Home » Posts tagged 'end horse slaughter'
Tag Archives: end horse slaughter
Why We Should Not Slaughter Horses~
I am writing to urge you to support an amendment being offered by
Representative Jim Moran that will prevent our tax dollars from being used
to inspect foreign-owned horse slaughter facilities. You voted for a
similar amendment approved by the Committee to the FY12 Agriculture
Appropriations bill.
On the FY06 Agriculture Appropriations bill, Representatives John Sweeney
(R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC), and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) offered an amendment
to eliminate federal funding for the inspection of horsemeat˜an inspection
that would be required if horses are to be slaughtered for human
consumption. A similar amendment will again be offered by Representative
Jim Moran (D-VA) in the House Appropriations Committee during its
consideration of the FY13 Agriculture Appropriations bill.
Funding federal inspection of horse slaughter plants is fiscally
irresponsible. Such funding benefits foreign corporations˜which deal in
horsemeat for consumption by wealthy gourmands overseas˜at the expense of
American taxpayers and the size of the federal deficit. Precious federal
dollars can be put to better use by funding worthy domestic programs,
including those programs that ensure the safety of food actually consumed
in this country.
If a horse slaughter plant were to open in the United States, the plant
would be able to kill horses transported across state lines, including
horses from states strongly opposed to horse slaughter. Clearly, a state
should have the right to protect its own horses from slaughter.
Live horses benefit the U.S. economy. The horse industry brings billions
of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. While selling a 5-year-old horse
to slaughter might bring $50 to a killer buyer and more to the foreign
owner of the slaughter plant, keeping that horse alive and in the local
economy will bring far greater return for years to come in income and job
growth.
Horses sent to slaughter are most often healthy and robust, not
“unwanted.” The USDA estimates that 92.3 percent of the horses being sent
to slaughter are physically sound and can continue to be productive
animals. They are not old or infirm as some slaughter proponents want us
to believe.
American horsemeat poses a serious risk to human health. Horses in the
United States are not raised as food animals, and according to a recent
Food and Chemical Toxicology report, substances routinely given to
American horses have dangerous effects in humans. If federally funded
inspections were to begin, not only would taxpayer dollars be needed to
inspect these facilities, but additional funding would be required to
enforce transport regulations and increased food safety testing as
required by new European Union mandates.
Despite claims made by horse slaughterhouse lobbyists, the closure of the
horse slaughter plants in the United States has not led to an increase in
“unwanted” horses. Approximately 100,000 American horses are exported to
Mexico and Canada for slaughter each year˜the same number of American
horses who were slaughtered when U.S.-based plants were in operation. Our
horses are simply being hauled to slaughter locations outside of the
country.
Slaughter is not humane euthanasia. The average cost to humanely euthanize
a horse by a licensed veterinarian is $225, roughly the same cost that it
takes to feed and shelter a horse for one month. Properly euthanizing a
horse is not cost-prohibitive and is what the vast majority of Americans
choose to do with their horses at the end of their lives.
I respectfully request that you once again support language in the FY13
Agriculture Appropriations bill to defund horse slaughter inspections.
This language has effectively curtailed the establishment and operation of
cruel horse slaughter plants in the United States. As a constituent, I
look forward to hearing from you on this issue. Thank you for your
consideration. 
OK Calling All Horse Advocates We Need Letters and Calls THis Week
Let's all Set Them Free From Torture and SLaughter
AMERICAN HORSES ARE BEING TORTURED IN SLAUGHTER HOUSES IN CANADA AND MEXICO. IT WILL NEVER STOP. IT WILL NOT STOP UNTIL H.R.503 IS PASSED IN CONGRESS…..16 PEOPLE HOLD THE POWER TO MAKE IT STOP..WILL YOU CALL THEM PLEASE…IF THIS BILL IS NOT PASSED BY DECEMBER 9, HORSES WILL BE TRANSPORTED ACROSS OUR BORDERS TO DIE AGONIZING DEATHS – SHOT IN THEIR EYES, STABBED IN THE SPINE, IT WILL CONTINUE – THROUGHOUT ALL ETERNITY IF H.R. 503 IS NOT PASSED…….CALL OR FAX THESE 16 FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES NOW…..ASK THEM TO PLEASE VOTE YES ON H.R.503 IMMEDIATELY.
BOBBY SCOTT, CHAIRMAN, VIRGINIA, PHONE (202) 225-8351 FAX (202) 225-8354
PIER LUISI, PUERTO RICO, PHONE (202) 225-2615 Fax: (202) 225-2154 TOLL FREE (866) 266-6678
JERROLD NADLER, NEW YORK, PHONE (202)-225-5635
ZOE LOFGREN, CALIFORNIA, PHONE (202) 225-3816 FAX (202) 225-3317
MAXINE WATERS, CALIFORNIA, PHONE (323) 757-8900 Fax: (323) 757-9506
STEVE COHEN, TENNESSEE, PHONE (202) 225-3265Fax: (202) 225-5663
ANTHONY WEINER, NEW YORK, PHONE (202)-225-6616
MIKE QUIGLEY, ILLINOIS, PHONE (773)-267-5926 FAX: (773)-267-6583
TED DEUTCH, FLORIDA, PHONE (202)-225-3001
LOUIE GOHMERT, RANKING MEMBER, TEXAS, PHONE (202)-225-3035 FAX (202)-226-1230
BOB GOODLATTE, VIRGINIA, PHONE (202) 225-5431 FAX (202) 225-9681
DAN LUNGREN, CALIFORNIA, PHONE (202) 225-5716 FAX (202) 226-1298
RANDY FORBES, VIRGINIA, PHONE (202) 225 – 6365 FAX (202) 226 – 1170
THOMAS J ROONEY, FLORIDA, PHONE (202) 225-5792 FAX (202) 225-3132
SHEILA JACKSON LEE, TEXAS, PHONE (202) 225-3816 FAX (202) 225-3317
TED POE, TEXAS, PHONE, (202) 225-6565 (202) FAX (225)-5547 TOLL FREE (866) 425-6565
PLEASE ALSO CALL THESE POLITICIANS BELOW, They can help get the bill out of Committee and onto the floor for a vote;
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; http://pelosi.house.gov/contact/write-or-phone-my-offices.shtml
Congressman John Conyers, author of the bill; http://conyers.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Congressman Moran, a supporter of the bill; http://moran.house.gov/contact.shtml
Thank you advocates, for giving the battle your all, each in your own ways. Its not so important how we go about fighting it,…its the keeping on and not quitting that counts!
————–
Copy and Send this Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi! End Horse Transport for Slaughter
Dear Madame Speaker:
We write to you in strong support of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503), legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and prevent the export of live horses for the same purpose. With 183 bipartisan cosponsors in the House, 28 in the Senate, and tremendous public support, we urge you to allow this bill a vote in the House.
Equine slaughter is inhumane by nature. Horses have a fractious reaction to the stress induced by chutes, kill boxes, puntilla knives and captive bolt stun systems, causing these animals to suffer immensely and die an inhumane death. These animals are subjected to brutal transport conditions on their way to slaughter facilities. In addition, the consumption of horsemeat poses a serious public health threat as this meat contains substances banned for human consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Since 2005, Congress has repeatedly voted to shut down the cruel practice of horse slaughter and included appropriations language to defund the USDA inspection of horses and horsemeat as a stopgap measure until a permanent federal ban is passed. The last three horse slaughter plants on U.S. soil were closed by enforcement of state law in Texas and a recently enacted ban on horse slaughter in Illinois. As you know, California overwhelmingly banned horse slaughter over a decade ago, and the state legislature just passed a resolution in favor of passing the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.
Still, American horses continue to be sent over the border for human consumption. Since January of this year, approximately 53,850 horses have been transported across our nation’s borders into the cruelty of slaughter in Mexico and Canada. This number amounts to about 100,000 horses annually, 1,500 per week, or one every five minutes.
As cosponsors of H.R. 503, we, along with millions of Americans and animal protection organizations such as the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States, urge you to bring this bill to the House floor for a vote.
Thank you in advance for your consideration of this critical legislation.
Best regards,
Mail To:
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Office of the Speaker of the House
H-232, The U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Save Our Horses
Stop the slaughter of American horses
The Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503 in the U.S. House of Representatives and S.B. 727 in the U.S. Senate, is still pending in Congress. It is time to pass this bill and stop the slaughter of American horses for human consumption.
Under this bill it would be 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”. It would also be illegal under this bill to trade in horse flesh or carcass for the purpose of human consumption.
Violators face fines and jail time up to 3 years. If, however, the violator has no prior convictions and is moving 4 or fewer horses or less than 2,000 lbs of horse flesh, the jail time is only a year.
Horse slaughter for human consumption is illegal in the U.S. at this time, but American horses are still shipped to Mexico, Canada or other countries for slaughter, and their meat is sold generally as a delicacy in some countries.
American horses are companions, pets, and some used in racing are even called “athletes”. Some participate in competitions or provide transportation or other services. But American horses are not raised for food. The slaughter pipeline, from the auctions where they are sold to kill buyers, during arduous transports to slaughter houses and while at the slaughter houses, is a terribly cruel ordeal for the horses. They suffer fear, panic, painful injuries left untreated, abuse and neglect. Many are slaughtered while still conscious. A recent video of the slaughter of a horse was deemed too graphic even for youtube. Yet, such cruelty is still legal?
For more information….. Also, go here for even more info…..
Horse slaughter is also a negative for communities: Counties and cities where they are located report the slaughter houses overrun wastewater treatment plants, dump waste and blood, clog sewers, and create a bad smell that won’t go away; horse slaughter means few jobs that are low paying in any event, poverty and substantial economic and financial loss for a community.
A number of states and communities rejected horse slaughter this year. (Go here for more information.) It’s time for Congress to do the same!
Go here to find out if your U.S. representative is a co-sponsor. Go here to find out if your U.S. senators are co-sponsors.
Yes Thanks for Going After Salazar and The BLM
Calico Lawsuit Secured Reprieve For Wild Horses; Now Plaintiffs Move To Rescue Horses From Lifelong, Zoo-Like Holding
Calico Wild Horses, healthy upon capture – Photo by Laura Leigh
WASHINGTON, D.C. March 31, 2010 – In a final brief filed today, wild horse advocates are asking a federal court to order the government to return to the Nevada range approximately 1800 wild horses who, after being rounded up earlier this year, await their fate at government holding pens located approximately 200 miles from their home range in Nevada’s Calico Mountain Complex. The international law firm of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, on behalf of plaintiffs In Defense of Animals (IDA), ecologist Craig Downer and author Terri Farley, highlighted the Honorable Judge Paul L. Friedman’s preliminary analysis that long-term holding of wild horses in the Midwest is likely illegal when asking for the court to order defendants Department of Interior (DOI) and Secretary Ken Salazar to find room for the captured Calico horses on the more than 30 million acres of public lands designated as wild horse herd areas.
Early in the case, Plaintiffs secured a reprieve for the captured horses ensuring that no horses would be moved to long-term holding and that no stallions would be gelded (castrated) until Judge Friedman issued a final ruling. This ensures that the horses remain in suitable condition to be reintroduced to the wild.
“It’s time for Interior Secretary Salazar to acknowledge that warehousing wild horses in Midwestern holding facilities is illegal and that new approaches to wild horse management are urgently needed,” said William J. Spriggs, lead counsel on the pending wild horse lawsuit filed pro bono by Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. “The place to start is with the return of the Calico horses to the wild Nevada rangelands where they belong. Next, the Interior Department must shift its resources toward minimally feasible on-the-range management of our wild horses, as Congress intended when it passed the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act.
To date at least 79 horses have died as a result of the Calico roundup and more than 40 heavily pregnant mares have spontaneously aborted. In addition, an unknown number of Calico horses at the holding pens have been reported to have “Pigeon Fever,” a highly contagious bacteria-based disease which is known to be spread by flies. The bacteria lives and multiplies in dry soil and manure.
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for April 30. A final ruling in the case is expected by May 26.
The Calico Mountain Complex roundup of 1,922 wild horses is one of the largest roundups in recent years. The BLM removed at least 80-90 percent of the Calico wild horse population, leaving behind an “estimated” 600 horses on the 550,000 acre (or 859 square mile) Complex in northwest Nevada. The roundup ended on February 4, 2010, 500 horses short of its target for removal. The roundup proceeded despite a ruling by Judge Friedman in the lawsuit brought by Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney questioning the legality of the BLM’s long-term holding facilities and suggesting that the BLM postpone the Calico roundup.
Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 256 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration plans to remove nearly 12,000 wild horses and burros from public lands by October 2010.
There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.
Website: www.idausa.org
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6cf781df-eaf0-4730-900a-ec3eb76a0033)
All Systems That Are Symptom Based Fail ~ Treat The Cause NOT The Symptom
It seems our SYSTEMS today, all of them are symptom based, which we all know treating the symptom of anything will never end the cause of the symptom. No this is not a riddle it is fact and a sad fact at that.
Here are some examples that we at Zuma’s face every day.
Symptom: Child abuse and neglect
Systems solution:
Remove child from home, diagnose child as if child is cause of abuse and neglect, medicate child, mandate that parents provide better living environment for child. re-evaluate situation with no family counseling or intervention.
Treat the symptom; neglected child… not the cause; bad parenting. Less than 10% success rate.
Zuma’s Solution:
Begin court mandated family experiential learning and quine assisted learning along with individual child behavior modification. Have paid facilitators move into family home to keep child safe.
If a family member poses real danger, have home under 24 hour police surveillance.
Work with the family not just the child mend the entire family. Less cost involved and less trauma to the child.Removing a child from his or her family is far too traumatic.
Symptom;
Perceived un-wanted horses population
System Solution; Horse Slaughter Plants in US or Horses in the wild rounded up into holding pens
Zuma’s Solution
Develop breeding licensing with fees high enough to cover the administration cost
Mandate all horses be registered with the state, create a medical horse history for each horse
Charge all horse owners and End of life Tax on all horses, this annual tax held by the state will follow the horse for its life time and be available to end the horses life humanely.
Mandate licensing of all stallions charge high fees for breeding stallions
Create a use tax for everything horse, this tax will be a state tax held to develop a humane end of life solutions for horses
Dart wild horse herd for birth control every three years manage the herd size to the land set aside for them.
As you see we at Zuma’s are cause based solution system- VS – the current system of treating symptoms
Given enough time our cause based system will cure the cause and there will be no more symptoms
Zuma’s Volunteer Of The Month
Meet Dan Schlachtenhaufen, Zuma’s volunteer of the month for February.
Volunteer Of The Month of February
Dan only started volunteering at Zuma’s in late January and since that time he has consistently volunteered between 20 to 25 hours a week. No job is too difficult for Dan, he cleans paddocks/pastures and the stalls. He even feeds breakfast and lunch to our herd and is by far the earliest volunteer to arrive at the ranch at 7:30am.
Due to Dan’s dedication he has learned all about the horses and knows them all by name.
Zuma’s Rescue Ranch is very lucky to have Dan and all our other volunteers, we couldn’t do this without you all.
Thank you to all the Zuma’s volunteers and congratulations Dan!
Spread the Word Illinois VOTE NO HB- 4812
|
Tell Colorado Appropriations Committee to Vote NO on SB 139
3/5 Hearing on CO Bill
to Give Tax Dollars to
Promote Horse
Slaughter
You know the government is out of control when powerful private pro-slaughter special interests can demand state legislators pass a bill requiring a provision in the state tax return that would allow citizens to indicate they want taxpayer funds to be given to them.
That is what is happening now in Colorado. Under S.B. 139, legislators are considering a bill that would require the state tax return to contain a provision that would allow citizens to indicate they want taxpayer money to go to the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance to “assist in its efforts” to “find solutions” for “unwanted horses“. The solution being the re-opening of U.S. slaughter houses. A fund would be set up in the state treasury called the “Unwanted Horse Fund” where this money to be distributed to this private corporation would be collected.
Studies attached below have shown that stories about “abandoned and unwanted” horses are largely untrue, planted in the media by horse slaughter proponents that want people to believe this is because of the closure of U.S. slaughter houses. They have repeated the myth of the “abandoned and unwanted” horses over and over until people believe it. In fact, slaughter is driven by a demand for horse meat generally as a delicacy in some other countries, not numbers of “abandoned and unwanted” horses in the U.S. More than 92% of horses purchased and sent for slaughter are healthy, not abandoned, unwanted, starving or otherwise neglected. So it is not a service for “abandoned and unwanted horses”; it is a brutal enterprise that profits from animal cruelty.
Also, the salvage or secondary market for horses is created by over-breeding; slaughter enables over-breeding that results in what are more accurately described as “excess” horses, not “abandoned and starving” horses. Without slaughter, there would be less incentive for overbreeding and fewer “excess” horses.
The answer to any animals in need of care is not to line the pockets of a lucrative industry that would torture them and sell their meat as a delicacy for considerable profit. However the Unwanted Horse Alliance may disguise itself, as a charitable, a public service, whatever, know that it is a front for pro-slaughter interests.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
This bill has already passed the Senate Agriculture Committee by a vote of 5-1. The bill is now in the Appropriations Committee. We must stop this nonsense and fraud on the taxpayers. This bill is set for hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this Friday, March 5, 2010 at 7:30 a.m. in Senate Committee Room 356. Find committee members here (just click on their names for contact info) and write (faxes are best) or call and urge them to vote NO on S.B. 139!
Go here or here to find a list of Colorado senators with contact information. Write (faxes or letters are best) or call and urge them to vote NO to S.B. 139! Don’t wait. Do it now.
End Horses Suffering, End Horse Transport for Slaughter
Senator Mary Landrieu
Urges Humane Treatment of Wild Horses
and Speaks out
against Horse Slaughter
Joins representatives from the Humane Society, celebrities and Representative Whitfield at press conference today.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today joined Representative Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., the Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle, representatives from the horse and agriculture industries, and actors Kelly Carlson and Wendi Malick at a press conference on Capitol Hill in support of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727), a bill to prohibit the trafficking in horses for slaughter for human consumption in the United States and the export of horses for this purpose.
In 2009, more than 90,000 American Horses were exported for slaughter in other countries. According to a Public Opinion Strategies survey, 70 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter.
“Just recently in 2007, the last slaughter house in the United States was finally shut down,” said Sen. Landrieu. “This was a good first step, but the continued inhumane export of American horses to sell them for slaughter is still a major concern. This legislation will finally put an end to this barbaric practice.”
The press conference also addressed the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel wild horse roundups. Participants, including Sen. Landrieu, called on BLM to stop these roundups until a plan is developed for the adoption of these horses or their relocation to a sanctuary.
“I am going to re-double my efforts to end the cruel practices used during the roundups,” said Sen. Landrieu. “There is a humane way to handle these horses, and I urge that the roundups be stopped, until a proper plan is in place.”
The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 was introduced by Sen. Landrieu, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. to prevent any horses from being slaughtered here in the United States and to spare horses from being transported over the border to foreign slaughter plants. The legislation has garnered significant bipartisan support and is in now in a position to move forward in the legislative process.
Get on board write letters tell congress how you feel about horses, tell them how horses are not like cattle, tell them how many horses went to battle with Americans defending our freedom, tell them that horses are pets, tell them slaughter is brutal and in-humane.
Join Zumas in the fight to protect horses.
Donate to Zuma’s help us save them One Horse At A Time.
