I feel there has been a grave deception regarding horse slaughtering. Basically, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals can’t have its cake and eat it, too. In Monday’s letter to the editor, the writer pointed out that horses constitute a vast amount of this nation’s GDP and the impact they have on the economy. I fail to see how this is so. Horses aren’t used; they’re obsolete. Cars have replaced horses as a means of transportation. Farmers now have machines. Even the United States military doesn’t use horses anymore. What the author is referring to when she says that it is a huge contributor is gambling. The equine industry does bring in millions of dollars; this is true. However, PETA is against horse races as well, according to PETA’s Web site.

Also, while I do concede that there is no domestic demand for horse meat, the United States has been increasingly exporting horse meat to regions of the world where horse meat is a large market. Some of these nations are Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Mexico and Japan. You can find the aforementioned information on the Society for Animal Protective Legislation’s Web site. So, why not help stimulate Illinois’ economy by being a leader as a provider of horse meat? It’s not going to waste.

Now, I should probably be expected to be demonized by PETA members as some malicious, squirrel-shooting, dog-kicking, cat-exploding human. However, such is not the case. I, too, don’t like seeing dogs beaten by owners, but sometimes PETA just goes too far. If horses will help stimulate Illinois’ economy in other ways besides gambling (i.e., horse meat), then I am for it. It’s in high demand in many industrialized nations, and it also has a subsequent effect of feeding the world’s starving.

Constantine Argiris

Senior, political science