Debate Continues: Should We Protect, Ignore, or Eat Wild Horses?

Consider the plight of the West’s wild horses long enough, and at some point, you’ll probably find yourself asking the question: Should the animals be protected, left to roam without rules, or removed from the range?

It’s a question Chuck Klosterman entertained in his thought-provokingThe Ethicistcolumn inThe New York Timesmagazine.

Reader T.G. of New York wrote to Klosterman: “Despite their romantic appeal, horses are an invasive species on this continent with few natural predators. ... Advocates for wild horses like to compare the ecological impact of horses with that of cattle, but that’s sort of like saying we should protect the Asian long-horned beetle because it kills fewer trees than lumber mills. Is it unethical to protect wild horses?”

The Asian long-horned beetle? Ouch.

It’s a question advocates on both sides of the mustang debate stopped asking long ago. They know the answer.

Of course, they should be protected, their advocates argue. They have at least as much right to exist as the cattle that graze on federal land. Some horse huggers want to see them in sanctuaries. Others believe adoption is a viable option. Still, others imagine rounding them up and issuing forms of birth control.

Ranchers, meanwhile, contend the horse lovers are the cruel ones. The animals overgraze, overbreed, and inbreed. They destroy delicate grassland and ruin water sources. Some see horse slaughter as a reasonable and more humane alternative to allowing the beasts to starve during harsh winters or die of thirst during summer drought.

The federal government has spent millions trying to manage the animals without a helluva lot of success. Klosterman offered his considered view:

Horses aren’t the only animals being taken from wild lands. Klosterman also noted that pythons are being removed from Florida marshes. He admits he has less trouble with the idea of the snakes being killed than the extermination of wild horses, and he allows that ethics compels “people to consider things that might contradict their feelings.”

For some, it comes back to manners, morals, and customs. In general, Americans don’t eat horses. They ride them. Unless you’re a rodeo cowboy, you probably don’t ride bovine creatures. But chances are good you have no problem barbecuing them.

Is one really more sacred than the other, or is it a matter of, ahem, personal taste?

We’re not talking about eating horses. We’re weighing whether it’s ethical to place them in a special category.

Does this mean it’s OK to hunt them?

Somehow, I don’t think this ends the great wild horse debate.

Originally Posted By Las Vegas Review Journal