As you know we conducted a survey of
voter attitudes in the state of Kentucky regarding voter attitudes
towards slaughter of horses. We conducted this between 10/1 and 10/5
of this year.
Voters strongly oppose the slaughter of
horses for human consumption and discount the points raised by
opponents of banning this practice. With it’s history as a center of
the horse racing and breeding industry Kentuckians in particular are
sensitive to the treatment of horses. For instance, 82% of the voters
agree (71% strongly agree) that:
We also found strong agreement with statements that:
-
Conditions under which horses are
shipped are inhumane and the way they are treated in slaughterhouses
is cruel and we should stop this practice (77% agree)
-
We should stop this practice because
many people who sell their horses don’t even know that buyers plan
to slaughter them (76% agree)
-
Since horse meat is not sold in the
US it only makes sense to stop slaughtering horses for export as
well (75% agree)
The four central arguments made
by opponents are rejected by the voters. Majorities in excess of 60%
disagreed with statements like the following: that sale for
slaughter is important to making horse ownership affordable (68%
disagree) / that for many people the sale of horses is the only
affordable way to humanely end a horse’s life (74% disagree) / that
without this practice horses will die of disease or abandonment (58%
disagree) / and finally the argument that proposed bans would lead to
further regulations that will make owning a horse impossible (65%
disagree).
A final note on these findings is that
they were held by all subgroups of the electorate. For instance we saw
no partisan differences in these answers. Similarly, horse owners and
farmers gave the same answers as everyone else.
Survey conducted by Voter/Consumer
Research on behalf of the Animal Welfare Institute. This survey or any of
the information contained herein may not be used without the express
written permission of the
Animal Welfare Institute.
