CONTAGIOUS EQUINE METRITIS - USA (12): (MULTISTATE)

A ProMED-mail post

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


Date: 29 May 2009
Source: Horsetalk.co.nz [edited]



The number of United States horses exposed to the venereal disease
contagious equine metritis (CEM) has topped 900. State and federal
authorities have been tracing potential cases of the disease since the 1st
cases were identified in central Kentucky in mid-December 2008.
Investigations have unearthed a total of 19 stallions confirmed as positive
for the disease by the US Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary
Services Laboratories (NVSL).

In addition to the positive stallions, 5 mares have been found positive for
_Taylorella equigenitalis_, the bacterium that causes the disease. None of
the positive horses has yet been identified as the source of the outbreak.
"The epidemiologic investigation continues to pursue all available
information relative to determining the origin of this outbreak, but no
conclusions can yet be drawn," the department said.

As well as the 19 stallions and 5 mares, locations have been confirmed for
904 additional horses exposed to the bacteria. The 928 horses are located
across 48 states. There are 270 exposed or positive stallions in 29 states
and 658 exposed or positive mares in 46 states. Only Hawaii and Rhode
Island do not have at least one horse that is known to be exposed or positive.

The 19 positive stallions are in 6 states: one in Georgia, 3 in Illinois, 3
in Indiana, 4 in Kentucky, one in Texas, and 7 in Wisconsin. The 5 positive
mares are in 3 states: 2 in California, 2 in Illinois, and one in
Wisconsin. All positive horses and all exposed horses that have been
located are currently under quarantine or hold order. Testing and treatment
protocols are being put into action for all located horses.

Of the 270 stallions, 76 have now completed their entire testing and
treatment protocols and been determined to be negative for _T.
equigenitalis_. Of the 76 that are now negative, 68 were exposed stallions
and 8 were stallions that had previously tested positive. Those 8
stallions, 4 from Kentucky, 3 from Indiana, and one from Texas, are now
free of the bacteria after being treated and re-tested. Another 98 exposed
stallions are negative on their initial sampling cultures but have
additional testing requirements to complete before being declared free of
the bacterium.

Of the 658 mares, a total of 434 have completed testing and treatment and
are negative for _T. equigenitalis_.

All 4 of the positive Kentucky stallions were on the central Kentucky
premises during the 2008 breeding season. The Texas and Indiana stallions
also spent time on the Kentucky premises during 2008.

The positive Wisconsin stallions were not in Kentucky, but 4 of them were
co-located during at least one breeding season in Wisconsin with a positive
stallion that was on the Kentucky premises in 2008. The 5th, 6th, and 7th
Wisconsin stallions all spent time at the same breeding facility used by
the 4th positive Wisconsin stallion and by the 3 positive Illinois
stallions. The positive Georgia stallion was co-located with 3 positive
Wisconsin stallions in 2008. The positive Wisconsin mare was bred by the
2nd positive stallion in Wisconsin. Each of the positive mares in Illinois
and in California were bred by artificial insemination (AI) in 2008 using
semen from a positive stallion.

Both California mares were exposed by AI to the 1st positive stallion in
Wisconsin, and the 1st Illinois mare was exposed to a positive stallion now
in Indiana. The 2nd positive mare in Illinois was exposed by AI in 2008 to
the 2nd positive Illinois stallion.

An exposed horse is one that was bred to a positive horse, either naturally
or via artificial insemination, or one that is otherwise epidemiologically
linked to a positive horse, as determined by state and federal animal
health officials.

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail rapporteur Susan Baekeland

[A detailed look at contagious equine metritis and the consequences can be
found in the moderator comments of ProMED-mail postings 20090116.0178 and
20091131.0442. - Mod.TG]

[see also:
Contagious equine metritis - USA (11): (multistate) 20090510.1742
Contagious equine metritis - USA (10): update 20090327.1191
Contagious equine metritis - USA (09): (KY) 20090319.1104
Contagious equine metritis - USA (08): (GA) 20090319.1100
Contagious equine metritis - USA (07): (WI) 20090309.0976
Contagious equine metritis - Canada 20090222.0735
Contagious equine metritis - USA (06): update 20090205.0512
Contagious equine metritis - USA (05): (ME) 20090131.0442
Contagious equine metritis - USA (04): (TX) 20090116.0178
Contagious equine metritis - USA (03): (WI) 20090109.0084
Contagious equine metritis - USA (02): (OK) 20090106.0054
Contagious equine metritis - USA: (KY), OIE 20090102.0012]

.....................tg/sh


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Breeders Worry About "UnWanted" Horses but Keep Right On Breeding Them

Not many options for unwanted horses

By J.D. STETSON The Gillette News-Record

While people may joke that they're going to send an unruly horse to the "glue factory," it's a threat that now has little bite.

In November, Lacy Schwend saved one lucky horse from a fate on the chopping block when she was contacted by a horse rescue organization in Colorado.

Her horse, Red, has spent the past few months living at Stage Coach Stables, and he is fed about four flakes of hay a day, which is about a one-third of a bale of hay.

Before, he spent his days on a Colorado "Dude" ranch where he was fed a flake of hay a day. The owners said he couldn't do what was required of him on the ranch and he would go to a kill-buyer if no one was found to take him.

She paid $300 for the 16-year-old horse and now she wouldn't dream of selling him.

Instead, she would rather give the horse to the 10-year-old girl who rides him each day. There is only one condition — the horse is returned if the girl ever decides she doesn't want him.

Many more horses aren't as lucky as Red.

Hundreds of unwanted horses are shipped across borders to Canada and Mexico to undergo slaughter to feed people in countries that eat horse meat.

Schwend isn't an advocate for the horses. She admits that she wouldn't have taken the horse if it had been 30 years old. She believes that a horse that has poor quality of life should be put down — so long as it is in a humane way.

But she believes that every animal needs to have a chance to find a place for itself other than death, if possible.

"Horses have jobs just like people have jobs. They all can't do the same thing and do good at the same thing," she said.

Since 2007, the horse market has taken a hit because of the closure of several horse slaughter plants in the United States.

Horses sold for slaughter set the base price for horses across a wide spectrum — from young quarter horses to stallions with pedigrees. When it stopped, the price of horses plummeted, said Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse.

There are now more horses than demand warrants, which is causing deflation in the cost for young, unbroken horses.

In the past two years, there have been more complaints of horse neglect than in the past, said Cody Cunningham, a brand inspector for the Wyoming Livestock Board.

He's seen many instances where a horse owner will skimp on feeding the horses in the winter and hope they gain back the weight in the summer. Many times it doesn't work.

He's also seen instances of horse abandonment, where someone would leave a horse at a sale.

There aren't many options left for people who want to get rid of a horse.

He pointed out instances where people have started refuges, but couldn't afford to keep them operational because of the costs involved with maintaining a horse.

"If a horse isn't broke to ride or bred well, it's worth close to nothing," Cunningham said.

Many states have taken up legislation to address the issue.

The Wyoming Legislature recently passed a resolution asking the U.S. Congress not to pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 that would prohibit the transportation of horse meat, or live horses for slaughter.

Montana legislators passed a law in May that allows a horse slaughter plant within the state, and also has provisions to stop frivolous lawsuits by animal activist organizations to stop a plant from being built.

Jennifer Cook had 20 quarter horses earlier in the year, most of them were 1 to 10 years old. She had 10 left in mid-May after selling the others.

Most of the horses went for a cost lower than what she wanted. Her prices have ranged from $75 to $400. She has about four horses that won't be sold because they are family pets and are used for breeding. The fate of the others is uncertain.

In the past, she has sold horses to a "kill-buyer," or someone who bought the horse to take to a processing facility.

"You can't expect a goodhearted person to always come along," she said.

At one time she raised, sold and broke horses, a job that used to bring in about $10,000 a year. But because of health problems and the downturn in the market, she'll be out of the business for a while.

"A ton of hay costs about what the horse costs," Cook said.

Cook has worked for a veterinarian's office in the past and has seen firsthand how horses are put down there and at the slaughterhouse.

In her opinion, the horse suffers less at the slaughterhouse because it is knocked out before being killed. At the veterinarian clinic, she's seen horses jump and thrash after receiving the killing injection during euthanasia.

"They get hit, and they don't know what hit them," she said.

Eating horse meat isn't a very welcome prospect to Cook. But she thinks the slaughter needs to happen because there are too many horses that need saving, and not enough places to take them in.

She has taken in horses from friends and strangers in the past that are handed over to her because they can no longer afford to take care of them.

She's also heard the stories of abandonment. For example, one person attended a sale and forgot to lock their trailer, only to find someone had loaded a horse in it.

"There's just a point where people don't want them anymore," she said.

For Schwend, it's a labor of love.

Her horse was by no means a "perfect" horse when she bought him.

He had sores on his back and needed to be wormed three times before he would gain weight.

But even though it was hard work to get him back to health, she believed it was her responsibility rather than trading him in for a new one.

She thinks of him like one of her children. The responsibility she feels for the children is the same as she feels for her horses — she has another horse, Jedi, that was rescued when she was younger. Jedi has a stall right next to Red. She smiles when the horses whinny because they're happy to see her — and they also know she has food for them.

"People shouldn't be able to pay for convenience," she said. "Pets and kids aren't convenient, you have to be responsible."
___

On the Net:

United Organizations of the Horse: http://www.UnitedOrgsOfTheHorse.com

___

Information from: The Gillette News Record - Gillette, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com

MS MANY NAMES RESPONDS to a moronic statement made above;

I absolutely could NOT believe when I read this:

Excerpt from article above;

"...In her opinion, the horse suffers less at the slaughterhouse because it is knocked out before being killed. At the veterinarian clinic, she's seen horses jump and thrash after receiving the killing injection during euthansia."

My reply: I would have to say the vet was doing something very wrong, didnt know what he was doing as far as the right drug or dosage, or missed a vein or something. Please dont form your opinion on horse slaughter just because you vet didnt know what he was doing.

In the link below you can watch a vid to see how "real" humane euthansia works, of course, when the vet knows what he is doing.

Thanks to the good folks at HORSEKILLERS.COM and SHARK, in the link below you can see actual footage of horses meeting their end in an American $laughterhouse (now closed) ...this is what supporters of horse $laughter describe as 'humane euthansia." WARNING, THESE VIDEOS ARE GRAPHIC and may be disturbing. Once you access the site, page down to where it says: THE HORRORS OF HORSE $LAUGHTER to see the American $laughterhouse videos, and just below that, where it says HUMANE EQUINE EUTHANSIA, there is a link where you can compare and watch a video showing what HUMANE EUTHANSIA really is. The "Humane" video shows two "beloved" horses, good buddies, that are HUMANELY EUTHANISED together by their owners & a veterinan in a field at home. View both these videos, death in a $laughterhouse and death at home by lethal injection, and YOU be the judge as to which method is or is not "less traumatic." Slaughter IS NOT humane. Slaughter IS NOT euthansia. Slaughter CAN NEVER be humane....as is by its very nature violent and traumatic for the animal EVERYTIME.

http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000528

"Stallions to Gelding" Free or Low Cost Castration Clinic Works for Some....But Not Us

Article;

Castration Clinics Snip Away at Unwanted Horse Population

by: Liz Brown

May 27 2009, Article # 14217


Equine groups across the country are attempting to reduce the number of unwanted horses at the source, through subsidized castration clinics aimed to reduce the number of foals hitting the ground.

Stallion to Gelding Support is a national program designed by the Horse Protection Society of North Carolina. The program has been offering vouchers for free castrations since February. Owners must submit an application and be approved for a voucher, which can be used anywhere in the United States.

Director Susan Lurz said the economy has been the main catalyst for the program.

According to Lurz, 32 stallions have been gelded, or approved for gelding, through the program. Based on the number of times those stallions reproduced last year, 126 births have been prevented.

"This program is the future," Lurz said. "We cannot continue to let our rescues be inundated with horses that have been neglected or are in poor health as a result of poor breeding practices."

Tawnee Presiner, founder of NorCal Equine Rescue in Oroville, Calif., agrees that castration is key to solving the unwanted horse problem.

"If a horse (that is not stallion quality) is gelded, he has a much better chance at a good life," she said. "There's so many times we're at auctions and see stallions go through that nobody wants."

The NorCal program has so far subsidized castrations for 20 area stallions. One owner used the program to geld six of her stallions.

The Minnesota Horse Council is offering a program that aims to not only castrate stallions, but educate owners.

"We followed the lead of the Unwanted Horse Coalition: through education and teaching people to 'own responsibly,' we can reduce the number of unwanted horses," said Tracy A. Turner, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, chairman of the Minnesota Horse Council's Unwanted Horse Committee.

To obtain a gelding voucher, owners must attend eight horse husbandry seminars, designed to give the average owner a basic understanding of responsible horse care.

For more information on Minnesota's gelding project contact Krishona Martinson at 612/625-6776, or Julie Wilson, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM at 612/625-3745.
----------------
This bloggers note: We called "Stallion to Geldings" to see if we could get some help gelding the two stallions we have rescued; one a mini-horse and the other a standard donk. The answer was no help for us as the program was intended for "horses that might otherwise be used for breeding." In other words, breeders, not rescues, get the break. As always, the rescues are on their own.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14217

Mystery Of Horse Domestication Solved

Wild horses were domesticated in the Ponto-Caspian steppe region (today Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania) in the 3rd millennium B.C. Despite the pivotal role horses have played in the history of human societies, the process of their domestication is not well understood.

In a new study published in the scientific journal Science, an analysis by German researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, the German Archaeological Institute, the Humboldt University Berlin, the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, in cooperation with American and Spanish scientists, has unravelled the mystery about the domestication of the horse.

Based on ancient DNA spanning the time between the Late Pleistocene and the Middle Ages, targeting nuclear genes responsible for coat colorations allows to shed light on the timing and place of horse domestication. Furthermore the study demonstrates how rapid the number of colorations increased as one result of the domestication. As well, it shows very clearly that the huge variability of coloration in domestic horses which can be observed today is a result of selective breeding by ancient farmers.

Our modern human societies were founded on the Neolithic revolution, which was the transformation of wild plants and animals into domestic ones available for human nutrition. Within all domestic animals, no other species has had such a significant impact on the warfare, transportation and communication capabilities of human societies as the horse.

For many millennia, horses were linked to human history changing societies on a continent-wide scale, be it with Alexander the Great’s or Genghis Khan’s armies invading most of Asia and Eastern Europe or Francis Pizarro destroying the Inca Empire with about 30 mounted warriors. The horse was a costly and prestigious animal in all times, featured in gifts from one sovereign to another as a nobleman’s mark.



http://pm-news-science.blogspot.com/2009/05/mystery-of-horse-domestication-solved.html

Garnering Support for HR 503

STRATEGY FOR WEEK OF 5/26

Dear Friends,

With the start of this week, we are implementing a variation to our strategy in an effort to gain swift support for H.R.503.

Below is our target list (past cosponsors of H.R.6598).

When calling each office, please ask for the LD (legislative Aide) who is handling H.R.503. When speaking with the LD, it is very important to gather feedback. Once you have feedback, please email that feedback to CJ (potlucky@sbcglobal.net)

We are currently at 128 cosponsors. Great job everyone!!

Target List For H.R.503 (House Bill)
Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 9/8/2008
Phone: 202-225-0123 Fax: 202-225-2256
Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 9/16/2008
Phone: 202-225-4535 Fax: 202-225-4403
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 9/9/2008
Phone: 202-225-4755 Fax: 202-225-4886
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 9/25/2008
Phone: 202-225-2861 Fax: 202-225-6791
Rep Giffords, Gabrielle [AZ-8] - 7/31/2008
Phone: 202-225-2542 Fax: 202-225-0378
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30] - 9/9/2008
Phone: 202-225-8885 Fax: 202-226-1477
Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4] - 9/10/2008
Phone: 202-225-1605 Fax: 202-226-0691
Rep Mollohan, Alan B. [WV-1] - 9/15/2008
Phone: 202-225-4172 Fax: 202-225-7564
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 9/25/2008
Phone: 202-225-8050 Fax: 202-225-3002
Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr. [NJ-6] - 9/26/2008
Phone: 202-225-4671 Fax: 202-225-9665
Rep Schmidt, Jean [OH-2] - 9/8/2008
Phone: 202-225-3164 Fax: 202-225-1992
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 9/16/2008
Phone: 202-225-8020 Fax: 202-225-5915
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 9/8/2008
Phone: 202-225-5936 Fax: 202-225-1018
Rep Tsongas, Niki [MA-5] - 9/8/2008
Phone: 202-225-3411 Fax: 202-226-0771
Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 9/24/2008
Phone: 202-225-4115 Fax: 202-225-5974
Rep Wilson, Joe [SC-2] - 9/25/2008
Phone: 202-225-2452 Fax: 202-225-2455
Rep Wittman, Robert J. [VA-1] - 9/25/2008
Phone: 202-225-4261 Fax: 202-225-4382

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE - You can use this toll-free number 800-828-0498 and ask for a legislator by name (or ask for extension, last 5 numbers of legislator's office phone)Please Note: We have started a separate thread titled “State Action Needed”. Several States have introduced their own legislation to allow horse slaughter. These states need our help. to keep this from happening. Please pass the word!!

Remember, WE ARE BARBARO’S VOICE.....Let it be heard.
Shelley and Deb
Americans Against Horse Slaughter

Debra, WI - Americans Against Horse Slaughter

Starving, Neglected "Unwanted" Cows

May 26, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For OP ED Page

Contact: Duane Burright

805.208.1012

duane_burright@yahoo.com


We can't slaughter our way to horse welfare by Duane Burright

CHICAGO, (EWA) – By now everyone is familiar with the subject of horses being neglected or starved, along with the claims from those in agricultural circles that slaughter is "necessary" to prevent horse neglect and that it is a way to dispose of unwanted horses. I've been hearing that litany from all of the agricultural publications and blogs, the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), various state Farm Bureaus and from a group of clueless politicians including Illinois’ Rep. Jim Sacia, Sue Wallis of Wyoming and former Texas congressman and paid slaughter lobbyist, Charles Stenholm.

I find it odd that they see slaughter as being the solution for horse neglect, but when it comes to neglected or starving cattle, they are stumped. In this USA Today article Starving cattle amid high prices for feed in Neb, Steven Stanec, executive director of the Nebraska Brand Committee, a state agency that helps police the cattle industry stated that "Neglect cases are on the rise, and what's causing it, I'm not sure. We're having whole herds of hundreds of cattle being neglected."

In doing a simple Google search I found other related headlines which show that cattle starving to death is a fairly widespread problem – Officials raid farm with 30 dead, 100 plus starving cows, Starving cows rescued near Paisley on road to recovery and Starving cattle seized in Lake County.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 34.4 million cattle were slaughtered in 2008, that's an average of 94,247 cows slaughtered per day. According to Cattle Network, beef production is up over last year.

Now with all of those cattle going to slaughter, one would wonder why cattle neglect is happening. Using the logic that the AQHA, AVMA, NCBA, Farm Bureaus and the other proponents of the horse slaughter industry apply to starving or neglected horses that "slaughtering prevents neglect", one would think that we wouldn't have problems with starving or neglected cattle. Yet guys like Steven Stanec aren't sure why cattle neglect cases are on the rise.

What further weakens the argument that “slaughter is needed to prevent horse neglect” is that while all of these articles have been written about neglected and starving horses, the option of horse slaughter has been available in the United States. Horse owners can take the horses they no longer want to keep to the local livestock auction and the neighborhood friendly kill buyers will happily take the horse off their hands. According to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 134,059 American horses have been slaughtered at the European owned plants in Canada and Mexico in 2008. American horses still continue to go to slaughter as you read this, so the slaughter pipeline continues to function despite the claims to the contrary.

The reality is that slaughter has nothing to do with animal welfare. Since slaughter apparently doesn't magically solve the problem of starving and neglected cattle, it is fallacy to think that slaughter will solve the problem of starving and neglected horses. The problem of cattle being neglected is due to the current economic crisis, that same economic crisis is making it difficult for horse owners.

In fact, a study released in June of 2008 showed there was no correlation between horse slaughter and neglect, but a clear linkage between unemployment and neglect. Prophetically, the study warned in its conclusions that if economic conditions continued to deteriorate an upward trend in neglect could be expected.

The AQHA, AVMA, NCBA, Farm Bureaus and all of their political allies put a lot of time, energy and money into supporting horse slaughter. If these special interest groups were to focus all of those resources on solving the nation's economic problems rather than supporting a foreign owned industry that doesn’t even pay their taxes, we might be able to get something done.

It is a pity they are so narrow minded.
----------------------------------------


Duane Burright is a software engineer by trade, aside from horses and their welfare he's also interested in American musclecars, vintage electric fans, computers and software design. He has been involved in the campaign to make the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA) law since 2003 and is a supporter of a nearby wild horse sanctuary.



www.equinewelfarealliance.org

The Extreme Cowboy Association. Good or Bad?

Click on title above to visit their site; http://www.extremecowboyassociation.com/photo_gallery.htm