At one point or another in all of our lives, we have all been hungry enough to eat a horse. But in California, the day is gone when we could eat horses at our leisure.

When I was reading up on California’s election results (yes, I had a lot of time on my hands) I noticed that they passed Proposition 6, which essentially makes it illegal to buy and sell horsemeat or slaughter horses for human consumption.

I know a lot of people out there love horses. I’m not denying that they are beautiful animals that are fun to ride, provide useful labor and run around quarter mile ovals really fast. And for some people, they just may taste great too.

No matter how much you may love horses, passing a law to prevent their consumption is absurd.

I’ll be the first to admit that I love to eat animals … religiously. I have no problem with it, not to mention the fact that many of them taste really good.

But I’m not here to stir up another heated debate about the moral righteousness of vegetarians. I’m just saying that, as a meat eating society, it isn’t right to give certain animals more rights than others.

So why are horses receiving special treatment at the slaughterhouse? I know there are a lot of horse-lovers out there who think that the Proposition 6 idea is a great thing, but there is no real argument that can be made to say that eating a horse is more morally wrong than eating a pig.

Just because horses are more fun to ride and are a little more aesthetically pleasing than cows doesn’t mean they should be spared the guillotine.

In today’s world, we are taught to judge people on what is on the inside, rather than on appearance. We should judge animals on the same standard and, just maybe, the inside of a horse contains some delightfully good meat.

I’d like to think that if I was captured by a tribe of cannibals, they would spare me because of my good looks. But the reality is that they would probably shove an apple in my mouth and call me dinner just like everyone else.

I know that there are religions that prevent the consumption of pigs and cows, but not eating these tasty mammals is a personal choice.

They aren’t passing laws to prevent the rest of the country from enjoying big juicy pieces of cow.

As far as I know, there aren’t any religions that specifically prohibit the eating of horses.

In a free country such as ours, if a person wants to sit down and eat a horseburger, they should have that right.

In some countries, dogs are a common dinner entree. While I can’t condone using Fido as a source of protein, as awful as it may sound, I don’t think we as a society are entitled to pass laws to prevent this. There is nothing to say that dog-eaters are morally inferior to those that eat chickens.

I am all in favor of laws to protect endangered species and cruelty to animals. I’m not saying that these horses should be tortured with sharp metal objects or forced to do calculus. I just think horses should be looked upon as equal to cattle.

Laws such as Proposition 6 are setting up a kind of apartheid in the animal kingdom. We as humans are discriminating against certain animals purely on their cuteness.

By doing so, we may be missing out on something wonderful. For the most part, the animals we raise and slaughter are fat and lazy. Except for ostriches, they’re just plain stupid.

Is it any wonder that the latest reports show Americans being overweight, lazy, and, yes, stupid? Coincidence? Hardly.

From my observation of horses, most of these animals are in top physical condition. It would make sense that their meat would be leaner and better for the human body.

Going back to the cannibals, I’m pretty sure that they would much rather eat professional athletes than truck-drivers. But both would probably kill brain cells.

Nobody has seemed to put up a whole lot of fuss about using horse hooves for glue, so I see no reason that anyone should be bothered by taking it one step further.

I’m sure that horses can be used for many of the same purposes as cattle, so if farmer Joe wants to raise them and cut their heads off, he should be entitled to do so.

So when a restaurant near you starts serving puppy dog soup, or kittens on a stick, feel free to protest, boycott or sit around and pout all you want.

But don’t go passing nutty laws to prevent it; that’s what freedom of choice is all about.

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Peter Borchers is a sophomore in advertising from Bloomington, Minn.