Horse Slaughter - History

History

Horse meat traditionally was a source of meat during times of desperation, such as early 20th century World Wars. (See war horse.) Before the advent of motorized warfare, campaigns usually resulted in many tens of thousands of equestrian kills and both troops and civilians ate the carcasses, since troop logistics were often unreliable. Troops of Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armée killed almost all of their horses while retreating from Moscow to be able to feed themselves.

During World War II the less-motorized Axis troops lost thousands of logistic train horses due to combat and the unusually cold Russian winter. Malnourished soldiers devoured the animals, often going as far as shooting the weaker horses and eating them right away. Henry Mayhew describes how the horse meat is used in London Labour and the London Poor. The different parts fetch different prices in Paris and London.