During the South African War 1899-1902 300 000 horses were slaughtered in the "service" of the British forces in that war,how many horses were slaughtered in the "service" of the Boer forces is unknown. In Port Elizabeth South Africa is a memorial to those horses which "served" under British control http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Memorial and the inscription on that memorial is:

THE GREATNESS OF A NATION
CONSISTS NOT SO MUCH UPON THE NUMBER OF ITS PEOPLE
OR THE EXTENT OF ITS TERRITORY
AS IN THE EXTENT AND JUSTICE OF ITS COMPASSION

ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
IN RECOGNITION OF THE SERVICES OF THE GALLANT ANIMALS
WHICH PERISHED IN THE ANGLO BOER WAR 1899-1902

Humans love war and killing. If they don't care about their own kind, how can anyone expect them to care about other species?

Humans, generally speaking, only care about themselves and see the world and all its lifeforms as 'things' to be exploited for profit.

The human plague is nature's biggest mistake.

We humans brought only misery to the world and its creatures and ourselves!

David G. You express a very odd, though more common world view today. Hating your fellow man is not a good place to start.

David G:
The ones that least want war, are those poor buggers, who have to go and fight them!
However, animals are also destroyed in major bush fires, none more so inside a single day, than those burnt to death in a mass extinction, in runaway, National Park bush fires.
The result of activists, not unlike yourself, one suspects, succeeding in getting large tracts of public land locked up as virtual no go areas, but particularly for former grazers and loggers, who between them, effectively kept the fuel load down and the fire breaks open!
But I digress, we certainly and shamefully abandoned thousands of horses in the first world war. Many Diggers shot their own horses, rather than leave them behind, to be cruelly flogged to death, by completely callous and indifferent Egyptians!
We use dolphins to detect mines etc, and still use and sacrifice dogs on the battlefront.
Many are indeed rescued from a certain death sentence in a lonely pound.
They are trained and are generally happy.
A trained dog knows when he is pleasing his master, and most domesticated dogs live and breathe to please their owner!
And believe me, they are just as important and cared about as any other Cobber, sharing the front-line danger and duties.
Albeit, much more appreciated in their fearless disregard for their own safety.
Those that complete their tour of duty and return home, are found loving homes.
Those that die, simply have the death sentence imposed by the pound, generously extended!
And they are missed as much as any other mate or brother!
I guess it boils down to which life one considers more valuable?
As a parent and a member of an extended family, my kids and family will always come first. Followed by friend and fellow countrymen.
Animals and their welfare are important to me, and I dare say, everyone who shares my core values!?
And indeed, much too important to simply condemn to the most painful of deaths, by mindlessly locking away huge swathes of forest or bush!
Rhrosty.

Hating your fellow man is not a good place to start.
Atman,
what an odd reply, where did David G. mention hate ? what he said is true. Humans do bring misery upon other humans.

According to legend Simpson's donkey actually survived the madness of Gallipoli, probably because he was either smart enough or short enough to keep his head down.

When some NZ troops decided they were going to take him home to be treated as a war hero, the donkey would have none of it. Like Simpson himself, who had an anti-authoritarian history of jumping ship and shooting through, the donkey apparently did a bolt during a stopover on one of the Greek islands and disappeared.

Having learned the principles of international worker solidarity from his socialist Gallipoli comrade (a fact the AWM is very anxious to keep hidden from impressionable post-Howard schoolchildren), the donkey is reported to have devoted himself to improving the working conditions of the Greek equine class and lecturing on the perils of trusting European bankers.