Wyoming Gears Up for Horse Slaughter

The Wallis' "Slaughterhouse Sue," Gang Rides Again;

Negotiations begin in horse slaughter plan

An organization is in talks with the Wyoming Livestock Board about taking over stockyards across from the former Hitching Post Inn, where horses would stay before being shipped off for possible slaughter at a yet-to-be-determined site.

By Michael Van Cassell
mcassell@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- A Wyoming state legislator with designs to start a horse slaughter operation said Monday it would be part of a broader plan to rescue abandoned or unwanted horses.

Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse, said the nonprofit United Organizations of the Horse would accept donated horses, either from the Wyoming Livestock Board or individuals. She referenced a lot of about 230 feral horses the Wyoming Livestock Board sold recently for $1 each during a public sale in Rock Springs.

Horses would be evaluated and either sent to rehabilitation, rejuvenation or slaughter, according to Wallis.

"We think that we will probably work up to the point where we're killing 20 horses a day," she said.

Wallis said that since slaughter was taken off the table as an option for horses in America, the industry has fallen on hard times.

"Many of us believe that the best and responsible solution is humane slaughter and good use of that meat," she said.

Wallis said the organization has started negotiations with the Wyoming Livestock Board to take over the Cheyenne stockyards across West Lincolnway from the former Hitching Post Inn.

"It is not where we are going to slaughter horses," Wallis said. She described it as being somewhat of an intake facility.

Wallis envisions a mobile slaughter operation that can be taken to different areas of the state. She said one exists in South Dakota for buffalo.

She said they are working with Temple Grandin, an animal behaviorist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., on designing a humane slaughter process.

The meat would primarily be marketed for zoo feed and pet diets, Wallis said.

"And we already have customers for those products," she said.

She believes there may be a small market for human consumption within the state.

Wallis said she has eaten horse meat on a trip to Canada and found it tasted good and was tender.

"The rest of the world just sees this as an ordinary food source," she said.

It is unclear whether the federal government would consider horse products legal to enter commerce for human consumption, even within the state.

Congress yanked the U.S. Department of Agriculture's funding to inspect horse slaughterhouses in 2006, effectively shutting down such operations. The USDA cannot get involved.

Interstate distribution of meat is barred.

The particulars of canning the meat have yet to be worked out, according to Wallis.

"We are still evaluating possible locations, but it will probably be an existing meat processing facility somewhere in the state," she said.

Dale Steenbergen, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, said if the possibility of a slaughterhouse coming to Cheyenne becomes more than a rumor, then the chamber may discuss it.

On a personal note, Steenbergen, who is involved in ranching, said it would be good to have some discussion on what to do with abandoned horses.

He said that he had one turned out on him last year.

"Is it better to starve them to death or put them down humanely?" he said. "We've got to figure out something to do because this is a huge, huge problem."

The plan has caused a stir among the state's animal welfare and animal rights activists, who question both the legality and morality of such a slaughterhouse.

Patricia Fazio, who has been involved with animal welfare issues at the state and local level in Wyoming since 1994, said horses are not meat animals like cattle.

Fazio said horse meat can be contaminated and is not safe for consumption.

She also questioned how big of a problem abandoned horses are.

"Our conclusion is it's kind of a ploy that they're using," she said.

Fazio said there are other horse rescue operations operating in the West.

"There is no need to do horse slaughter," she said.

"I agree there are some animals that are sick or beyond helping from a medical point of view we should just be euthanizing," she said.

Jeannine Stallings, a Cheyenne resident who is the founder and president of Wyoming Advocates for Animals, said she is disgusted by the idea of a horse slaughter and cannery.

"I just can't believe anyone can be so mean spirited as to even consider such an idea," she said.


http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/04/28/news/19local_04-28-10.txt

ReVisiting the Enemy Camp

Of course one of the best things we can do, in fact MUST do in response to the noise coming from the pro-slaughter camp is to keep the momentum going and rebut them at every chance,...this includes and is especially important to --JUMP INTO THEIR OUR FORUMS, that is, infiltrate them in their own camps. Go there not to enrage and enflame them but to try to engage in healthy debate in effort to educate them in a polite and intelligent way. Soon you will find that there are members of their own camp who will come over to your way of thinking. Some of them actually BELIEVE the hype the "Pro-Slaughter Professionals" are spoon-feeding them,..it is up to US to give them the facts.

Below is a string of comments that people have made in regards to the "ABANDONED" HORSE MY ASS" article I posted to Sue Wallis "Organization of the Horse" Facebook site.

Christine, (your allegations of "false flag" operations are) are hardly worth commenting on, I am noticing though that most of the AR posters are from the North East. That must mean that you are the ones getting missinformation fed to you. I feel bad that we have not done a better job of educating those from your area that believe that it's all a conspiracy. But I can assure you(not that you will believe me) that there is a huge unwanted horse issue in our Country. Not only abandoned ones but also, way more wild horses than the AUM's can support.
Who you should be mad at is the AR crowd that is purposely lieing and misleading people like you with propaganda like this. Total BS.


... See More
Dave Duquette
3 hours ago · Report

Christine A. Jubic

I spent most my life in the western and south-western states but just happened to have been born in NY, which is by the way, an agricultural state. We have lots of horsemen and women and breeders too, mostly of racehorses. The "unwanted" horse problem is a national and not NOT regional concern, so there really is no point in attempting to make an issue out of geographics. As to your allegations of so many "abandoned" horses,....everything I have to say about that is in the link below, if you care to know;

http://unnecessaryevils.blogspot.com/2010/04/abandoned-mare-my-spotted-ass.html

Besides, didnt you admit in a few public forums that it really was all about generating income?... See More

And I cant believe you guys are trying to make the public believe that slaughter is euthansia. Apparently, you dont even know the meaning of the word.
There is a failure to educate involved here alright but the failure is on US,...not you!
15 minutes ago ·

Christine A. Jubic

As for the wild horses (and burros) and the AUMs,.. there is not enough land for them because of all them dern welfare cows who outnumber the wild horses by approximatley 200 to 1 - EVENTHOUGH a Federal Statutory Law proscribes that the horses be principal users of their land (but of course, you must know that!) You also must know administration of... See More the Public Welfare Ranchers Grazing Program, while producing only 3% of our Nations beef, is costing taxpayers nearly $500 million dollars a year to administer! Think of the money we could save if we did away with the Public Lands Welfare Grazing system;

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/no-cows-in-wild-horse-country

a few seconds ago ·




http://www.facebook.com/pages/United-Organizations-of-the-Horse/156599501900?v=wall

"ABANDONED" HORSE MY SPOTTED ASS

Guess by now we are all familiar with the story of the grey mare found in the Reno, Nevada area wandering around "abandoned" with the brand cut out of her hip. This poor mare was allegedly "found" wandering around "abandoned" by her owner. Someone determined that she must be one of many "un-wanted" horses "so commonly" abandoned by the owners "these days," 'cause they could no longer afford to care for their animals and, since the SLAUGHTER OPTION WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO THEM they have no other choice but to abandon them. Some people will believe everything they read, but those who like to think for themselves will ask, "Well how do we know for sure if this horse was truly abandoned?" Well, the "proof" is obvious,....isnt it? The mare had an good sized square patch of ugly raw flesh on her hip where there (allegedly) used to be a brand. The story we are supposed to believe is that just prior to abandoning her, the owner took the precautionary measure of cutting out the brand ..insuring that the mare could never be traced back to him, or her, as the case may be. It is important to remember that in every state, it is illegal to abandon any animal. So what could make more sense? Cut out the brand, ditch the horse, and no one will be the wiser.


But wait a minute. Not so fast. I have another theory, I think, a better, more reasonable one, that just makes more sense to me.

The pro-slaughter camp is made up almost entirely of horse breeders and cattle "growers" and others interested in the meat-trade. They HAVE TO cry about "so many unwanted horses with nowhere 2 go" since we "took away their slaughter option away" to justify their pro-slaughter position. "Oh no," they insist, .."dont get us wrong,... its not that we LIKE the idea of slaughtering horses," they tell US and the rest of the world, as they claim horse-slaughter is just a "necessary evil" for them. They say without the option of slaughter, our Nation is being over-run with neglected and abandoned horses, and isn't it a shame. They claim that America needs horse-slaughter to help them "help the horses." Isnnt that wonderful of them. They say slaughtering horses is the "humane" thing to do.

First I shall tell you that slaughter is never humane. Who are they trying to kid? Just look at some of these horse slaughter vids to see what they are calling humane; ------ WARNING: Graphic Depictions;

HFA; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyF3IcIK2_A

HSUS; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3YrZVKAcvc

Secondly I shall tell you that there are approximately 9.2 million horses in America today, and that only about 1% of them wind up on the slaughter train. How can you "glut" a market with "so many" "un-wanted" horses with only 1% of its volume? The answer is: you cant. And if we were to ban the export of horses to slaughter, that 1% would be easily absorbed. Moreover, there are other options that the pro-slaughters like to pretend dont exist. For one example, there is REAL humane euthanasia,....like lethal injection by a vet. They say they cant afford it, as that might cost a couple a hundred bucks. Granted there may be and probably is some horse owners out there that really cant afford the high cost of euthanasia,...to them we say there is a better way to dispose of an unwanted horse, better then selling them to slaughter, and that is a well placed 25 cent bullet to the head. Granted this should not be done by an amateurs as there are cases where IDIOTS tried it on their own with terrible results. Be advised if you absolutely have to take this route, get an expert to do the job, to prevent this kind of tragedy;

Shot in Head SIX Times and Lives;
http://www.horseaholic.co.uk/wierd-world-of-horses/horse-survives-being-shot-in-the-head-six-times/

The Louisiana Mare;
http://www.examiner.com/x-25445-Pet-Rescue-Examiner~y2010m3d29-Equine-cruelty--case-to-Louisiana-mare-gains-national-attention

Horse shot in head left for dead;
http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/14767/OR/US/

Thirdly I will tell you that the slaughter option didnt end. The slaugher train is still on track and we are sending more horses to slaughter than ever before, only they go to Canada and Mexico, and its easy to "catch a ride."

And lastly I will tell you there are meat-market auction houses all over the place, SugarCreek in Ohio is only one example; http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/StopSugarcreekCruelty
and they usually have SEVERAL of these Houses of Horror in EVERY STATE. Anyone looking to rid themselves of their unwanted horses wouldnt have to travel too terribly far to bring their horse(s) to one of them.
---------------------
So what about this poor "abandoned" mare with the brand carved off of her hip?

This mare was more than likely just another victim of the pro-slaughter "false-flag operation" propaganda campaign where a horse is intentionally dumped off somewhere to prove their point about "so many unwanted horses that they are being abandoned in the streets." They have been caught at this once before. Awhile back when it looked like we might have a good chance of getting our anti-slaughter bill passed, the pro-slaughter breeders and meat industry folks increased their efforts in their propaganda campaigns. They hired a high-profile lobbyist group who specialized in dirty tricks. They would buy up decrepit looking horses for the sole purpose of turning them loose in the street. Then they would call the press to report an abandoned horse seen somewhere. "Loose and abandoned" horses were turning up everywhere, giving new meaning to the term "raining horses." It was a desperate time for them and they were using every trick in the book,...until one of them got spotted at a meat-market auction where he bought a decrepit horse that was later found "abandoned" in a nearby field,...tied to a tree.

So I am pretty sure that the poor mare with the brand brutally cut out of her hip was just another victim of the pro-slaughters "abandoned horse" false flag operation campaign....also I am thinking so, if the owner of the horse really needed to "get rid" of that horse, why didnt he just shoot her and leave he for dead? The only logical reason for "abandoning" her in the desert that way was for the message it would send. Also I am thinking, even though her brand was cut out, they still could have narrowed it down to who her owner was, as it is my understanding that ranchers have not only their own brands to distinguish their horses from that of other ranchers, but where they place the brand upon the horse is unique to individual owners. If they wanted to do a little investigation as to who the owner of the "abandoned" mare was, all they would have to do is ask around some to find out what particular rancher puts their brand upon the animals left hip? It wouldnt be to hard to figure but I dont think anyone even tried. Correct me if I am wrong, but I would bet my spotted ass that I aint.
(Leave it to the Nevada Wild-Horse Haters to come up with something like this;) http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8054914

European horse meat imports crumbling under continuing revelations

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO, (EWA) - After years of operating in the shadows, EU horse meat importers have recently been caught in the glare of a seemingly endless series of investigative stories. The most recent blow came with the release of a report issued by GAIA, a respected Belgium animal welfare organization in partnership with Animals' Angels USA.

Aired by three major news stations, the report began with a question; "Do they [consumers] really know where it comes from?" The industry has long marketed both North American and South American horse meat as a "healthy alternative" to beef and pork. The ads and websites claim the horses were raised on pristine pastures and lived stress free lives.

The GAIA report revealed the real origin of the horses and the treatment they receive. The undercover footage followed horses from farm to slaughter plant, documenting their torment at every stage. At one point a horse jammed into an overcrowded trailer has its leg caught in the tailgate as the truck pulls away.

Sonja Meadows, Executive Director of Animals' Angels commented, "As soon as we realized that European Commissioners and consumers themselves are unaware of the extreme suffering of horses in the slaughter pipeline, Animals' Angels shifted gears to focus on where the meat really comes from. The claims these importers make are terribly, really horribly incorrect. Importers are misleading the public. More accurately, consumers are being lied to."

The report follows a 900 page photographic report gleaned from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2008 showing hundreds of violations of humane handling regulations at Texas plants, an undercover video from a Mexican slaughter plant, and hidden camera reports from three separate Canadian slaughter plants released by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC), two of which were released just weeks ago. WARNING: Graphic Cruelty & Neglect Depicted Here; http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/foia.htm

Sinikka Crosland of the CHDC observed "Horses were beaten, electric-prodded and subjected to high levels of noise and anxiety-provoking stimuli. Mis-stuns with a .22rifle occur frequently, with some horses hoisted while still fully conscious. It is now abundantly clear that horse slaughter in assembly-line situations cannot be humanely conducted."

As if the abuse revelations were not enough, the new report follows on the heels of a published study in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology which back-traced 18 slaughtered race horses and found 100% had been given the banned carcinogen phenylbutazone.

With growing concern over the food safety issue EU authorities have announced that they intend to soon require traceability on horse meat coming from third countries.

As major news sources across Europe began airing the latest report, supermarkets responded with promises to investigate. Delhaize, the second largest retailer in Belgium has asked their supplier to remove the meat from their shelves. Two other major grocers have told consumers they do not import horse meat from outside Europe. The impact is expected to further damage a crumbling market.

The industry's woes began with the closing of the three US slaughter plants in 2007, but the plants shifted their operations to Canada and Mexico, and 2008 saw 134,159 US horses exported to slaughter, the second highest total in ten years. However, the effects of the economy and continual revelations about the nature of the industry have since caused US slaughter exports to drop by 20% in 2009, and year to date by yet another 12%.

For years, equine welfare advocates have warned of the drug issue and the revolting cruelty of horse slaughter. Perhaps now that the massive disinformation campaign being waged by slaughter proponents has been exposed to the consumers, Congress will wake up and stop the flow of US horses. "The lies and manipulation of the facts by slaughter proponents has come home to roost," said EWA's Vicki Tobin, "It is time they step up and start addressing the excess horses they continue to produce every year instead of sweeping it under the carpet by slaughtering the victims."

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.

My Pro-Slaughter Letter 2 ObombA That Sue Wallis Asked Me 2 Send

Sent today alright, but not before making some needed revisions

April 17, 2010

Dear President Obama,
Dear Representative Murphy,
Dear Senator Schumer,
Dear Senator Gillibrand,

DO NOT BELIEVE Sue Wallis' and Ed Butchers Pro-Horse Slaughter Hype in the "WHEREASSES" paragraphs below. - They wrote this letter they are asking their pro-slaughter friends to just sign and send, but I DONT AGREEE with a word they said in this letter. I am signing it anyways to REBUT the lies. Check out my comments in the very last paragraph of this letter, to get to the heart of the matter quickly and find the TRUTH behind the pro-slaughter lies, for the TRUTH stands TALLER and TOWERS OVER, shadowing out and erasing the BOLDFACE pro-horse slaughter lies, ....."for real." The TRUTH will set you and me and U.S. and even THEM free!

TRUTH OUT HERE - TRUTH OUT NOW - TRUTH, BABY, TRUTH

WHEREAS, pending legislation would criminalize the processing of horses for food and provide for a three year prison term and a fine for anyone selling or providing transport for horses sold for food;

WHEREAS it has been documented that a ban on horse meat leads to an increase in the abandonment and neglect of unwanted horses.

WHEREAS prices for all horses have dropped due to increased numbers of unwanted horses that people can no longer afford to maintain.

WHEREAS being able to market otherwise unmarketable surplus horses for
meat benefits the farm and ranch economy as well as the tribal economy.

WHEREAS the existence of a market for horse meat increases the value of riding and pleasure horses by decreasing the surplus number of horses.

WHEREAS excess feral horses on federal, state, tribal and private lands are far in excess of the carrying capacity of the land, which in turn impacts other resources including forage for wildlife and livestock, cover for wildlife, native cultural food plants and medicines and the fishery resource.

WHEREAS a market for horse meat for human, pet, and zoo carnivore food provides local and regional jurisdictions a cost effective and humane method of dealing with abandoned and feral horses without undue taxpayer expense;

WHEREAS a horse meat market and humane processing options underpin the entire equine economy, provide a viable market for lower end horses, as well as supporting the value of all horses;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that we, the members and supporters of the United Organizations of the Horse, strongly urge our Congressional delegations to oppose passage of any law that criminalizes the use of horses for food or for export.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we strongly urge Congress to remove any and all impediments to the transportation, marketing, processing, exporting of horses; and to work diligently to restore USDA/FSIS regulated and inspected humane processing facilities for horses in the United States.

*****
YOU PRO-HORSE SLAUGHTERERS MAKE ME SICK! You keep throwing around the phrase "humane slaughter" when surley you know in your own minds (and hearts. if you have one) and also- being in the cattle killing business as well, that there is NO SUCH THING as "humane slaughter." Slaughter by its very nature is a freightning,highly tramatic and painful experience for any animal.....you show U.S. (if you can) any horse being "humanely slaughtered," and I will kiss your fatted naked ass in front of the big white house at 1600 Pennsylvania Av in Washington DC,....in broad daylight with the press there and in full view of your pro-slaughter friends and constituants. There is always a high degree of upset, fear, the smell of blood, the noise, the screams, the captive bolt gun that fails to stun more often than not, the hangin upside down and bleeding, and the skinning alive of some of them. There is NOTHING humane in this scenario. There is only ONE WAY to humanely end an animals life (yes, ANY animal) and that is by injection done on site at the farm under the supervision of a vet, with the consciencious owner at the horses side, "loving on it" til the very end, reassuring it that it is loved and telling it that everything will be ok, that the suffering will soon end. This system is called Humane euthansia FOR A REASON (meaning a "good death" w/out trauma or pain, in other words, A PEACEFUL death! When have you ever seen a slaughtered animal go to his death or die in peace? There is no better way to put a horse down humanely, other than by injection. They just "go to sleep." Slaughter IS NOT humane and it most certainly is not euthansia - the good death, remember. Isnt that how you would want to go, by "good death" and not the "bad" that is slaughter,.. if you were FORCED to go before your time simply because someone wanted to eat you. Think about it Sue,...if you had a choice between the two, which way would YOU want to go? I think the answer is obvious but then again, there is none so blind as those who refuse to see "beyond the dollar signs" in their eyes. You pro-slaughters are only kidding yourselves. You must think Americans are stoopid if you think they are going to believe you want to slaugter horses for their own good. Ray Charles could see through that BS cause it STINKS to the high heaven....a place GOD KNOWS you will never go,....for your lack of human compassion for every living thing, and for putting "self" before rightousness. SlaughterHouse Sue, you SUCK BIG TIME as a human being, and even worse as a woman. There is an old saying that goes: "The only thing WORSE than a cold-hearted bloodthirsty man is a cold-hearted bloodthirsty woman." So you wanna be like a man? Grow some sacks w/ lots of hair and quit deleting my comments off of your pro-slaughter sites. What are you afraid of? Am I making too much sense? Who could say in all honesty that what I am saying is wrong? Naw, there is no if, ands or buts about it. Slaughtering non-food animals such as horses (or dogs and cats and hampsters, guinea pigs, etc.) is wrong, at least in this country it is, that is, at least for now, until and if ever you guys get your way. After that, I guess anything goes. God Help the United States (of Corporate America) who has stolen the voice of the common-folk causes.



Sincerely,

Mrs. Christine Jubic
118 River Rd
1st Fl
Johnsonville, NY 12094

CLICK ON TITLE ABOVE SO YOU TOO CAN REVISE AND SEND SLAUGHTERHOUSE SUES ASSININE PRO-HORSE SLAUGHTER PETITION TO YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPS;

http://www.petition2congress.com/2/2762/restore-humane-regulated-horse-processing-in-us/edit/33aac7239bd8c01bd02fea60aa2efde4/

What are The Chances.......

Of Sue Wallis' approving and publishing my flaming commentary about her "blood-thirstiness" in her "Cowboy Poetry" blog? http://suewallis.blogspot.com/

Thanks to American Herds BlogSpot http://americanherds.blogspot.com/

for the "loan" of Slaughter-house Sue" pic

Sue" will go down in history as just another bloodthirsty bitch!












Be sure to read the new book by Gerry Spence, one of my favorite authors. Check him out at his blog; http://gerryspence.wordpress.com/

Native American Tribes Team Up w/ USDA to Bring Back Horse-Slaughter in the USA

Article from the USDA's "APHIS Native American Working Group (ANAW) newsletter. See ANAW website in link below
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/about_aphis/programs_offices/anawg/

USDA Helping Tribes in the Northwest Deal With
Feral-Horse Overpopulation Issues

Make no mistake about it: Native Americans love their wild horses. Although these animals could be considered an invasive species—because the ancestors of today’s horses were brought into what became the United States by Spanish explorers and later escaped—nobody wants to eradicate them. But getting their numbers down to a manageable level is imperative. On some reservations in east-central Washington and Oregon and nearby Idaho, feral horses are eating all the vegetation on rolling hillsides, depriving livestock of forage and endangering plants important as sources for traditional foods and medicines. And then there’s the salmon.

How can horses affect fish? Well, if you’re a salmon, you need especially clear water in order to thrive on your way back upstream, from the ocean to your river of origin, where you can spawn. Horses can wreck the clarity of streamwater and even of entire rivers—just because of how they eat. In the wild, horses tend to pull whole plants out of the ground rather than just browsing the tops of the plants. That makes it hard for plants to reestablish themselves after the horses pass on to new territories for their next meal.

When a hillside has no more plant life on it to hold down the topsoil, rains simply roll that soil downhill and right into streams. Clear water becomes silty and salmon suffer.

The salmon is not just any old species to northwestern Indians, either. Salmon occupy a central position among the animal kingdom in the spiritual traditions of many northwestern tribes. This fish is viewed as a brother by Indian people. The return of the salmon upstream to spawn is celebrated locally, and many subsistence hunters rely on salmon harvests to feed their families year ’round. On a commercial scale, numerous tribes manage salmon production facilities where tribal members harvest the fish, salt down or otherwise preserve it, and market it nationally and internationally. As goes the economy of the salmon industry, so goes the economy of the northwestern tribes.

The Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Indian Reservation of eastern Washington State have the biggest horse problems. Currently, about 12,000 feral horses roam their reservation, near the city of Yakima (note the different spelling). Jim Stephenson, the tribe’s big-game manager, has been studying the Yakama ferals for years. He figures the reservation can support a stable population of about 2,500 horses without unacceptable levels of rangeland degradation.

Out West, rangeland is not fenced, however. The Yakama horses wander around without reference to reservation boundaries. Similar herds are eating their way through natural forage at the same alarming rate nearby, at the Colville Reservation (also in Washington), at Warm Springs and Umatilla (in Oregon), and at Shoshone Bannock (in Idaho).

When representatives of the wildlife management units at those five tribes gathered together in November 2008 to talk about this problem, they came to the conclusion that there are at least 20,000 feral horses on their reservations altogether. Now horses typically live to about age 30, and a mare ordinarily has a foal every year. With few to no apex predators in that part of the United States, feral-horse populations are going up about 20 percent every year, with no end in sight.

If the tribes don’t figure out how to control the burgeoning population of feral horses, and soon, the ecological damage will wreck the salmon situation. And supplies of certain wild plants will be disrupted, if not wiped out completely. These plants, such as wild carrot and bitterroot, are important for medicinal purposes, for seasonal foods, and for use in spiritual ceremonies. This spring, Yakama reports that their horses have been digging up and eating the actual roots of bitterroot plants. This has never happened before and clearly indicates just how sparse local forage has become.

Since this problem is acute on Indian reservations and the U.S. Government has a trust responsibility to manage reservation lands for the benefit of the federally recognized tribes, Federal agencies must help rectify this situation. But which agencies, and how?

As Janet Wintermute found out when she began working with Jim Stephenson on the feral-horse problem in late 2008, APHIS is not a major player. Our authorities with regard to equines are extremely limited overall. VS does not have a major horse program, and Animal Care’s involvement is restricted to enforcing the Horse Protection Act, which is solely about protecting gaited horses from the inhumane practice of soring in order to get them trained faster to produce the high-stepping gait called the “big lick.” VS is charged with enforcing the Humane Transport of Horses to Slaughter Act, and that is the extent of the agency’s authorities on the matter.

Part of today’s problem can be traced to actions by Congress in 2007 that eliminated the last three remaining horse-slaughtering plants in the country. Now if you have too many horses to take care of, or they’ve grown too old to do their work (e.g., aged racing animals, circus performers, etc.), you can pay a veterinarian to euthanize the horses and bury them—at a cost of up to $2,000 apiece. In today’s economy, people are struggling to feed their children. Feeding a high-maintenance animal like a horse definitely comes in second place, and giving one a decent burial may be totally out of reach now for many owners.

Before 2007, you could ship your excess horses to an American slaughtering facility, which would pay you a fairly low amount of money per animal and then process the meat for export. (In France, Germany, and Japan, people eat horsemeat and it shows up on the menu at expensive restaurants.) Now that option is more complicated.

First, you have to ship your animal to either Canada or Mexico to be slaughtered. Second, the price you’ll receive for the horse barely covers the cost of transporting it across the border. If you can’t afford to keep the animal and can’t afford to send it away to be processed, what can you do? Unfortunately, many Americans have answered that question by applying the “kitty formula.” They take their unwanted horses out into the country and abandon them.

These owners are not Evil Incarnate. They believe, incorrectly, that they are giving their horses a fighting chance to survive when they can no longer take care of them. They think the animals will pal up with a roaming herd of feral horses and just become part of the family, so to speak. Unfortunately, this is not what happens at all. Domesticated horses have never learned to forage for their food. Some of them starve straightaway in the wild. Others do stumble across roving bands of feral horses, but the reception they get from their wild brothers is anything but familial. The alpha female or the single stallion in each of these clusters, known in the animal-science trade as “harems,” often attacks the newcomer. At best, it slinks away. At worst, it is killed.

There is no happy ending for domesticated horses dumped in the countryside.
And these horses add to the number of equine mouths feeding on the forage base.
What Are the Northwestern Tribes Doing About the Problem?

When Jim Stephenson made a speech about the Yakama horses at the September 2008 annual meeting of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, Janet was in the audience. She spoke with Jim afterwards, and he sent her a huge report he had written after rounding up and examining a big sample of the Yakama ferals. The tribe’s wild horses are small and relatively dark, with few paints or palomino types. Their size and coloration makes them less attractive to people wanting to get a horse through the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program. And the slaughter plants pay very little for small animals. But the Yakama’s horses are in good health, which contributes to their reproductive success—and furthers the damage they cause to local grasslands.

Janet shared Jim’s report with Terry Clark and others in VS, and Terry and Janet both attended a couple meetings of the five named tribes in the fall and winter of 2008–09 out West. The tribes decided to incorporate as a nonprofit and work together on the feral-horse overpopulation issue. They formed the Northwest Tribal Horse Coalition (NTHC) and have been meeting every other month since then. Janet and Terry participate by speakerphone from back East.

NTHC member-tribes are willing to examine all possible solutions to reduce the numbers of feral horses on their reservations. Nobody endorses killing all the horses. But some culling of these herds must happen in order to bring down the population fast enough to save the rangelands from becoming permanently barren. Tribes will continue to try to find buyers for their animals at livestock sales and auctions.

Surgical sterilization would be expensive and difficult to implement with such large populations of free-roaming animals. But birth control for horses is a possibility. There are two vaccines that prevent pregnancy by keeping mares from coming into estrus. One is based on porcine zona pellucida (PZP), derived from pigs, and the other on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is common to all mammals. The PZP product requires two injections, which makes it expensive for large populations of horses that have to be captured in the wild. The GnRH-based product can work with only one shot, making it a less expensive and more convenient option.
But there are some hoops to be jumped through yet. The Humane Society of the United States recently submitted data to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requesting that the PZP vaccine receive a registration label so it can be used by suitable personnel in nonresearch settings (i.e., real-world use) for horses. APHIS–Wildlife Services scientists at the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) in Fort Collins developed a GnRH-based vaccine that works well (and is labeled for) white-tailed deer. They need to find out how well it can work in equines. And then somebody must pursue getting the product labeled for nonresearch use in horses.
The product is called GonaCon. NWRC produces it inhouse for experimental purposes and, now that it has been labeled for deer, makes GonaCon to sell to wildlife-management agencies and governmental units wanting to try immunocontraception to get a handle on their excess deer populations.

GonaCon researchers Lowell Miller, Kathy Fagerstone, and Jim Gionfriddo, plus APHIS Native American Working Group member John Eisemann, who handles product registration work at NWRC, are already involved in one efficacy study on GonaCon in horses. They are managing a study in Montana on nontribal lands, and need to do another efficacy study on feral horses to be sure the science supports extending GonaCon’s label, through EPA, to cover equines.

Early results from Montana are encouraging. In previous pen studies, contraception was about 100 percent effective for a year after mares were injected. Up to 4 years later, fully 60 percent were still not producing foals. The long efficacy curve here is a big consideration when you’re talking about the need to round up wild animals in order to contracept them. Not quite the same things as taking Fido or Fifi to the local vet for a shot….

Janet is exploring with Wildlife Services management the possibility of hooking up the NWRC team with one of the NTHC tribes to do another efficacy study on GonaCon. The study and the subsequent timeframe for getting the product labeled for horses will take about 4 years, and no decisions have yet been made on this matter. But collaborating with the tribes of the NTHC on the birth-control issue is one of the few ways APHIS, within its statutory authorities, could actually help in the feral-horse arena.

Sterilization of some of the ferals on reservation lands in the Northwest is still being considered by the NTHC member-tribes. Because of the harem behaviors of horses, sterilizing the dominant stallion in a cluster might go a ways to help reduce foaling.

Horses do not pair-bond for life like swans, however, so castrating those stallions is not a final answer. Can it help, though? VS veterinarian Terry Hensley has worked with Oregon’s Warm Springs tribe to find out. Terry got the veterinary school at Oregon State University to supply students to work with him twice in the last few years to castrate stallions on the Warm Springs Reservation.

Warm Springs reported significant reductions in foal crops in the test populations. This suggests that, in certain settings, sterilization may work to lessen population increases. But horses that have been sterilized, or have received contraceptive injections for that matter, don’t die. They keep right on eating. Hence, the rangeland where they eat continues to experience vegetation damage and siltation of streams.

What Does the NTHC Think About How To Solve This Problem?

After examining all the relevant options, Coalition members concluded that a mix of techniques offers the best chance of reducing feral-horse populations in order to save forage, tribally significant plants, and salmon habitat. But to save the land base fast enough, some population reduction operations will likely have to be involved.

The NTHC would like to get Congress to reverse its position on the issue of horse slaughter for human consumption, and the Coalition is not alone in this regard. Since the NTHC formed, more than a half-dozen States have launched investigations into the feasibility of operating horse-processing facilities and getting Congress to roll back the prohibition on horse slaughter if the meat is destined for human consumption. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which has the overall Federal trust responsibility for managing reservation rangelands, is working with one of the NTHC tribes to fund a feasibility study on this subject. If a processing facility can be profitable as well as environmentally safe, the tribe would fund and run a processing plant and kill the animals with appropriate tribal protocols. The key to profitability is a change in Federal law to, once again, fund USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service inspection of horsemeat destined for human consumption.

NTHC members have been distributing information about this issue to their congressional delegations. While all Federal employees are explicitly forbidden to lobby Congress, the tribes can do so. Janet has been working with the Coalition to prepare persuasive written information and encourage the GonaCon research agenda. Terry Hensley will likely pursue the sterilization activities he initiated in Oregon—a fine example of how an individual APHIS employee can reach out to help the tribes. But for now, the limitation on APHIS’ authorities in connection with equines is a controlling factor in how much the agency can undertake.

Click on link below for entire USDA ANAWG newsletter in pdf form, complete w/ this article and pics not shown here;
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/about_aphis/programs_offices/anawg/downloads/ANAWG_newsletter_March_2010.pdf

And here is a link to the Yakami Nation where anyone can purchase a "wild horse chasing permit" - http://www.ynwildlife.org/wildhorseprogram.php



Be sure to email them to let them know what you think of their idea to build horse-slaughter plants on Native American Lands.

To take action against the Native American Horse Killing Plan, go here to sign the petition;

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/south-dakota-sioux-to-slaughter-horses

Tennesse Next 2 Get Horse Slaughter / Willi Nelson Protests

A House subcommittee passed a bill Wednesday sponsored by Niceley, a Strawberry Plains Republican, to allow horse slaughterhouses and processing plants in Tennessee by a tight 7-6 vote. The legendary country star had recently singled out Niceley's proposal in an op-ed he sent to The Tennessean.

Nelson's daughter Amy Nelson of Lyles and granddaughter Raelyn Nelson of Goodlettsville both spoke at Wednesday's committee meeting, with Raelyn reading the op-ed that her "Papa Willie" had written.

He had sent the piece to The Tennessean in response to Niceley publicly trashing his national, anti-horse slaughtering effort in a committee meeting at Legislative Plaza last month, saying it was inhumane and results in horses starving.

"Showing compassion? Trying to end equine abuse? Yes, that is the right thing to do," Raelyn Nelson read.
Niceley said that so long as horses can't be killed and processed, more would be abandoned to starve in these tight economic times. He said the Farm Bureau is among the bill's backers.

The problem of neglected horses has been growing in the country, and some, including Niceley, say the closing of the country's few horse processing plants in recent years are a part of the reason. Federal officials have stopped issuing licenses for horse slaughterhouses and processing plants as Congress considers a bill that would outlaw the practice.

Niceley's bill is designed to encourage horse processing operations in the state, and for the state to set regulations so the animals are treated and killed humanely if the U.S. permits the plants again.

Both Niceley and Nelson say they are horse lovers and owners.

"My father stands behind the American farmer," Amy Nelson said, noting that he put together Farm Aid.





Click on title above for rest of story and a place where you can comment;
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100408/NEWS0201/4080345/Willie Nelson s protest in TN doesn t stop horse slaughter bill

Ryan Terry Ranch, Canada, Horsemeat Supplier

Advertising on Alibaba Meats (click on title above to go to Alibabas site. You will have to register to browse, but its fast and easy and no personal info required))

Mr. Ryan Terry
Company Info
Terry's Ranch
[Canada]


City: Veregin
Province/State: Saskatchewan
Country/Region : Canada

Business Type:Distributor/Wholesaler: Horsemeat



http://www.alibaba.com/member/ca109524600.html

Topix, KC, Blogging about Horse Slaughter

Click on title above to have your say and join the fray

Some "Horsey" Things You Dont See Everyday

A 48 Horse Hitch;

Click on title above to see this one;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcCyMRON1zk

You will have to cut and paste the links below to get them to work


20 Mule Team (drivers view);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRGmkYxQXDc&feature=related

20 Mule Team (Street View);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzt41JR7MFg

Mule-Jump (Really High from Stand-still);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO-ULQOzV6s

Horses, Cattle Sicken & Die in Wisconsin Botulism Outbreak

BOTULISM, EQUINE, BOVINE - USA (WISCONSIN)
******************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: 2 Apr 2010
Source: WQOW.com [edited]



Botulism is recognized by many as an illness that comes from eating
contaminated food. For horses, botulism can be deadly. The silent
killer has left a Rusk County family reeling.

Last month [March 2010] the field in front of Bob and Bonnie
Rosollowski's house was full of galloping horses. Now, just 3 remain.
"The 1st one we lost was my old mare; she was 33; we had her for 31
years," said Bonnie tearfully. In a matter of weeks, Bob and Bonnie
lost 5 horses. They were up around the clock, fighting to save the
animals they loved so much. "Sometimes almost all night long," added
Bob, "trying to figure out what was going on, what we could do for
them. Nobody around here had any experience with it."

After area farmers began reporting similar problems with cattle, a
veterinarian was able to identify the illness as botulism. The toxins
in botulism are found in soil and in decaying plant or animal matter.
Bonnie suspects the snow melt and warmer weather may have created the
perfect environment for the spores to grow onto the hay that's fed to
the horses. "The toxin is always there," said Bonnie. "It just takes
the right set of circumstances to activate the spores."

The disease works quickly, attacking the nervous system. Eventually
the animal loses muscle control, and suffocates. "Even though they are
paralyzed, and they cannot motivate their muscles themselves, they
feel everything," continued Bonnie. "They feel all the pain."

An anti-toxin exists, but is not widely available and is very
expensive. The Rosollowski's were able to get the medicine in time to
save their remaining 3 horses, but the emotion of losing 5 is still
fresh. Hay from the farm is now being tested to find out whether that
is where the horses contracted botulism. For more information about
the illness, or vaccine, contact your local veterinarian.

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail

[The account of the horses and nearby cattle being affected lends
credibility to the thought that the melting snows may have uncovered
the spores or the bacterium.

Botulism is a paralytic disease caused by the neurotoxins of
_Clostridium botulinum_ and in rare cases, _Clostridium butyricum_ and
_Clostridium barati._ These gram-positive spore-forming anaerobes can
be found in soil samples and marine sediments throughout the world.

Differences in antigenicity among the toxins produced by different
strains of botulism-causing organisms allow for separation of the
organisms into 7 distinct types (A-G). Types A, B, and E are the
toxins most often responsible for disease in humans, whereas types C
and D only cause disease in other animals (e.g., nonhuman mammals,
birds, fish). In rare instances, a single strain of organism may
produce 2 toxins.

_C botulinum_ is distributed widely throughout the environment and can
be found in soil, freshwater and saltwater sediments, household dust,
and on the surfaces of many foods. The toxins produced are cytoplasmic
proteins (mass = 150 kDa) released as cells lyse. While the spores
survive 2 hours at 100 C (but die rapidly at 120 C), the exotoxin is
heat labile and becomes inactive after one minute at 85 C or 5 minutes
at 80 C.

Although the mode of entry of toxin may differ between the different
forms of diseases, once the toxin enters the bloodstream, it acts in a
similar manner to produce the clinical signs and symptoms. The toxin
binds to receptors on presynaptic terminals of cholinergic [neuron]
synapses, is internalized into vesicles, and then is translocated to
the cytosol. In the cytosol, the toxin mediates the proteolysis of
components of the calcium-induced exocytosis apparatus (the SNARE
proteins) to interfere with acetylcholine release. Blockade of
neurotransmitter release at the terminal is permanent, and recovery
only occurs when the axon sprouts a new terminal to replace the
toxin-damaged one.

When the testing on the soil/hay/samples is complete, we would
appreciate an authoritative report on the situation.

Portions of this comment have been extracted from:
. - Mod.TG]

[see also:
Botulism, canine - USA: (FL) susp. 20100208.0430
2007
----
Botulism, bovine - Australia (QLD) (02) 20070224.0673
Botulism, bovine - Australia (QLD) 20070221.0642
2006
----
Botulism, bovine - UK (England) 20060925.2743
Botulism, bovine - UK (Scotland) 20060717.1962
Botulism, bovine - Australia (02) 20060629.1797
Botulism, bovine - Australia 20060524.1464]
............................................tg/msp/jw
*##########################################################*
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are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
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WHO’S ON FIRST?

April 4, 2010
Guest Editorial by Vicki Tobin, Vice President of The Equine Welfare Alliance

EWA Exec Speaks out on Anti-Horse Activists

The slaughter proponent’s arguments bring to mind the old Abbott and Costello routine because you never really know what they are saying. They talk back and forth to each other with neither, understanding the other or making sense.

Each new year brings new arguments and scare tactics from our opponents. When each talking point is disproved, they move on to the next. Every once in a while, they throw a curve ball and resurrect an old argument thinking it just might stick this time around.

We, on the other hand, have been consistent in our message. Humanely euthanize your horse. End your horse’s life by humane euthanasia as we do with all non-food animals in the United States. It is the preferred method by all major veterinarian associations. Any competent veterinarian will tell you that. Veterinarians don’t carry captive bolts in their medical bags or advise their clients to send their horses to slaughter. Veterinarians for Equine Welfare has an excellent updated white paper on this subject.

Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM & former Chief USDA Inspector stated, “The captive bolt is not a proper instrument for the slaughter of equids, these animals regain consciousness 30 seconds after being struck, they are fully aware they are being vivisected.”

When the slaughter debate started heating up in the late 2000s, the argument of choice was; what are we going to do with old, lame, sick horses? Jeez, any responsible horse owner knows the answer to that. Pick up the phone and call the vet.

Next was the argument that horses are livestock. While many categorize horses as livestock, that’s not the issue. The issue is that of a food animal vs. a non-food animal. US horses are not raised as food animals but for other purposes. Mounted police are not riding food animals. Therapy horses are not food animals. Race horses are not food animals. The country does not use food animals in military and presidential funerals. Have you ever seen a riderless cow? Dressage, cutting and reining horses are not food animals. Livestock (food animals) do not perform any of the functions that horses perform in our society.

US horses must have maintenance medications that are prohibited in food animals to keep them at peak performance and healthy. There is no tracking of horses as there is with livestock. Unlike horses, you can trace livestock back to the original farm. It is obvious by the opposition to NAIS last year that owners don’t want horses tracked.

This brings me to the “abandoned” horses. If you can’t find the owners to charge them for the crime they have committed, how are you going to certify the horses are free of prohibited substances? A horse that has received a prohibited substance can never enter the food chain. There is no withdrawal period. Those are the EU rules and the FDA rules.

We have been warning of the drug issue for years. We were made the brunt of many a joke and constantly laughed at. We were so ridiculously funny, the EU took notice. It is important to note that all current anti-horse propaganda never addresses the drug issue.

There have been many scare tactics such as the AQHA release in 2008 warning owners that if the federal legislation passes they won’t be able to transport their horse across the street. Senator Landrieu promptly responded with a release stating the intent of the law and we never again saw that argument.



One of the most often used arguments is property rights. Nobody can tell slaughter proponents what they can or cannot do with their property. This is one of the more laughable arguments since there are many laws on the books telling property owners exactly how to dispose of property such as appliances, batteries, toxic substances, cars, etc. There are even laws in certain areas on horse disposal. Owning property does not give the owner the right to abuse the property, especially when the “property” is a living, sentient being.

Now we are hearing how inhumane slaughter is in Mexico and Canada. Slaughter proponents conveniently forget that they never uttered a peep when thousands of horses were sent over the borders when the US plants were open. Why was it okay then but not now? They never mention the inhumane slaughter that took place in the US and dismiss government FOIAs. The truth is that no matter where horses are slaughtered it will never be humane.

They complain of the long distances in travel now but didn’t have any concerns when horses were being trucked across the US to slaughter plants and also to plants in Mexico, Canada and Japan. All documented humane violations in shipping have taken place within US borders and yet, they oppose the slightest change to improve conditions such as a ban on double deckers. It is quite obvious; they have no concern for horse welfare, only lining their pockets. There were years and years of investigations and FOIAs of the domestic plants and never was an attempt made to correct anything.

The latest comments we are seeing is that they will start raising horses for slaughter. I’m not sure what type of business model will survive paying thousands on feed for pasture ornaments to bring in revenue of $300-$600 per horse from a kill buyer.

This is yet another shining example of their refusal to address the issue of excess horses. Instead of addressing the mess they have created, they’re going to start a new population of horses. Slaughter at all costs! One only needs to follow the rules of engagement to be a diehard anti-horse person.

Rule #1: Never admit responsibility for producing the excess horses going to slaughter.

Rule #2: Call horses “unwanted” so you can blame the horse. Call slaughter harvesting or processing so that it is more palatable.

Rule #3: Never take responsibility for horses you choose to buy or breed and transfer all blame to the “radical vegan tree huggers” that oppose slaughter.

Rule #4: Blame the rescues.

Rule #5: Blame the legislators.

Rule #6: Exploit Native Americans for the few that have chosen to go against their teachings and spiritual beliefs that revere and respect the horse.

Rule #7: Blame anyone that dares to speak up publicly for the horses, make sure you publish a list of these terrible people and call for a boycott. Even include celebrities that have raised millions of dollars for farmers. All people that want horses treated humanely must be exposed. Wait a minute. Doesn’t that sound like the organization that they so vehemently oppose? They blast them but when they do the same, it’s okay.

Rule #8: Be sure to present all propaganda to legislators with nothing to back the statements but emphasize it as fact.

Rule #9: Create bogus polls and surveys that slant questions and circulate only to those sharing your view. Then, present the results to Congress as the view of horse owners across the country.

Rule #10: State that all rescues are full and become combative when asked for the data to back the claims.

Rule #11: Ignore that slaughter is still very much available and blame all horse woes on the closure of the plants. To fully utilize this rule, under no circumstance, mention or blame the economy. The impact of the economy does not play a role in the horse industry. That is the only industry in America that would not have been impacted by the economy if the slaughter plants had remained opened.

Rule #12: Ignore the horrific investigations and FOIAs and always state that slaughter is a good thing. After all, it allows irresponsible breeders to breed and dump so they can breed more. It allows owners that are abusing and neglecting their horses to hide their crimes by having the horse slaughtered. Then, chuckle and whisper under your breath, America’s Dirty Little Secret.

Rule #13: Never discuss present society and culture. Always refer to 70 or more years ago when some people were forced to eat horse meat but make it sound like present day and thus, you may be able to create a false market in the US.

Rule #14: Always state, with emotion, that slaughter opponents are trying to change other country’s cultures. With even more emotion, state that the horse meat is feeding the hungry in foreign countries even though the hungry cannot afford the gourmet priced horse meat.

Rule#15: Never mention the largest case of neglect in the US occurred in 2005 when all three plants were operating.

Rule #16: Ignore all studies and data on abuse and neglect.

Rule #17: Be sure to always interject the slippery slope. It is your greatest weapon to scare farmers and ranchers into believing that ending the slaughter of a non-food animal will bring down livestock slaughter.

Rule #18: Never mention that slaughter is a predatory, demand driven business and especially don’t mention that US plants imported horses to fill the demand when demand increased. In years when the demand was down and fewer horses were slaughtered, just state that there were fewer “unwanted” horses in those years. Don’t ever admit that slaughter houses only slaughter the number of horses needed to fill the demand. Let everyone think they are performing a service to rid the US of “unwanted” horses.

Rule #19: Lobby against any legislation for animal welfare, even if it’s something you feel you should support. At all costs, even good legislation from any animal “rights” organization for the humane treatment of any animal must be prevented.

and the two most important rules…

Rule #20: Never directly answer a question, especially when facts are requested. Doubletalk and then change the subject. It is imperative this rule be invoked when asked to discuss the drug issue and how unsafe US horses are for human consumption.

Rule #21: Learn the art of spinning. Always accuse the pro-horse advocates of being emotional, attack their credibility and spin the facts. This is especially important when indisputable facts are provided. When footage or photos are provided, be sure to state with authority they are fake or have been altered. Always state that because they are against slaughter that they are responsible for the horses suffering.



Slaughter proponents don’t stop at domestic horses. They must target all horses, including our wild horses. Perhaps they haven’t read the EU regulations that state that the only wild equidae meat that will be accepted is zebra meat – or did they?

Rule #1: Ignore mitochondrial DNA studies and start calling all wild horses and burros feral so they can be shipped to slaughter.

Rule #2: Be sure to send and publish propaganda on how the wild horses and burros are overpopulated and ruining the ranges.

Rule #3: Never, never mention the millions of privately owned livestock that have turned our public lands into a giant feedlot.

Rule #4: Never mention the hundreds of millions of dollars the taxpayers shell out for the private livestock grazing on public lands.

Rule #5: Dismiss and never mention the GAO studies that prove the livestock, not the horses, are ruining the ranges.

Rule #6: Never mention the pictures of the horses that died of thirst laying alongside the fences that cattle ranchers erected to block the wild horses from using the water sources.

Rule #7: Ignore all footage and photos of the healthy, thriving horses being removed from public lands. At all times, state the horses are starving and removing them is for their own good.

Rule #8: Provide your own wild horse and burro population counts. Make up a staggering number and state with authority and conviction the data source is Google Earth and begin circulating and publishing the number as fact in all communications.

The best argument, by far, is that because of the “ban” on horse slaughter, horses are being starved, neglected and abandoned. This is quite amusing since there is nothing stopping anyone from sending their horse to slaughter. 2008 saw the second highest slaughter count since 1995. Shouldn’t they wait until slaughter isn’t available to make such a statement? In one swooping statement, they disprove their own argument and prove our point that slaughter does not prevent suffering.

Why are owners allowing their horses to suffer instead of sending them to the killers? Did it ever occur to the slaughter proponents that owners are holding on to their horses because they fear the horse may end up on a slaughter truck if they sell or donate the horse?

The bottom line is that slaughter proponents don’t have a platform. They have no facts or data to back their statements and as a consequence, they continually have to invent new arguments and scare tactics.

It is time to call the ball game. Call your legislators to stop this insanity and ask that they pass the legislation to protect our horses. Pick up the phone and do it now.







http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/who’s-on-first/

Out-RAGE!!!!

Journal Entry by Jason Miller

4/3/10

RAGE is taking a proactive and aggressive approach to opposing the horse slaughter bill that is wending its way through the Missouri Legislature. Two legislators, Jim Viebrock and Casey Guernsey, who voted in favor of murdering horses, recently engaged in jejune, sophomoric phone pranks and name calling against Brenda Shoss, the highly respected Animal Rights activist who leads Kinship Circle of St. Louis. Unbelievable as it may seem, they were retaliating against her for her email campaign that opposed the horse slaughter bill which they both ardently support.

Here is the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s accounting of this surreal event:(Click on title above for article;)

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/politics/story/FEB3E9E8D29BCE76862576F800080BC2?OpenDocument

Here is my communication with Representatives Viebrock and Guernsey:

From: Jason Miller willpowerful@hotmail.com

To: jim.viebrock@house.mo.gov, casey.guernsey@house.mo.gov

CC: Jim Sullinger , tmessenger@post-dispatch.com, tips@kmov.com, , news@kmbc.com, news@nbcactionnews.com, newsdesk@kctv5.com, newstips@kcstar.com, lmoritz@hearst.com, paul.stewart@wdaftv4.com, jlambe@kcstar.com, jadam@kcstar.com, siteeditor@stltoday.com, newstips@ksdk.com, ktvinews@tvstl.com, bgrady@kmbz.com, zieglerl@umkc.edu, ray.read@cumulus.com, webeditor@news-leader.com, dmitchell@kolr10.com, dbowen@kolr10.com, doliver@kolr10.com, csears@ozarksfox.com, rpalmer@kolr10.com, rclipper@grm.net, gregw@republicmonews.com, amyb@republicmonews.com

Date Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 12:56 AM

Gentlemen,

And I do use the term “gentlemen” loosely in addressing you two.

Since I read the St. Louis Post Dispatch accounting of the infantile fashion in which you handled activist opposition to your abominable support of the murder of sentient beings, I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around the fact that you are allegedly representatives of the people in the state of my birth.

I’m a seasoned Vegan Animal Rights activist, so I recognize that empathy deficient, morally retarded “men” like you, who are indoctrinated sycophants of a system that murders 50 billion nonhuman animals per annum, are going to follow your programming and champion profit over life almost every time you are faced with such a choice. Being the good little capitalist necrovores that you are, it is unsurprising that you threw your support behind a law that would enable discarding and butchering noble, graceful, and exquisite sentient beings to “stimulate agribusiness.”


What shocked me was the fact that “elected” public officials, who went into your roles (presumably) knowing that you would face criticism and political opposition, would stoop to childish retaliatory acts against Brenda Shoss of Kinship Circle in this fashion:

(from the Post Dispatch article)

[That’s what happened to Missouri House members a week ago, when Shoss and members of her advocacy group, Kinship Circle, unleashed a deluge urging legislators to vote against a bill that would open the door for a horse slaughterhouse to come to the Show-Me State.

Lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — objected to the tactic. They said they had never before received hundreds of e-mails from all over the nation, and even the world, on a bill.

So they struck back.

Shoss received calls at her home from offices in the Capitol, taunting her and making “neighing” voices into the phone. One caller sang a version of the theme song from “Mr. Ed.” A number of the calls came late at night.

Some legislators programmed their e-mail systems to forward any message containing the word “horse” to Shoss. And some told the activist that they would consider passing the bill out of spite.

“I would think that some people who voted against it previously might change their vote,” said Rep. Michael Frame, D-Eureka.....

It’s so fun to piss you wackos off,” wrote Rep. Casey Guernsey, R-Bethany, to one activist from his private e-mail account. “You’re lucky I even acknowledge your existence. It’s so much fun to taunt people like you — ha! Tell me, is it truly liberating to be so incredibly clueless?”]

Public officials “striking back” against peaceful, lawful political opposition?

Representatives of the state of Missouri engaging in prank phone calls and ad hominem attacks against constituents?

Legislators basing their voting decisions on spite?

Really? Come again? And you “men” are how old chronologically? Emotionally I’d place you at about 3, maybe 4 years of age.

You two aren’t fit to serve as members of a junior high glee club fund-raising committee, let alone hold office in the Missouri state legislature.

Buckle up, boys. The second wave of opposition is coming. Your bill isn’t a law yet.

If you have any questions, you can reach me at 913-742-1200

For the horses,

Jason Miller

Founder and Editor of Thomas Paine’s Corner

Co-Founder of RAGE

Press Officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Founder of Bite Club of KC: Activism with a bite!

Please use the information below to contact Guernsey and Viebrock to let them know what you think of their twisted desire to kill horses and their inexcusably immature and unethical behavior:

Rep. Casey Guernsey: R-Bethany (3)
First elected: 2008 Room: 406B
Jeff. off. phone: 573-751-4285
E-mail address: Casey.Guernsey@house.mo.gov

Rep. James Viebrock: R-Republic (134)
First elected: 2003 Room: 407A
Jeff. off. phone: 573-751-2381
Dist. off. phone: 417-732-8205
E-mail address: Jim.Viebrock@house.mo.gov

RAGE, the anarcho-vegan collective behind this blog, is Radicals against Greed and Exploitation….

RAGE will never surrender, and as our recent communiqué to our 20,000 strong network of allies reads, “We will not be intimidated!”

RAGE is Sunil Potnis, Judy Levy, George Albayan, Colin Biroc, Kyle XVX, Stacey Rakic, Jason Miller, Kiantha Shadduck, Lane Ferrante, Dominique Landis, Michael Bishop, Jennifer Bowman, Jo Walsh, Carmen Vegan Fight, Jen Strickler-Renstrom, Cherokee Rayne, Sarah Strickler, Christy Melanson, Amanda Sorvino, Elizabeth McMahon, and Ricky Setticase

Contact RAGE and join our email subscribers’ list at willpowerful@hotmail.com

AND

Visit RAGE’s blogs and our Facebook and My Space pages at:

Thomas Paine’s Corner:
http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/

Bite Club of KC:
http://biteclubkc.wordpress.com/

Canine Crusaders:
http://caninecrusaders.wordpress.com/

The Right to Keep and Arm Bears:
http://gahc.wordpress.com/

Until Every Closet is Empty:
http://emptyclosets.wordpress.com/

Castrating the Patriarchy:
http://castthepat.wordpress.com/

Bite Club TV:
http://www.youtube.com/user/417VEGAN

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=256337460768&ref=ts&v=info#!/pages/fight-for-animal-rights/104290676526?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=328897505546&ref=tshttp://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=333999894586&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=272047424730&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=333472792621&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=392391740131&ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=392391740131&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=392391740131&ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=371213506837&ref=ts

http://www.myspace.com/anarchovegan

http://www.myspace.com/justice4kids


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Until Every Closet is Empty
Human Freedom, Animal Rights, One Struggle, One Fight!

EQUINE HERPESVIRUS - USA (02): (NEW JERSEY) SUSPECTED

*****************************************************
A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases


Date: Thu 1 Apr 2010
Source: APP.Com [edited]



A total of 6 New Jersey non-racing horse farms, including 5 in
Monmouth County, were under quarantine Thursday [1 Apr 2010] because
of a possible outbreak of a deadly equine virus.

Except for a farm in Millstone, the Monmouth County farms are all in
Howell according to the state Department of Agriculture, whose
Division of Animal Health announced the quarantine Thursday [1 Apr
2010]. The 5th farm is in Gloucester County, according to the
agriculture department.

The disease, called the [equine herpes], is not harmful to humans and
other animals, but it can spread quickly to horses and is often fatal
to them, according to the agriculture department.

"Quarantines are necessary to ensure that this serious disease does
not spread,'' said state Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H Fisher.
"Our investigation is continuing as we work to protect the health and
safety of horses in New Jersey and other states.''

The agriculture department noted tests, so far, have not confirmed the
disease. But the quarantines went into effect after 2 horses showed
clinical signs of the disease and were euthanized and another with
similar signs died, according to the department.

One of the farms is connected in some way to all the other farms under
quarantine, Lynn Richmond, an agriculture department spokeswoman. The
quarantines were put in place over various days within the last week
or so, and are expected to remain in place for weeks, Richmond said.

[Byline: Joe Sapia]

--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail


[Equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) and EHV-4 comprise 2 antigenically
distinct groups of viruses previously referred to as subtypes 1 and 2
of EHV-1. Both viruses are ubiquitous in horse populations worldwide
and produce an acute febrile respiratory disease upon primary
infection, characterized by rhinopharyngitis and tracheobronchitis.
Outbreaks of respiratory disease occur annually among foals in areas
with concentrated horse populations. Most of these outbreaks in
weanlings are caused by strains of EHV-4. The age, seasonal, and
geographic distributions vary and are determined by immune status and
horse population. In individual horses, the outcome of exposure is
determined by viral strain, immune status, pregnancy status, and
possibly age. Infection of pregnant mares with EHV-4 rarely results in
abortion.

Outbreaks with specific strains of EHV-1 infection result in
neurologic disease. Clinical signs vary from mild incoordination and
posterior paresis to severe posterior paralysis with recumbency, loss
of bladder and tail function, and loss of sensation to the skin in the
perineal and inguinal areas. In exceptional cases, the paralysis may
progress to quadriplegia and death. Prognosis depends on severity of
signs and the period of recumbency. Neurologic disease associated with
EHV-1 is thought to occur more commonly in mares after abortion
storms, but it has been reported in barren mares, stallions, geldings,
and foals after an outbreak of EHV-1 respiratory infection.

For prevention and control of EHV-4- and EHV-1-related diseases,
management practices that reduce viral spread are recommended. New
horses (or those returning from other premises) should be isolated for
3-4 weeks before commingling with resident horses, especially pregnant
mares. Management-related stress-inducing circumstances should be
avoided to prevent recrudescence of latent virus. Pregnant mares
should be maintained in a group away from the weanlings, yearlings,
and horses out of training. In an outbreak of respiratory disease or
abortion, affected horses should be isolated and appropriate measures
taken for disinfection of contaminated premises. No horse should leave
the premises for 3 weeks after recovery of the last clinical case.

Parenterally administered modified live vaccines are licensed in some
countries but banned in others. An inactivated vaccine is the only
product currently recommended by the manufacturer as an aid in
prevention of EHV-1 abortion. Vaccine should be administered during
moths 3, 5, 7, and 9 of pregnancy. Humoral immunity induced by
vaccination against EHV-1 and EHV-4 generally persists for only 2-4
months. Antigenic variation within each virus type means that
available vaccines do not cover all strains to which horses can be
exposed. Vaccination should begin when foals are 3-4 months old and,
depending on the vaccine used, a 2nd dose given 4-8 weeks later.
Booster vaccinations may be indicated as often as every 3-6 months
through maturity. Vaccination programs against EHV-1 should include
all horses on the premises.

Extracted from

- Mod.TG]

[The state of New Jersey in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US can be
located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
.
Monmouth and Gloucester counties can be seen on the map at
. -
Sr.Tech.Ed.MJ]

[see also:
Equine herpesvirus - USA: (LA) 20100101.0016
2009
----
Equine herpesvirus, equine - USA: (SC) susp. 20091212.4227
Equine herpesvirus - USA (03): (FL) 20091203.4126
Equine herpesvirus - USA (02): (PA) 20090729.2663
Equine herpesvirus - USA: (OK) 20090206.0546
2008
----
Equine herpesvirus - USA (04): (KY) 20081120.3669
Equine herpesvirus - USA (03): (MD) 20081115.3614
Equine herpesvirus - USA (02): (KY) 20080410.1320
Equine herpesvirus - Canada (SK) (02) 20080406.1254
Equine herpesvirus - Canada (SK) 20080324.1111
Equine herpesvirus - USA: (MD) susp. 20080124.030]
........................................sb/tg/mj/jw
*##########################################################*
************************************************************
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Donate to ProMED-mail. Details available at:

************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at .
Send all items for posting to: promed@promedmail.org
(NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
etc. to: majordomo@promedmail.org. For assistance from a
human being send mail to: owner-promed@promedmail.org.
############################################################
############################################################

New Study Shows Horsemeat a Danger to Eat

April 2, 2010



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contacts:



John Holland

540.268.5693

john@equinewelfarealliance.org



Vicki Tobin

630.961.9292

vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org





Contaminated Horse Meat a Health Risk, According to Study



CHICAGO, (EWA) – A peer reviewed scientific study tracing race horses sent to slaughter for human consumption has found that 100% of the horses in the study group had been administered phenylbutazone, a banned carcinogen that can also fatally damage the bone marrow of humans. The findings appear to validate the European Union’s recent tightening of traceability requirements on horse meat from third countries.



The paper, titled Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk, appeared in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and calls into question the reliability of the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) testing programs which have consistently failed to detect the substance.



The manuscript(1), which was authored by Drs. Nicholas Dodman(2), Nicolas Blondeau(3) and Ann M. Marini(4), followed eighteen Thoroughbred (TB) race horses that were identified by matching their registered name to their race track drug record over a five year period and were given phenylbutazone (PBZ, Bute) on race day and were subsequently sent to slaughter for human consumption.



The study also traced records on sixteen TB race horses that were given PBZ on race day and would have also entered the food chain had they not been rescued. The study was limited to race horses because of the availability of drug records, but phenylbutazone is one of the most common drugs used in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in horses.



Because of the bone marrow toxicity caused by PBZ in humans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set no safe levels of PBZ and bans its use food producing animals, including horses. While PBZ is but one of the numerous banned substances that are routinely given to US horses, it is one of the most dangerous.



Defenders of horse slaughter have long pointed to USDA testing records which consistently showed no positive results for PBZ. The new study shows that the USDA testing could not have been accurate. Indeed, the study uncovered a pilot test performed by the USDA in 2004 and 2005 that used a different testing technique and found 8.3% of the meat to be contaminated with PBZ. The pilot program had been subsequently discontinued.



The study estimates that sixty seven million pounds of horse meat derived from US horses were sent overseas for human consumption in 2008. If 8.3% of this meat contained phenylbutazone residues, it would translate to over 5 million pounds of contaminated meat.



Opponents of horse slaughter have long warned that US horses are not raised as food animals and mechanisms to ensure the removal of horses treated with banned substances from the food chain are inadequate at best.

---



Equine Welfare Alliance recently issued a discussion paper with their partners, Canadian Horse Defence Coalition on the serious drug issue concerning North American horses. The comprehensive paper covers concerns over the ability to meet compliance with European Commission regulations on food safety.







(1) Article is cited as, Dodman, N., Blondeau, N., Marini, A.M., Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk, Food and Chemical Toxicology (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.fct. 2010.02.021

(2) Tufts University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA

(3) Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire - I.P.M.C, UMR 6097,

C.N.R.S/Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, 660 route des Lucioles, Sophia Antipolis

06560 Valbonne, FRANCE

(4) Department of Neurology and Program in Neuroscience, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD.













The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 100 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids.





www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Ron Pauls Blog Talking About Horse Slaughter

Many of you know or have heard of Dr. Ron Paul a Republican Congressman from Texas that made an independant bid for the US Presidency last go round. He is VERY popular with the youth of today andI am glad to see the issue being discussed in this forum. The people that follow Mr Paul are very active in politics,..but judging by the posts there,....they have ALOT to learn about horse-slaughter, but hey, at least they are talking about it! Can u help give them an education so we can (hopefully) get them on board the anti-horse slaughter train?

Click on title above to go to the Liberty Tree blog.

These will be good people to have on our (I mean, the horses) side!

Thanks

Animal Transportation Association (ATA) Annual Conference

HAVE YOU'RE ANTI-HORSE SLAUGHTER VOICES HEARD HERE!

Join the Animal Transportation Association (ATA) at their upcoming Annual Conference in Ft.Lauderdale, FL, May 9 – 12th at the beautiful Harbor Beach Resort and Spa!

Find details such as registration, sponsor/exhibit opportunities and the special room block rate of $184 for ATA attendees at the ATAs conference website.

Click on title above to go there;
http://www.aata-animaltransport.org/conference..htm.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: The ATA claims to be "Neutral" on the Horse-Slaughter Issue,....just like the AQHA and other breed registries, The Racing Associations, The Horse Counsels, as well as the AAEV. So if you go, be nice.

As we all know, there is no such thing as "neutral" in this fight,....just as we all know...
There is NO SUCH THING as an "Un-Wanted" Horse.

Missouri 1st in Race 2 Bring Back Horse-Slaughter

MO HB 1747 passed the house. We must stop this in the Senate. There is a link in the below article from Laura Allen to the bill text but it basically allows horse slaughter and moves all regulation to the state level. While all meat must be federally inspected (there is currently no funding which prohibits horses from being slaughtered on US soil) it will not bode well for our federal legislation if this passes.

I have heard from several people that have called that they are pulling the ol’ you don’t reside in MO so it’s none of your business. If you get that, tell them if they are going to be slaughtering horses from other states, they have made it your business and they must listen to every horse owner in the US. Horses crossing state lines to go to slaughter makes it a federal issue, not a state issue.

We encourage you to fax a letter. We are hearing that email is being ignored. I clicked through the list of senators and snagged each of their fax numbers so you don’t have to look them up – file is attached. If you would rather email, below Laura’s article is a list of email addresses (thanks, Jenny!) that were available. For the others, you can click the name on the attached file and it will let you email from the site. You can also go to this link and go one-by-one to send an email. You can copy and paste the same message and just keep going down the list. Be sure to change the senator’s name in your message! http://www.senate.mo.gov/webmail/mail_form.aspx

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160



MO House Passes Scary Bill
Posted Jan 24, 2010 by lauraallen

o Horse Slaughter

Update April 1: H.B. 1747 has passed the Missouri House of Representatives. This bill now moves to the state senate.

The version passed by the House is basically the same as the introduced bill, except for one significant change: If this bill becomes law, "[n]o law criminalizing or otherwise regulating crops or the welfare of any domesticated animals shall be valid unless based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly."

Scary language for animals.

This means there could be no local laws regarding the welfare of any domesticated animal including dogs, cats, horses, other pets and farm animals that differ from state laws. Also, any current animal cruelty or animal welfare law in Missouri would be void unless it was "based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly." People charged with animal abuse could raise challenges to the law, claiming it was not based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Possibly, all laws governing animal cruelty or welfare would simply be void because there was no determination of whether they were based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Arguably, current regulations governing animal welfare and protection would be void as well for this lack of this determination and also because they are not enacted by the legislature; regulations are issued by state agencies.

But that is not all this bill does. It was originally introduced to promote horse slaughter and it still does that. Read Animal Law Coalition's report below for more on this bill and what else all of us must do to stop it.

Missouri state Rep. James Viebrock is the sponsor of H.B. 1747, which basically would also authorize registration and inspections for commercial horse slaughter for human consumption.

The bill proposes that the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture would register commercial horse slaughter operations and certify "that the parts of horses to be processed are fit for human food, and the processing establishment to be operated complies with ... sanitary standards". All registration and inspection fees collected" would "be paid to the director of agriculture and deposited into the state ‘Horse Meat and Product Fund'". Annual inspection fees would be used "to pay for USDA inspection of horse meat products and horse meat processing facilities."

According to the bill, H.B. 1747, "the [state] director [of Agriculture] shall make all necessary inspections and investigations" and the USDA would also have access "at all reasonable times to any building, room, vehicle, boat, or other premises in which any horse carcass, horse meat, or horse meat food product is processed, packed, transported, sold, exposed, or offered for sale at retail."

The USDA would be free to pay for samples or specimens of the carcass or "product" to determine if there are violations of USDA regulations.

The new law would have requirements for labeling, remedies to protect against adulteration, misbranding, failure to label or brand, or unfitness for human consumption. Places that serve horsemeat would be required to post conspicuous warning signs.

The proposal, of course, is simply another tactic to promote horse slaughter with the hope of forcing a return of horse slaughter to this country. This bill is similar to a number of bills and resolutions introduced in 2009 and several more this year, 2010, also offered in an effort to defeat the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, now pending in Congress and which would make it illegal to "possess..., ship..., transport..., purchase.., sell... deliver..., or receive" in interstate or foreign commerce any horse "with the intent that it is to be slaughtered for human consumption". The latest of these bills to pass as part of the pro-slaughter disinformation campaign is a Wyoming law that sadly promotes sending horses to slaughter but not to rescues or sanctuaries.

Right now, commercial horse slaughter for human consumption is illegal in the U.S. though horses can be transported to other countries, typically Mexico and Canada, for slaughter. Since 2006 Congress has de-funded ante-mortem inspections required to slaughter horses for human consumption. Congress continued the de-funding in the 2010 Appropriations Act, Sec. 744.

In 2007 a federal court rejected an attempt by the USDA to allow horse slaughter operators to pay for the inspections. The USDA is currently not authorized to conduct ante-mortem inspections of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption. Without those inspections, it is illegal under the Federal Meat Inspection Act ("FMIA"), 21 U.S.C. §§601(w)(1), 603, to slaughter horses for human consumption.

If this bill becomes law, it is not clear the USDA would authorize Missouri state inspectors to conduct the required inspections. The funds to pay for the state as well as USDA inspections would come from horse slaughter operators, the same situation in the previous litigation. The judge in that case found the USDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 42 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq., by failing to consider adequately, or, really, at all, the environmental impact of its action in allowing horse slaughter operators to pay for their own inspections.

Also, there is strong opposition to horse slaughter in the U.S., and the goal is to pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, to end this brutal practice altogether for all American horses. A similar bill passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority in 2006, a vote of 263 to 146, but was never voted on in the Senate.

In 2007 a law in Texas, Texas Agriculture Code §§ 149.001-.007 was found to ban horse slaughter for human consumption and was upheld by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. A ban in Illinois, 225 ILCS 635, on horse slaughter for human consumption was upheld in 2008 by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. These state laws and court rulings closed the 3 facilities that were still slaughtering horses in the U.S.; those facilities were located in Texas and Illinois. (Go here to read about and help oppose state Rep. Jim Sacia's effort once again to overturn the Illinois ban on horse slaughter for human consumption; the Iliinois legislature and Illinois voters have never supported this effort. )

Horse slaughter is also illegal in California, CA Penal Code § 598c ("unlawful for any person to possess, to import into or export from the state, or to sell, buy, give away, hold, or accept any horse with the intent of killing, or having another kill, that horse, if that person knows or should have known that any part of that horse will be used for human consumption"). A Mississippi law, MS Code §75-33-3, states that the "term ‘food unfit for human consumption' shall be construed to include meat and meat-food products of horses and mules.". In Oklahoma, 63 Okla. Stat. §1-1136, it is "unlawful for any person to sell, offer or exhibit for sale . . . any quantity of horsemeat for human consumption."

In 2009 the Rhode Island House of Representatives issued a resolution in support of a federal ban on commercial horse slaughter for human consumption. A similar resolution is pending in California. A bill is pending in New York to ban commercial horse slaughter or trade in horse meat for human consumption. Wisconsin, Senate Bill 142 would also ban horse slaughter.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

If you live in Missouri, again, find your state senator here. If you don't live in Missouri, well, this bill affects horses in your state, so find Missouri state senators here. Everyone, write (letters or faxes are best) or call and urge these representatives to vote no to H.B. 1747. Please be polite. Tell them horse slaughter is a seedy business that is cruel and inhumane; there is no way to make horse slaughter profitable and also humane. Americans don't consume horsemeat, and these facilities are generally owned by foreign investors that ship the horsemeat products overseas where they are consumed as delicacies in expensive restaurants. The profits go overseas as well. Local governments can't even collect sales taxes from them. They pay no export taxes which means the U.S. government basically subsidizes the sale of horsemeat to foreign comsumers for whom it is an expensive delicacy. There is no benefit to any community from a horse slaughter facility. Go here to read about the experience of the mayor of Kaufman, Texas when a horse slaughter facility operated there. There was no economic benefit, only financial hardship, pollution, clogged sewer lines, illegally dumped waste and discharges in excess of that allowed by wastewater permitsand a town plagued by horrific smells and blood and waste in the streets.

Go here to read how you can help pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, now pending in Congress.

Frank.Barnitz@senate.mo.gov

jbray@senate.mo.gov
dan_clemens@senate.mo.gov
Jane.Cunningham@senate.mo.gov
tom.dempsey@senate.mo.gov
timothy_green@senate.mo.gov
Rob.Mayer@senate.mo.gov
chuck.purgason@senate.mo.gov

eschmitt@senate.mo.gov
charlie_shields@senate.mo.gov

Wes.Shoemyer@senate.mo.gov

bstouffer@senate.mo.gov
Yvonne.Wilson@senate.mo.gov