State Horse Counsils to Offer Low-Cost Gelding

...Well, one state horse counsel, anyways. Why cant they all do this?

Kentucky Group to Offer Low Cost Gelding Services
by: Edited Press Release
April 06 2009, Article # 13909

In an effort to help horse owners manage herd populations and breed responsibly, the Kentucky Horse Council, in partnership with Morehead State University (MSU), is offering a low cost gelding clinic April 28 and 30, 2009.

The service, funded by Save Our Horses, a tax deductible fund to support KHC health and welfare programs, will allow Kentucky horse owners to pay for gelding services at a discounted rate based on income. Low income owners might qualify for free services through the program.

"The Kentucky Horse Council recognizes the importance of educating horse owners about responsible management practices," said KHC Board President Madelyn Millard. "Castrating colts and stallions that aren't slated for breeding either because of performance, conformation, registration, temperament, or other factors is good herd management. We believe it is important to support those horse owners with financial limitations that have horses in need of castration and this program allows us to do just that."

Surgeries will be performed by MSU faculty member Phil Prater, DVM, Dipl. ACT, a licensed veterinarian and Professor of Veterinary Technology. Assistance for the procedures will be provided by students in the Veterinary Technology program.

"Partnering with the MSU Veterinary Technology program is a winning combination because we provide the opportunity both for horse owners to obtain the service they need and for students to learn through hands-on experience," Millard said.

To qualify for the gelding clinic, all male equines in the possession of the owner must be castrated.

Space in the clinic is limited and available by advance application only to Kentucky residents with non-commercial operations. Restrictions and limitations apply. Owners are responsible for presenting horses with a current negative coggins and health certificate and for transportation.

More information including requirements, limitations, and a program application are available online at Kentuckyhorse.org or by contacting the Kentucky Horse Council at 859/367-0509 or e-mail info@kentuckyhorse.org.

The Kentucky Horse Council is a non-profit organization dedicated, through education, to the protection, growth, and development of the equine industry in Kentucky. They provide educational programs, grants, scholarships, personal liability insurance, trail riding programs, and an annual statewide equine industry directory.

EPA Joins Horse-Slaughter Fray

EPA says appeal barriers to Montanas Horse-slaughter Bill May be a Problem

By KAHRIN DEINES AP

The House is rejecting the governor's proposed changes for the horse slaughter bill even though the Environmental Protection Agency says it and another bill could cause problems for the state.

Lawmakers on Wednesday rejected the governor's amendments for House Bill 418 on a 59-41 vote. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, will now move to the Senate, which is also likely to buck the governor's amendments.

In its original form, Butcher's bill would have erected barriers to lawsuits directed at preventing a horse slaughter facility from operating in the state.

Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer struck those key provisions and sent it back to the Legislature last week, arguing that it would have set too many limits on the public's right to appeal permits over environmental concerns.

It now turns out that Schweitzer received a letter from the EPA on March 25 expressing a similar concern about the restrictions on permit appeals built into HB 418 — as well as appeal limits built into a centerpiece GOP bill to speed up permits for energy projects in the state.

The EPA letter says House Bill 483, sponsored by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, could impact whether state programs meet federal approval requirements.

In particular, the letter states the bill may set impediments to public challenges of air and water-quality permits that run contrary to requirements under the Clean Air and Water Acts.

In a footnote, the federal agency also notes it has some of the same concerns with Butcher's bill, which requires challengers to post a bond worth 20 percent of a slaughterhouse's construction costs.

Jones' bill, which seeks to streamline permitting for energy projects such as a coal-fired power plant, has passed the Legislature and now awaits action by Schweitzer. The governor has not said whether he will sign or veto the legislation, but he has met with Jones to discuss the bill.

Jones said the EPA correspondence is a "boilerplate" letter that is commonly sent out in response to energy legislation. He also said a lawyer has looked at the agency's concerns and found they should not be a problem for his bill, because it only limits appeals that are found to be "deleterious."

The EPA said the letter was not common but not unusual. Agency spokesmen also said it was not written to interfere with the legislative process, but rather to provide facts.

"What we're trying to point out to the governor is that the bill changes whatever playing field the state had when it was empowered to enforce federal law," said Eddie Sierra, an EPA administrator.

States have authority to enforce compliance with federal laws about air and water quality only as long as the EPA finds their statutes meet federal requirements.

The governor's office did not comment on the specific concerns raised in the letter, which is the only one of its kind received this session, but said they have no more weight than other comments received.

"We give that letter the same concern we give all letters and comments on consideration," said Sarah Elliott, spokeswoman for the governor.

Mo' Money for Farmers & Ranchers

Vilsak Announces $17 Million in Grants for Beginning Farmers

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, during a recent trip to Missouri, announced more than $17 million in USDA grants are available under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. In addition, Vilsack described recent initiatives, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), designed to help producers and keep farmers on the land.

“This program underscores President Obama's commitment to support the nation's beginning farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said. “Through the beginning farmer and rancher grant program, we can help ensure that we are doing all we can for the next generation of America's farmers and ranchers.”

The Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program is an education, training, technical assistance and outreach program designed to help U.S. farmers and ranchers – specifically those who have been farming or ranching for less than 10 years.

Congress authorized funding for this program in the 2008 Farm Bill, including another $19 million in mandatory funding for FY 2010. USDA will make grants available to state, local, tribal, regional, non-profits, community-based organizations, academic institutions and networks, both public and private, to design programs to help beginning farmers and ranchers.

The projects will be limited to 3 years. Budget requests are due May 13, 2009, and must not exceed $250,000/year. USDA is looking for proposals from these areas:

Mentoring, apprenticeships, and internships;
Resources and referrals;
Assisting beginning farmers or ranchers in acquiring land from retiring farmers and ranchers;
Innovative farm and ranch transfer strategies;
Entrepreneurship and business training;
Model land leasing contracts;
Financial management training;
Whole farm planning;
Conservation assistance;
Risk management education;
Diversification and marketing strategies;
Curriculum development;
Understanding the impact of concentration and globalization;
Basic livestock and crop farming practices;
The acquisition and management of agricultural credit;
Environmental compliance;
Information processing; and
Other similar areas that would be useful to beginners

Montana House Rejects Slaughter Bill Amendments

by: Pat Raia
April 09 2009, Article # 13925
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The Montana House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected gubernatorial amendments to a bill that would facilitate the establishment of privately owned horse processing plants in that state.

In its original form, HB 418 prohibited state courts from granting injunctions to stop or delay construction of horse slaughter or processing facilities based on permit or licensing challenges or on environmental grounds. The measure also required anyone challenging permits to submit a surety bond representing 20% of the facility's estimated building cost. The bill awarded attorney and court fees to plaintiffs in cases District Courts deem harassing or without merit.

The bill passed both houses of Montana's legislature and was presented to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who on April 3 vetoed the measure, removed provisions concerning licensing and court challenges, and sent his amended version back to the House for review.

Lawmakers rejected the governor's amendments 59-41 and returned the bill to its original form. HB 418 sponsor Rep. Ed Butcher said the proposed amendments gutted the legislation.

"No company is going to invest $5 or $6 million in a plant unless there is something here to protect it against licensing and court challenges," he said.

The bill now returns to the state's senate for review.


http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=13925

Equestrian Arts Ballet / Cavalia

Poetry in Motion. Beautiful!
Click on title to go to website and see vid;

No More Horse-slaughter at Natural Valley Farms!

Great News for Horses! Natural Meat Company Shuts Down

We are pleased to inform you that Natural Meat Company (formerly Natural Valley Farms) in Neudorf, Saskatchewan, closed its doors in mid-February. No more horses are being slaughtered in that facility!

According to the Director of Parliamentary Affairs for Canada, Natural Meat Company was shut down by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for food safety concerns. At this time we are attempting to clarify details surrounding the closure.

Graphic evidence of animal welfare violations was documented at Natural Valley Farms in April/May 2008. This footage was released to CHDC by undercover investigators, and the concerns were aired on CBC's No Country for Horses the following month: Click on title above to see vid;

http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/no_country_for_horses/no_country_for_horses.html .


In September 2008, CHDC Western Region Director, Twyla Francois, filmed horse blood from the slaughter plant being illegally dumped on the banks of a nearby river:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udbD6OeiUBY .



We applaud the Equine Welfare Alliance for serving as an intermediary between our efforts and the many wonderful grass roots groups involved in the state and federal initiatives in the U.S.



Remember the Horses



May the equine spirit be the wind beneath our wings until slaughter is ended forever.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Canadian Horse Defense Coalition

P.O. Box 26097

Westbank, B.C.

V4T 2G3

Ph/fax: 250-768-4803

info@defendhorsescanada.org

www.defendhorsescanada.org

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Pro-Slaughter Mt. Governor partially vetos horse slaughter bill

By KAHRIN DEINES Associated Press Writer

Montana's governor has vetoed part of a contentious horse slaughter bill, sending it back to lawmakers after striking the key legal protections it allowed for slaughterhouses.

Citing the famous Greek story of the 'Trojan Horse' that held enemy soldiers in its belly, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the horse slaughter bill hides "unintended consequences" for the right to challenge companies' operating permits.

"The appeal rights we have as citizens for environmental protection" would be gone, Schweitzer said in a Friday news conference.

House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, aims to limit the kind of legal challenges that forced the country's last slaughterhouses in Illinois and Texas to shut down in 2007.

But Democrat Schweitzer's partial veto strikes the bill's two key provisions for discouraging such lawsuits.

One would require challengers to post a bond worth 20 percent of the slaughter facility's construction costs, and potentially saddles them with liability for damages incurred by the company due to the trial. The other prohibits courts from halting construction once a facility has been approved by the state.

Schweitzer said that as a livestock owner and horse owner he supports processing horses in a humane way to produce meat for human consumption. But he said Butcher's bill enacts special legal protections without addressing any of the real bars to horse slaughter in the U.S.

"(The problem) is that Congress has passed legislation that disallows using the USDA stamp on the carcass of the horse," Schweitzer said, referring to a federal spending restriction on inspections of horse slaughterhouses.

Without the U.S. Department of Agriculture stamp, horse meat could not be exported outside Montana borders to overseas markets that consider it a delicacy.

Butcher blasted the governor's amendments, which he plans to lead a charge to reject.

"That's the whole purpose of the bill," Butcher said. "I mean otherwise it's an empty shell because nobody's going to invest five to six million in a business in Montana if they're going to be harassed."

If Butcher can win the support of the majority of the Legislature to reject the changes, the bill will go back to Schweitzer in its original form to await his action again. The governor said he will have to see what happens before he decides about a veto.

The governor's office has been inundated with e-mails and phone messages from across the country about Butcher's bill, as were state lawmakers. As of Wednesday, 746 of those calling supported the bill and 652 opposed it.

Calls from Montanans were about 2-to-1 in favor of Butcher's bill.

"Obviously the governor caved into the environmentalists and the animal rights crowd," Butcher said. "He's following his East- and West Coast money rather than the ranchers of Montana."

Schweitzer said he would support a horse slaughterhouse in the state, but that the bill would do nothing to bring one here.

"Not a single person has come forward from anywhere in the world to say they'd like to build a horse slaughter plant in Montana," he said.


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