Don't Eat a Dead Horse

I just read that the House approved a bill to ban the slaughter of horses for meat. First, I don't understand why killing horses for meat should be illegal when it is perfectly legal to kill cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals for the same reason. Aside from that obvious argument, I have to wonder why the U.S. needs such legislation. Proponents' arguments seem to center around the alleged inhumanity of the slaughterhouses, but by all accounts this bill does not address how the animals are killed, only why. Frankly, I find it dificult to imagine a better reason for slaughtering horses, than for food. Since the bill does not seek to outlaw all slaughtering of horses, one would think that the best way to control the humanity of the process is to control the methods used by slaughterhouses.

Finally, I'm perplexed by a bill such as this being introduced into the U.S. Congress. In an article on CNN.com Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) noted, "People are ticked off about the beat-a-dead-horse bill we're doing today." This bill is aimed at three horse slaughtering plants in Texas and Illinois. Surely Congress has more pressing matters to attend to. Didn't I read something about White House-introduced legislation concerning millitary tribunals for U.S. "detainees"?