The American Beagler Forum

Anyone heard anything about the possibilty of companies using horse meat in dog food ? Maybe it's already happening ? I don't know ? That's why I'm asking about it because I heard it .

I thought this was a neat article here on the history of dog food...

"Before the advent of commercially made pet foods, most dogs lived off of grains, meats, table scraps and homemade food from their owners. It wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that the world saw its first food made specifically for dogs. An American electrician, James Spratt concocted the first dog treat. Living in London at the time, he witnessed dogs around a shipyard eating scraps of discarded biscuits. Shortly thereafter he introduced his dog food, made up of wheat meals, vegetables and meat. By 1890 production had begun in the United States and became known as "Spratt's Patent Limited".

Canned horse meat was introduced in the United States under the Ken-L-Ration brand after WWI as a means to dispose of deceased horses. The 1930’s saw the introduction of canned cat food and dry meat-meal dog food by the Gaines Food Co. By the time WWII ended, pet food sales had reached $200 million. In the 1950s Spratt's became part of General Mills. For companies such as Nabisco, Quaker Oats, and General Foods, pet food represented an opportunity to market by-products as a profitable source of income."

Here is a link below that states that horse meat is not in dog food in the United States, that the United States makes more money shipping the horses to other countries to be slaughtered there... But they said if you look at the label on the back of the dog food and it just says "animal" it could be anything from roadkill, other pets, etc.

http://www.thatmutt.com/2009/01/25/is-t ... -dog-food/

The thing is that there is so many atricles about this and some say one way and some say the other... What I am getting most out of them is that the bigger brands dont have horse meat in them that some of the smaller brands do and its in cat and dog food... But who really knows the truth!!!!

I have eaten horse meat stakes while stationed in France. Its a redder meat, less fat and is good.

is horse or donkey meat bad for them or is it the ideal of it?

my guess its just the idea of it, companies advertising on tv to use their dog feed with horse meat as main ingredient would set off a" Green Movement". When you catch some of the things your hound eats in the field that it comes across, i think a good processed horse meat meal would do them just fine. Could you imagine PETA's reaction if horses were used?

Most folks around here who own Horses do not ride them, have anywhere to ride them ,or use them for any other purpose that I can see other than to feed them, pay for their care, and look at them. I know folks that don't have two dimes to rub together that do this . ( Probably why they don't have two dimes to rub together) Why, I think television programs were the start of it. They impressed upon impressionable minds, that Horses were a symbol of things that they were not, such as Freedom, and everything that was wild and free.( Pigs and Cows were too ugly and therefore, this notion could not be foisted off on even the most weakest of minds) Oh, to ride off in the sunset on Black Beauty was magnificent! These impressionable minds are what keeps horses from being put to good use such as the main ingredient in dog food. We all know what a goldfish is, it is something you pen up, pay for the feed and care of it and then just look at it. The horse is the biggest Goldfish in the world today. Now before I get any ugly responses, if you want to own the biggest Goldfish in the world, I don't have a problem with that. I also, know that there are real applications for the Horse, but overall they are kept as Goldfish . My opinion of why they are not used as dog food as much as they should be, if they are used at all.

If it is legal for humans to eat horse meat in this country then you can bet that the meat scraps go into pet food.

The slaughter of horses for human food has been stopped in thios country just a couple of years ago. Prior to that there were 2 maybe 3 Federally inspected horse slaughter plants in the US. These plants mostly exported the horse meatto foreign countries with france being one of the top importers. The government a year or so ago stopped Federally inspecting horse slaughter and disallowed it. What then happened was there was no place to dospose of old used up equine and loads of horses were trucked to Mexico to be slaughtered. the government is now starting to rethink the banning of horse slaughter for human consumption as it has made the disposal of them very difficult. I do know that 30 years ago when I started as a USDA meat inspector my first choice of assignments was in an old horse slaughter plant in northern Indiana. That plant is no longer there but there is one of the biggest ones in the US in Illinois. Horse meat overseas is a delicacy but here it is taboo for folks to eat their pets.

just like beef in India.

When I was a boy, in the 1950's, my dad would purchase horse meat at the local store and mix it in with dry dog food for all the Beagles and Birddogs in the winter time. Can not be found at local stores today or for the past 30 years. George

I volunteer at our local high school with the FFA snd have judged several ccompetitions over the last years and one of the topics that has come up several times is the use of horse meat as pet food. Here is what all the contestants have presented as the pros and cons

Pros
*It would drive down the cost of feed because it is a very affordable alternative to other animal products.
*It would open more job oppurtunities because several slaughter houses will be opened to help with demand.
*It is a affordable alternative for the animal owners that have animals that cannot be of use any longer that can get some income instead of having to dig a hole or paying someone to remove the animal.
Cons
* it is unethical on how they are put down with a bolt gun ( which is more effective and ethical than electicity )
*Horses are not raised for meat they are pleasure animals.
*They should be treated the same as other pets when they are sick or of age.
The common consenses is that this was never an issue until activist became involved. It cost owners money to be rid of an animal and cost us jobs and affordable feed. The use of horses is excepted across the world except here they are considered pets only here insted of live stock the same as beef. There are counless animals that are shipped to Canada every year which then are sold to France and Canada makes the money and U.S. owners pay go figure? Like I said this is driven from animal activist that think it is purely un ethical and it cost us all.
Tom Summers

I know of a fox hound kennel in VA that feeds raw horses to their hounds. They aslo feed downer cattle. The horses are normally old or injured and have to be put down any way and the owners donate them to the hunt hounds. I was told some times two or three horses/cows a week. They are also feeding 45+- hounds so it does not last long. They put them down, gut, quarter, and hang in a walk in cooler, and drag the quarters out and turn the hounds in a group at a time. Normaly only the ones that hunt that day get raw. The rest get dry kibble. Sounds rough but is great for the hounds and is cheep when they are donated by local farms or by the owners. They have a pit for the guts and bones and hides.

Downer cattle can NOT be slaughtered in federal plants either so that would be a good way to dispose of them. The slaughter houses normally have to pay a rendering company to come pick this stuff up so this would be a good way for them to get rid of them without paying to have it hauled away. One very small plant I once worked at gave about all of it's "inedible" to a guy that had lions.

Its a waste of good meat I don't know why they wouldn't use horse meat. Thats how a$$ backward this country is instead using the meat they throw it away. They make regulations against butchering horses cause its unethical and the horses were someones pet. I feed my dogs down cows. My neighbor does butchering and if he has a down cow that is not good enough for human consumption he grinds it up into hamberger for me and my buddies to feed our hounds. The dogs love it and they look good nice shinny coats.

They was some bill signed years ago that you couldn't slaughter horse for food in America, well that bill has or is expiring so now it's getting back on the table. They had a town hall meeting in Mt. Grove MO this week about putting a horse slaughtering plant in there. They guy that's pushing all this says he got investors to put a few these plants in and like a previous post mentioned horse meat is a top food over seas. So if they get this going I'd say it'd be a matter of time before it's in your dog food. That'd give something for PETA and HSUS to do other than mess with us.