Moral arguments aside, horse slaughter should not be legal because of health and environmental risks. When slaughter plants operated in the Us, runoff from decomposing heaps of horse parts meant that bacteria from the carcasses entered waterways, posing a huge sanitation threat. Furthermore, because these horses are not raised for human consumption, they have in the vast majority of cases been administered dewormers, steroids, antibiotics, and "bute", none of which have been approved for use in animals intended for human consumption. Rather than using slaughter as a method of controlling horse populations, legislation should be made to enforce good breeding practices in order to reduce poor quality, unwanted horses. Lastly, Obama made a campaign promise to end horse slaughter.



