Fella had a team of horses, had to use ’em to plow an’ cultivate an’ mow, wouldn’ think a turnin’ ’em out to starve when they wasn’t workin’. Them’s horses – we’re men.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 29. The point is made that hungry out-of-work horses are treated better than starving people. Steinbeck is criticizing the inhumanity of wealthy landowners who care less for migrants than they do for animals.