The article addresses the debate over reopening horse slaughterhouses in the US after the last ones had be closed in 2007. Those supporting slaughterhouse re-openings argue the slaughterhouses give livestock owners in a financial bind a more ethical (rather than abandonment) and  affordable option to dispose of their unwanted horses. Opponents of rebuilding horse slaughterhouses believe they are unnecessary, and simply and handout to the horse slaughter industry. 

Because no horse slaughterhouses lie on American soil, just under 100,000 horses were sent to Canada and Mexico last year for slaughter. While Montana passed a bill in April 2009 allowing slaughterhouses to be rebuilt on its soil, other states have opted to strengthen their animal rights laws.  In March, Oregon passed a bill declaring horse abandonment illegal, while Arizona considers a public listing of horse rescue shelters. 

Rather than increase funding for slaughterhouses, which perpetuate an inhumane death to unwanted horses, increasing equine shelters is a far more reasonable and responsible way to address this problem. Both slaughter and abandonment are wretched conditions to subjugate any living creature to, regardless of financial status. Far more constructive and ethical solutions can be concocted instead of slaughter.

John Wayne. Clint Eastwood. Iconic men who have embodied the American West and set a standard of ruggedness that is the requisite of the cowboy profession.

Unfortunately for many men and women who desire embarking on this independent path of being a cowboy or a cowgirl, the road to get to cowboy status seems far-fetched. Having grown up in a city or suburb, far from the high-plains of the spacious Western frontier, many may consider the cowboy lifestyle impossible.

Fear not, city-slicker. You too can be a cowboy if you follow these tips:

1.   Familiarize yourself with horses. Do anything – volunteer to clean stalls, take lessons, ask questions – that will get you increasingly comfortable with horses.

2.   Do your research on the lifestyle. Read what it takes to be a wrangler, work on a dude ranch, or be a ranch hand, and study-up on cowboy culture.

3. If you can afford it, travel to areas where cowboy work is prevalent – mainly the Rocky Mountain West (Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana) – to talk to ranch owners and their workers to learn more about the industry and get contacts for future job opportunities.

4. After becoming more aware of what the cowboy lifestyle is, and what your expectations are as a wrangler, apply for a position as an entry-level wrangler to get headway into the industry.  Who knows where things will take you!