We Americans may think of the eagle and the flag as emblems of our nation. But in our hearts, we know it's the horse.
We love the horse for winning the West, for pulling settlers' wagons across the plains, for racing back and forth, carrying the mail.
Once necessary for transportation, horses were critical for defense.
From the military to racing, jumping, dressage, barrel-racing, roping and trail-riding, horses were an expensive purchase. Keeping prices high was achieved by slaughtering unwanted horses.
Americans recoil in horror at eating horses. Slaughtered horses, mostly thoroughbreds, quarter horses or Arabians. or the recently privatized wild herds of mustangs and burros on federal lands, became pet food for dogs, cats, ferrets and zoo animals. Studies show that the vaccines, antibiotics, painkillers and other drugs given to horses increased cancer in these animals. The Food and Drug Administration bans these drugs from human food.
After the last slaughterhouse in the U.S. closed in 2007, horses were shipped to kill plants in Canada and Mexico. Last year's drought increased prices for winter hay and grain. More horses were shipped. Spurred by visions of economic stimulus, politicians in New Mexico and Oklahoma are trying to open slaughterhouses.
Kaufman, Texas, was nearly destroyed by a slaughterhouse. Offal exploded the sewer system. Blood and guts spewed from toilets, drains and sinks. It bubbled up in gardens. The frothing mess was caused by antibiotics in the horse meat.
Plant owners kept the city in court. Plant employees killed residents' pets and committed crimes. Piles of dead and dying horses were heaped in full view. Odors wafted from burning hide and hair. Federal agents closed the plant in 2007.
Horses sent to slaughter in Canada and Mexico are sold to supermarkets and restaurants in Europe. Last month, the discovery of horse meat mislabeled as beef led the European Union to consider a total ban on importing North American horse meat.
Europeans ban the same drugs in human food that we do. In Europe, horses are microchipped by age six months. The chip records all drugs given to a horse. We have no similar system. So, what's in our horse meat is a mystery.
Recently, several states banned transporting horses to Canada for slaughter. In 2010, Florida passed a law criminalizing transportation for slaughter. Illinois, Texas and New Jersey followed.
Last month, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, co-sponsored a similar bill with Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, D-Manhattan, and Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R-Halfmoon. At the federal level, the Safeguard American Food Exports Act would ban transporting, exporting or importing horses intended for slaughter or horse meat.
The bill, whose co-sponsors include Rep. Chris Gibson, R-Kinderhook, is now in committee. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak defunded horse meat inspections in next year's budget.
"We are so used to giving respect and our love to horses," said Stephanie Valle, a spokeswoman for Gibson. "This is one of the issues our office hears about the most."
Horses unwanted by the racing industry can have satisfying lives in backyard barns and boarding facilities, where amateur riders would get affordable mounts and war veterans, abused women and the disabled would find comfort in them.
A former mayor of Kaufman, Paula Bacon, said one of the worst aspects of the entire horrible experience of having the plant in Kaufman was driving past it and seeing the horses in the pens.
How do you tell your children what's going on there?
Anne Fullam Goeke is a Capital Region journalist.