Dilemma 1. An argument necessitating a choice between equally unfavorable or disagreeable alternatives. Webster’s New World College Dictionary.
“Dilemma” accurately describes the plight at this moment in history for U.S. horses and members of Congress.
As Express-News Staff Writer Lisa Sandberg and photographer Jerry Lara reported Sept. 30, thousands of U.S. horses are crossing the Rio Grande bound for Mexican slaughterhouses, where they’re butchered and sold for human or animal consumption. The export of horses en masse to Mexico is the result of a recent federal court decision that halted horse slaughter at three U.S. facilities, two in Texas, one in Illinois.
Lara’s photos from a slaughterhouse in Ciudad Jurez depicted a brutal process. Not exactly how most of us imagine old Dobbin finishing his life. As we expected, the story sparked a major reaction. Readers who responded online generally praised it. Those who called or e-mailed me were outraged, by about a 70-30 margin. No one maligned horses, but they disagreed about when and how they should die.
The report also focused on a bill Congress has been mulling for four years. HR 503 would outlaw exporting horses for slaughter, and an Express-News editorial endorsed it Friday. So, as we say, our story has “legs.” I wrote about it Sept. 30, asking readers: What do you think? What readers told me, passionately, gave me an inkling of what Congress faces in playing God to Dobbin. A sampling:
More Information
Sept. 30, 2007: Horse slaughters taking place on the border
Oct. 2, 2007: Horse slaughter evokes outrage
Oct. 5, 2007: Congress asked to stop export of doomed horses
Bob Richter:’Horse slaughter’ tells difficult story
Bob Richter:Horse slaughter solution debatable, but need to tell story isn’t
Talk Back: Should the United States allow export of horses for slaughter? Give us your thoughts
Talk Back: Should newspapers publish such graphic descriptions and photos?
“Why you would splash a story and enormous picture of horses being slaughtered across the front page is beyond comprehension. You should be ashamed of yourselves!” Kathleen B. Trottier
“An expert journalist can make a strong case for their position without resorting to sensationalism that only serves to shock most readers and perhaps frighten the youngster who glances at the front page …” Dr. Donald E. Novicki
“The answer … is to stop transporting horses across the U.S.-Mexico border and to pressure Mexican authorities to stop this unbearably inhumane killing. Renewing the slaughter of horses in the U.S. is not the answer.” Pamela Stanton
“Horses have given so much and do not deserve this fate, … Without their efforts we would not be the country we are now.” Jeanne Robertson
“Most people behind the slaughter ban are, as with most animal rights activists, absolutely uninformed … the article is biased toward the anti-slaughter groups.” Bobby Schwab
“I am glad your newspaper told the story. People need to know the consequences of ill-conceived, feel-good legislation. In this instance, the results are tragic. Marty McElhaney
“If city folk who find butchering horses yucky pay us we will gladly put them out to pasture …” Ray Dooley
“People all over the world eat things that we would never think of eating. Does that make them wrong and us right? Absolutely not.” Bob McWilliams
That’s just a few of the angry, sad, earnest, compassionate, practical, expert and idiotic recommendations I heard, but one reader I listened to closely.
Jack Kingsbery, 85, is a well-respected Crystal City cattleman a cowboy most of his life. His 2002 book “Yes, I’m Still Alive” concludes with: “There is no better way to spend your life than working good cattle on a good horse.” He knows horses and, he says, he cares for them.
Kingsbery told me he’s opposed to the slaughter ban for economic reasons. Both the ban and the closing of the U.S. border, he predicts, will result in horse owners either abandoning their stock to starvation or being forced to nurse unwanted horses at a high cost. He estimates it costs $40,000 to keep alive for 20 years a horse that can’t be ridden. By the end, Kingsbery says, the old cayuse is a “pathetic thing.”
The Express-News covers the border, and a part of Texas considered the birthplace of the cowboy. The paper has a right and a responsibility to report on and publish what clearly meets the definition of a dilemma. It is Congress’ responsibility, though, to find a solution.
