The "Unintended Consequences" Pro-Slaughter Argument Again: From a FARM BUREAU Representative (of course!)

Are we sick of this argument yet? Have we Not dispelled all of these myths already? Dont these people need to do their homework? Or are they intentionally trying to decieve the public? The Pro-slaughter article below was, of course, written by a meatman:

Unintended consequences: The downside of banning horse slaughter
By David Treece


In May 2007, under increased pressure from animal activist groups, the Illinois Horse Meat Act was amended to make horse slaughter illegal if there was reason to believe any of the meat would be used for human consumption.

This well-intended but misguided legislation had unintended consquences for unwanted horses.

Prior to the closure of all U.S. horse slaughterhouses, some 60,000 horses were moving through USDA-regulated and inspected processing facilities each year.

Today, horses are still being harvested, but not in the U.S. Mexico still continues to buy American horses. The animals endure long periods of travel. In some cases, they are subjected to a painful and stressful method of "harvesting." At least one Mexican plant uses a system called puntilla, which renders an animal paralyzed by stabbing it in the neck to sever its spine. In some cases, according to documents filed with the U.S. Library of Congress, it takes several tries before a horse succumbs. Animal welfare experts agree this is the absolute worst way to kill an animal.

Banning horse slaughter in the U.S. is a classic case of emotion trumping science and reality. The reality of the situation is this: Now that the practice of harvesting horses in the U.S. has ended, has the welfare of horses actually improved?

The Illinois Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Welfare maintains a record of all animal welfare complaints that deal with livestock and horses. The number of complaints relating to horses has dramatically increased over the past two years since the slaughter ban was approved.

It is not uncommon for a horse to live 30 or more years. As a horse gets older, it often experiences a degeneration in muscle mass, lack of activity and severe weight loss. Horse owners frequently express concern over what to do with unwanted horses.

Activists say the easy solution is to adopt any unwanted horse. While this sounds "warm-and-fuzzy," in reality, it is not a viable alternative. Some horses are incorrigible, mean-spirited, or simply dangerous. If all unwanted horses could be adopted, an additional 2,700 facilities per year would be needed.

Horses are not the only animals adversely impacted by "well-intended" regulations. Last November, the California ballot initiative on farm animal housing was passed by a large margin. The initiative, listed as Proposition 2, or "Prop 2," closes down the California egg industry -- affecting 95 percent of the state's egg production. The unintended consequence is that California consumers will be forced to buy eggs from other states and from Mexico.

Passage of this proposition could also cause health problems in the animals the law tries to protect. Chickens kept in litter-based housing systems, including free-range chickens, are more prone to disease than chickens that are kept in cages, according to a study published in the Jan. 15 "Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica." In 1988, Sweden passed the Swedish Animal Welfare Act that mandated a switch from battery cages for laying hens to alternative types of housing -- including free-range and indoor litter-based systems -- that were designed to allow "natural" behaviors to be expressed. Subsequently, between 2001 and 2004, there was a large increase in the number of flocks being kept in alternative housing systems. Researchers noted that during the switch in housing, there was an increase in the number of chickens that were dying.

Some people may be "well-intended" but not "well-informed" when it comes to livestock legislation. Because of this lack of understanding, the Illinois Farm Bureau will continue to monitor all proposals that might cause unintended consequences to the well-being of livestock.

David Treece is the manager of the Ford-Iroquois Farm Bureau. He can be reached at (815) 265-4712.

To go to article and commnet, click on title above;
http://daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=436642

Message from an Irate Pro-Slaughterer

Look what I found in my inbox today. When it first came in, the text was 3" tall and embolded, and of course, I fixed up the language thing. What do you think this "Patrick" at the "rock n s farms problem could be? Blaming me for the stinkin sinkin economy! Geeze. Dont he know that I am poor and suffering too because of it? It is a common moronic belief of the pro-slaughter mind set that the anti-horse slaughter people are to blame for the melt-down of our financial system.!
They need to do some homework, as like in, educate themselves. We do not have any control over the economy, the world bank, the feds and wall st control all that. Its called "micro-banking" and is designed to keep us poor. That is the root of our economic problems, Not us. Get real.

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

rock_n_s_farm@yahoo.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick
To: QARR
Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 6:32 PM


you are one xucking crazy xitch!!!! you need to be shut down if you had any brains you would know we need these to keep our economy going dumbass,,,because of YOU the economy has gone to hell....you will be next one to go

Walk Across America to Help Horses

Eric Wilson from a small rural town in Ohio will walk from Delaware to California to help raise awareness of the plight of American horses. He need support from everyone. I'm inviting you to join a new Yahoo group to discuss how we can help Eric on his journey mission to save America's horses.

You will soon receive an invitation from Wildhorse4me@yahoo.com to join http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Walk_Across_America_for_Horses/
and participate in the discussion on how to help Eric.
(Click on title above to go to new group)

This is your opportunity to make an impact on behalf of horses in a new way, Eric has many needs for his walking trip and everyone can participate in some way. We need support and to promote this event for a cause we all hold near and dear to our hearts just as Eric does. This is what Eric has to offer and we need to get behind him and give him the support.

Susan Pizzini
coordinator for the 1st steps from the 1st state

National Congress of American Indians ask for Amendment to HR 503 to allow slaughterplants on Rez

Click on title for full text of proposal;

http://www.ncai.org/ncai/resolutions/doc/DEN-07-100_with_sigs_amended_dc.pdf

United Sioux Tribes of South Dakota "Offically" Pro-Slaughter!"

Last year, there was a Pro-slaughter plan of action initiated by certain members of the Agriculture & Energy Committee of the National Counsel of State Legislators (NCSL). The plan called for a petitioning of Congress imploring them NOT to interfere with their right to slaughter horses. In addition, they have organized a state-by-state campaign in their own respective states to pass their own state legislation that would allow them to build equine slaughter house in those states. Currently, there are twelve (12) states that have such legislation pending;

Arizona;
http://tinyurl.com/dza7v5

Arkansas
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ak-legislature-asks-for-horse-slaughter-plant

Illinois;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/illinois-seeks-2-reinstate-horse-slaughter

Kansas
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/kansas-legislature-supports-horse-slaughter

Minnesota;
http://tinyurl.com/alv2tn

Missouri;
http://tinyurl.com/cjkwwy

Montana;
http://tinyurl.com/aomggs

North Dakota
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/north-dakota-to-get-horse-slaughter-plant

South Dakota;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sd-legislature-wants-horse-slaughter-plant

Tennessee;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tenn-rep-promoting-horse-slaughter

Utah;
http://tinyurl.com/bh3m5q

Wyoming;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/wyoming-wants-horse-slaughter


It was Sue Wallis, a Representative of Wyoming, that initiated the all out assault on our anti-slaughter efforts.

I would like to call your attention to something posted on Sues own website. Once you open the link below (click on the title above)and page down about 3/4 of the way until you see "Equine Resources" in blue letters, and the bill number, H.J. No. 0008." This is the bill that, if passed, will allow horse slaughter in the United States.

Look at the "supporting materials" list and go to where it says "partial list" where she lists all of her pro-slaughter supporters.

Here you will see the list is alphabetized. Look there to see the United Sioux Tribes of South Dakota listed as pro-slaughter supporters!"

What do we thank of that?

http://www.wallis.vcn.com/index_files/Page576.htm

The NCSL's "Bloody Resolution" 12/08

POLICY: HORSE INDUSTRY

TYPE OF POLICY: DRAFT POLICY SUBMITTED BY
REPRESENTATIVE DAVE SIGDESTAD & REPRESENTATIVE SUE WALLIS

In recent years, the processing of horses has become a controversial and emotional issue and has resulted in the closing of the last horse processing facility in the United States. Federal legislation has been introduced to amend the 1970 Horse Protection Act to prohibit the possession, sale, transport or shipping of horses for processing. The National Conference of State Legislatures urges members of Congress to oppose such legislation.

The loss of secondary markets has decimated the equine industry, severely impacted the livestock industry as a whole, and by eliminating the salvage value of horses has significantly reduced the market value of all horses. The loss of markets for horse meat for pet food, for the maintenance of zoo animals, and for byproducts has greatly impacted these sectors. The loss of horse products for export has eliminated more than $42 million dollars of direct income for an already struggling sector of the livestock industry, not to mention millions of dollars in indirect costs because of the loss of value of individual animals.



The loss of the highly regulated and humane processing facilities in the United States has overwhelmed the ability of government and private rescue organization’s ability to deal with the scope of the problem; and has overburdened state and local agencies charged with regulating the transfer, transport, and welfare of horses. Without affordable and economic alternatives, unwanted horses are abandoned, and in the Western US the additional pressure on public lands from horses turned out to run wild is only intensifying the over-population, over-grazing, and ultimate destruction of the ecosystem. State livestock programs that used to be able to recoup the costs of caring and feeding for abandoned and estray animals by marketing them, are now forced to greatly increase their budgets at the expense of taxpayers.



The Horse Welfare Coalition estimates that in excess of 100,000 unwanted horses annually, without any market value whatsoever, will be exposed to potential abandonment and neglect because of the cessation of horse processing in the United States. Efforts to prohibit the transport and export of horses can only exacerbate this problem. These additional unwanted horses will compete for adoption with the 32,000 wild horses that are currently fed and sheltered at a public expense of $40 million. The nation’s inadequate and overburdened horse rescue and adoption facilities cannot begin to handle the influx of additional unwanted and abandoned horses.

In the United States the harvest of all animals, including horses, is highly regulated to provide for the humane handling of the animals as well as for a safe and wholesome product. Horse processing in the United States is particularly tightly regulated, and the horse is the only animal whose transportation to processing is regulated. Horse processing facilities in the United States are required to have United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarians supervise the euthanasia, and the euthanasia method is humane, according the American Veterinary Medical Association and the United States Department of Agriculture. Since the closing of horse processing facilities in the United States, horses have increasingly been sent across the borders for processing. In 2007, 35,000 horses were sent to Canada for slaughter, a forty-one percent increase from the previous year, while horse exports to Mexico have more than tripled. Equine processing in many foreign facilities is not held to the standards for humane handling and euthanasia required in the United States and often involves practices that would not be tolerated in this country.

The majority of world cultures, including French speaking Canada, and Mexico, most of Europe and Asia have provided a willing market for the US horse industry. These, and ethnic markets inside the US would appreciate an additional source of high quality protein untainted by disease concerns of other species of livestock.

NCSL urges Congress to oppose legislation that would restrict the market, transport, processing, or export of horses, to recognize the need for humane horse processing facilities in the United States, and not to interfere with State efforts to establish facilities in the United States.

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


H.J. No. 0008 Equine resources.



Sponsored by: WALLIS



A JOINT RESOLUTION urging Congress to oppose federal legislation that interferes with a state's ability to direct the transport or processing of horses.


Supporting materials:

NCSL Resolution

State Ag and Rural Leaders Resolution

ILIA Resolution

CSG Resolution

Wallis Open Letter to Congress

PowerPoint — NCSL Resolution

Partial List of Supportive Organizations

Ashton Graham—Wild Horses and Federal Tax Dollars—New Mexico State

Dr. Patricia Evans—State of US Horse Industry Since Plant Closing—Utah State

Article — HSUS has introduced HR 503—Horse slaughter for human consumption

7 Things You Don’t Know About the Humane Society of the United States—HSUS—and other enlightening information from http://humanewatch.org

To click on to anyone of the article mentioned abouve, you can go to Sues "Slaughterhouse" Wallis' website ("Bill" page) by clicking onto the title above;

http://www.wallis.vcn.com/index_files/Page576.htm

NM to become a state where compassion reigns?

NM Governor urges passage of animal protection bills

By DEBORAH BAKER Associated Press Writer

The state's budget woes may be making it hard on the humans this legislative session, but advocates say it could be a banner year for animal protection.

The governor, the attorney general and some top legislative leaders implored lawmakers Friday to pass an array of bills ranging from getting rid of gas chambers to protecting pets in domestic violence situations.

"We've made great strides, but we have to continue to do more to protect our animals," Gov. Bill Richardson said at a news conference.

He urged lawmakers to act on the bills in the three weeks remaining in the legislative session.

The governor endorsed a bill creating an equine protection fund. It would accept money from public and private sources to help care for, or humanely dispose of, horses that are abandoned or given up.

"During these tough economic times, more and more people can no longer afford to care for their pets," especially horses, Richardson said.

He also touted a pair of proposals that prohibits euthanizing dogs and cats in gas chambers and allows lethal injection to be done by trained technicians, rather than requiring veterinarians.

And he put in a plug for legislation that limits when ranchers and farmers can kill wildlife on private land and provides a system for compensating them for crop losses.

A bill passed this week by the Senate tackles the problem some communities have faced when they had to shelter animals seized in cruelty cases.

It would allow police or animal control agencies to ask a judge to require the defendant to post a security deposit to pay for the animals' care while the case was pending.

Attorney General Gary King touted legislation that allows animals to be added to temporary domestic protection orders.

It means that pets would be removed — for their own protection — when domestic violence victims left home for a shelter, and cared for until the victims reclaimed them or decided where they should be placed.

King said animal protection laws makes New Mexico "the state where compassion reigns."

Another measure, passed by the House, would broaden the state's felony animal cruelty law, including making it a felony to deny food, water or shelter if it leads to great bodily harm or death.

If the bills are successful, it would be "the single greatest session for animal protection issues in the history of the state," said Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque, sponsor of the felony animal cruelty expansion.

___

The equine fund bill is HB781. The wildlife bill is SB391. The felony animal cruelty bill is HB159. The animal indemnity bill is SB127. The domestic abuse bill is HB434. The euthanasia bill is HB265. The euthanasia technician bill is HB593.


http://license.icopyright.net/user/viewContent.act?clipid=218859557&mode=cnc&tag=3.5721%3Ficx_id%3D20090228-stolfiler-nm0497