Utah Never Made Eating Horse Illegal?!?

Horses, almost every girl goes through a horse phase and the loveable creatures are usually portrayed as magical and spirited friends. Which is why it’s so surprising to find out you can still legally eat horse meat in most U.S. states including Utah.  

The Salt Lake Tribune released a story about a Utah sanctuary for horses that rescues them from becoming food. It’s 2023, and eating horses just seems weird to me. Yes, I grew up around cattle and chickens and I am all for farms and ranches, but I draw the line at eating horses.  

It would be like eating my dog or cat! 

The U.S. may not make eating horses illegal however the slaughter regulations and slaughter transportation regulations are so tight that the horse meat market has become almost non-existent, the National Library of Medicine said.  

In the 1980s the U.S. had several horse meat plants but after several animal rights activists came forward in 2007 to protest the inhumane treatment of animals being transported, the market essential vanished.  

Now, you can’t sell the horse commercially for meat but according to the SLT, it’s still happening, even in Utah. Canada, Mexico, and Europe are the countries that have horse meat markets and some horses that are that are considered “unfit” end up there.  

Utah’s Bureau of Land Management has wild horse adoptions and even offers monetary prizes for those who do adopt on occasion. This is an easy way for those who want to transport horses for food to get ahold of them.  

It’s also easy for those who purchase these horses to label them for breeding or other legal purposes and then end up in kill pens and other countries.  

According to the World Population Review, only four states have outlawed eating horse meat. This means you can still eat a horse like you would a cow or chicken you raised. Yuck! 

Utah is among the majority which still says it's legal to consume. There is also no way to regulate that horse meat so I wouldn’t want to try it for that reason alone.  

With all that in mind, this is my petition to have Utah outlaw horse meat. Let me know what you think about this on our social media!