Horse Slaughter Bill being voted September 7, 2006 in US Hou

[9nines]

Please call your US representative to voice support H.R. 503, without any amendments, unless those amendments are by the bill's sponosors.

 

Thanks

 

 

August 18, 2006

 

Update on H.R. 503

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

! IT’S DO OR DIE TIME FOR THIS BILL !

 

 

 

 

The House sponsors of H.R. 503 have been promised a House floor vote on H.R. 503 on or about September 7, 2006 when the Congress returns from its August recess. If the bill does not pass, it is dead – as dead as the slaughtered horses it is intended to protect. We must not let this happen!

 

During the recess, we are asking everyone one last time to contact their U.S. Representative and encourage him/her to SUPPORT H.R. 503 WITHOUT ANY AMENDMENTS EXCEPT THOSE, IF ANY, OFFERED BY THE BILL’S SPONSORS. We anticipate that the opposition will try to amend H.R. 503 to make it ineffective or even so bad that we would be better off without it. Thus, it’s important that the message to our U.S. Representatives be that they SUPPORT H.R. 503 WITHOUT ANY AMENDMENTS EXCEPT THOSE, IF ANY, OFFERED BY THE BILL’S SPONSORS. The opposition is working hard during this recess to try and change Housemembers’ minds and get more opposition to H.R. 503. It’s imperative that we counter with calls, letters, faxes, etc. to our Representatives in support of H.R. 503. PLEASE . . . ACT NOW AND CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND . . . PASS THIS ALERT ON TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. We are only asking that you make one contact – your Representative. You can find your Representative’s name and contact information by going to www.house.gov/writerep.

 

FACTS AND TALKING POINTS ON HORSE SLAUGHTER

Facts:

 

· There are three horse slaughter plants in the United States. All are 100% foreign owned. In 2005 they slaughtered over 90,000 American horses and shipped the horsemeat to Belgium, France and Japan for sale to wealthy diners. No horsemeat is consumed by humans in the U.S.

 

· Texas tried to shutdown the two Texas plants and was thwarted by a federal court decision holding that federal law preempted Texas law. Thus, the only way to stop horse slaughter in the U.S. for human consumption is by the passage of a federal law. The current bill before Congress, H.R. 503, commonly known as the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, is scheduled for a floor vote in the House of Representatives in early September. H.R. 503 has bipartisan support and over 200 co-sponsors. It also has the overwhelming support of the American public. Polls taken in Kentucky, Virginia, Texas and Utah respectively show that 82%, 74%, 72% and 69% of those questioned oppose horse slaughter. In California, a ballot initiative banning horse slaughter for human consumption passed with over 60% of the vote.

 

· Horse slaughter promotes horse theft. Bragging “from the stable to the table in four days” healthy horses are stolen, butchered and exported within hours. Horse theft in California dropped 34% when they banned horse slaughter.

 

· Horse slaughter plants are a drain on the economy. They employ less than 200 low paid mostly migrant workers. They require U.S. oversight of the slaughtering process costing U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars. Further the three U.S. horse slaughter plants gross around $60 million a year, and using accounting loopholes pay little or no U.S. income taxes. They also send all of their profits to their foreign owners.

 

Myths and Truths:

 

Myth – Horse slaughter is a viable alternative to euthanasia for those owners who can’t afford or do not want to have their horse humanely euthanized in the traditional manner.

Truth – Horse slaughter is anything but humane. From the sale barn to the killing floor, horses are subjected to horrific and inhumane treatment. During transportation many horses are injured and killed from overcrowding; grouping stallions, mares and foals together; traveling over thousands of miles and many hours with no food or water. Also the method of slaughter – use of a captive-bolt gun – is imprecise and leads to injury and/or failure to render the horse unconscious; thus subjecting the horse to having its throat cut while still conscious. Unlike cattle, swine and sheep, horses are not raised for food and being subjected to cramped transportation and the slaughter process is totally foreign to their nature and is cruel and inhumane. Euthanasia is defined as the “relief from pain” - horse slaughter on the other hand is an “inflection of pain.”

 

Myth – Most horses sent for slaughter are typically older, sick, lame, neglected, displaced or retired animals.

Truth – Nearly all of the horses (thoroughbreds, quarter horses, standard bred, paints, Arabians, wild mustangs) arriving at the kill plants were purchased by “killer buyers” at regular horse auctions. According to the USDA, 92% of the horses slaughtered at these slaughter plants are in “good to excellent condition with no behavioral problems.”

 

Myth – Without horse slaughter, sick, old and unwanted horses will be left to suffer and die in the field.

Truth – There are approximately 9.2 million horses in the U.S. today. Approximately 10% of those horses (920,000) die annually. The vast majority (99%) are not slaughtered, but humanely euthanized by a veterinarian and then sent to a rendering plant or buried. The average cost of humane euthanasia is $225 while the average cost of keeping a horse is around $200 a month. Anyone who can afford to keep a horse can afford to have it humanely euthanized. No special infrastructure is needed to absorb “unwanted horses”. The owner of an unwanted horse has several options: he can sell his horse to someone else, have it humanely euthanized, or donate it to a horse retirement or rescue facility.

 

Myth – If we ban horse slaughter in the U.S., horses will just be exported to Mexico and Canada and will suffer from longer transportation time and the lack of the protections of U.S. humane legislation.

Truth – The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, will ban transportation of live horses across international borders for the purpose of slaughter. H.R. 503 contains clear enforcement and penalty provisions to prevent this from happening.

 

Myth – The banning of horse slaughter is the product of animal rights activists and could lead to a ban on the slaughter of cattle, swine and sheep in the future.

Truth – Horses have never been raised as food animals in America. No one in America eats horsemeat. It’s not the animal rights activists that want a stop to the slaughtering of American horses, it’s the American public. Cattle, swine and sheep are raised for human consumption. Horses are not.

 

Myth – Banning horse slaughter will deprive owners of their “property right” to do with their horse as they please.

Truth – Few, if any, horse owners knowingly send their horse directly to slaughter. Horses going to slaughter are the result of unsuspecting horse owners putting their horses in livestock sales only to have them purchased by “killer buyers” who then “bunch” their purchased horses and ship them to the slaughter plants for slaughter. The presence of horse slaughter deprives the average horse owner of an open and humane marketplace in which to sell their horses. Horse slaughter also exposes owners to the increased likelihood of having their horse stolen.

 

WE AND THE HORSES THANK YOU

[VeganGirl2006]

Thanks for posting this. I did write to my congressman right away about this bill.

[9nines]

Thanks. The lobbying group stressed to make sure to tell your rep not to support it if non-sponsor amendments are added. The group fears some amendments to weaken it will be added and some could make the situation worse than it is now.

 

Thanks again because I literally have no rep now (in Tom Delay's district) so I can not call or write mine.