses? A horse is not a cat or dog. It is $100 a month minimum to care for a horse’s basic needs, not to mention exercise. People neglect their horses now. If there are more horses, more horses will suffer--or will this proposed initiative pay for their care?

New laws need to aim at ensuring humane and comfortable transport for horses and quick and humane slaughter for those who must go.

GLORIA HAMBLIN

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The move to have horses placed in the same category as dogs and cats is clearly preposterous. What’s next? Banning the slaughter of swine because some people choose to keep potbellied pigs as pets?

There are more palatable solutions than this group trying to impose its value on others. If you don’t want horses sold for meat, don’t do it and / or rescue a horse yourself, as did some people cited in the story.

But when it comes to the proposed legislation, the rest of us should “Just Say ‘Neigh.’ ”

CARL DOMBEK

Sacramento