The Kravys abattoir, in Botosani, northeastern Romania, slaughters 3, 000 to 4, 000 horses annually and exports the meat to Sweden, the Netherlands, Bulgaria and Poland.

FORBES: The Romanian Horse Cart Ban That's (Probably) Behind Europe's Horse Meat Scandal

The great buffalo herds of the Americas once stretched across the Great Plains, but by the time the tragic buffalo slaughters of the West were over, there was only one herd left.

NPR: Native American Symbols: Eagle, Bison Reclaimed

Homer Zuckerman, the farmer, slaughters pigs, she warns.

WSJ: An Economy Caught in a Web

"In one second - maybe two if it's a bull - the animal is gone, " says Mr Rosenzweig, who trained for years in Israel and now slaughters once a week, under the observation of a state veterinary official, at the Amsterdam Abattoir.

BBC: Should animals be stunned before slaughter?

Ambling with the bluesman's toothache in his heel, he describes "cities of the plague, " plots surprise showdowns in which he slaughters sleeping opponents, ponders craven human nature ("They will tear your mind away from contemplation") and scans the skies for hints of geopolitical turmoil.

NPR: As Dylan Walks, His Mind Wanders