New Mexico governor asks feds to stop horse slaughterhouse

[DRoseDARs]

11. Part of the problem is they starve to death... in the wild.

Horses don't have natural predators per se in North America (I imagine mountain lions take one down on occasion) and they are an invasive species introduced to the continent like pigs (another destructive invasive species) only a few centuries ago. They've not found their natural balance with the environment here and thus, go through boom-and-bust cycles in their populations, never mind the harm they do putting pressures on native species or open range ranching, all relying on the same sometimes meager vegetation of the western states. It's a similar principle as when ranchers and states cull wolves: They upset a balance and allow the populations the wolves were controlling to become unstable. People who like to romanticize feral horses are flirting with hypocrisy because they won't give the same fawning consideration to feral cats (yet another even more destructive invasive species). Exterminating wild horses is a completely unpalatable option. Leaving them to their own devices only results in their suffering and the suffering of native species and of Humans who rely on the vegetation the wild horses consume in copious amounts leading to... starvation. Controlling their numbers is the only acceptable and humane option. What is done with the meat afterwards is not my concern. I don't eat horses, I don't eat dogs, I don't eats bugs, I don't eat squid, I don't eat a lot of things that other people do. Who am I to tell them they can't? And who are you?