By Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)

A few years ago, when I was still serving in the Senate, I was asked to support legislation that would ban the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption. My initial reaction was cool to the notion that the federal government should be mandating or telling owners of these horses what they can or cannot do with their animals. However, my initial instincts on such a policy were outweighed by the personal and practical experience that horse owners brought to my attention, including my son, Chet.

An avid horseman, Chet is active in the horse industry and had rescued several horses from a “killer buyer” — one who buys horses from sometimes unsuspecting owners and then sells them to slaughterhouses. My son retrained and sold those horses to become champion polo ponies. His experience showed me that live, active horses support an important infrastructure of jobs and economies in the United States. A live horse needs to be fed, groomed and trained, as well as receive vet care, among other things. This in turn creates and maintains a viable and enduring way of life in rural America. The sale of horses to killer-buyers in fact generates very little profit for the seller while simultaneously choking off the demand for the goods and services that other buyers would create.

I was proud to become a co-sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act and strongly support its enactment into law. Notwithstanding my personal evolution in seeking a ban to the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption and the interstate transportation thereof, which the legislation would do, I support this legislation for three compelling reasons: Banning horse slaughter would save taxpayers millions of dollars every year, as it would eliminate a wasteful federal program that only serves to benefit a handful of foreign-owned companies; it would help foster and promote sustainable jobs in rural America; and it would end the needless suffering of more than 100,000 American horses each year, which are hauled across the United States to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada to supply so‐called “high‐end” restaurants in France and Belgium.

Recently the proponents of the horse slaughter industry, who have been vigorously opposing the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, seized on a report by the Government Accountability Office that made flawed claims, based on flawed evidence, about there now being “too many horses,” which are starving to death and subsequently depressing horse prices. None of this is true. Unfortunately, in the ensuing confusion Congress enacted H.R. 2112, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012, which removed a long‐standing prohibition on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to inspect horses bound for slaughter, thus allowing for the resumption of horse slaughter in the United States — and the expenditure of federal tax dollars on a program that will benefit only foreign interests, not rural America.

Horse slaughter proponents further claim that slaughter exists because there are too many unwanted horses, but fail to point out that even when horse slaughter was allowed in the United States, a large number of horses from Canada were imported annually to a horse slaughter facility in Illinois. If we had too many horses, why did that facility need to import them?

I spent my entire political career working to reduce federal spending, shrink the size of the government, and promote American jobs. Supporting the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act fits all of those key goals while also helping reduce unnecessary animal suffering. For myself, the horse industry, and the majority of Americans who support a ban on horse slaughter, passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is a win‐win issue for America.

Lott is senior counsel at the law firm Patton Boggs LLP and former Senate majority leader.

Reposted from: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/210585-preventing-horse-slaughter-a-personal-evolution

9-year-old Declan Gregg inspired to join effort for humane treatment of equines

GREENLAND — A shy, soft-spoken local boy is raising his voice to tell his representatives in Concord and Washington that horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane.

Nine-year-old Declan Gregg has already testified in front of the N.H. House Environment and Agriculture Committee and next month will travel with his mother, Stacie Gregg, to Washington, D.C., to present letters to Congress as part of the Million Horse March children’s letter-writing campaign to stop horse slaughter.

Horse slaughter is a controversial topic in the United States. Though horse meat is not typically consumed in this country, it is considered a delicacy in places like France, Belgium and Japan, according to Joanne Bourbeau, northeastern regional director for the Humane Society of the United States.

[. . .]

According to habitatforhorses.org, proponents of slaughter argue that it is done humanely, provides disposal for unwanted horses for poor people and that only sick, old and injured horses are sent to slaughter.

However, the Web site states undercover films reveal horses led to slaughter are often subjected to prolonged suffering. Panicked horses are often prodded and beaten off a truck and onto a “kill-chute,” and improper use of stunning equipment means horses sometimes endure repeated blows and remain conscious during the process, which includes throat slitting.

“There is no way to humanely slaughter a horse,” Bourbeau said. “They’re a very different animal than (those typical of the slaughter industry). It’s just horrific, horrific deaths for these animals.”

The descriptions of slaughtering disgusted Stacie Gregg, who volunteers at the N.H. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Stratham. She said she was researching the issue when her son became curious and asked if he could do anything to help.

“I could tell she was working really hard on something,” he said. “I personally didn’t think (horse slaughter) was right. I thought it was inhumane.”

So Declan, who enjoys spending time with horses such as Barney and Betty at the SPCA, got to work. He created a blog that he updates regularly at www.children4horses.blogspot.com. He also went to Concord last month to testify about House Bill 1446, a bill relative to the meat inspection program that would except equine meat from inspection, processing and sale.

[. . .]

The bill would protect horses from one passed last year to establish a state meat inspection system. That bill, HB 339, was intended to help farmers who would like to send livestock to a slaughterhouse but inadvertently applied the provisions to horses as well, advocates said.

“The good news in New Hampshire is I’m sure they were not intending for horse slaughter to come here commercially,” said Suzanne Bryant, barn manager at the SPCA.

Gregg will travel to Washington, D.C., next month for a three-day trip. The intent is to deliver letters to Congress showing lawmakers how many people care about the issue. There is a bill in Congress, HR 2966, known as the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, that would prohibit horse slaughter in the United States and make illegal the shipping of horses to other countries for slaughter. Horses today are sent to Canada and Mexico, where they can be legally slaughtered.

Gregg’s goal is to get 115 letters before his trip, “but I think I’ll get a lot more than that,” he said.

Read the Full Article at: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120212-NEWS-202120339

by Vickery Eckhoff, Forbes.com Contributor

Every small-town mayor is bedeviled by something. For Paula Bacon of Kaufman, Texas, it was Dallas Crown, which slaughtered horses next door to her friend Mary Nash’s 40-acre farm off Highway 175.

Dallas Crown was shuttered during Bacon’s last term in office after a 20-year legal battle over environmental violations that constantly overwhelmed the city’s wastewater plant with horse blood and discharge. But news that horse slaughter plants may be returning to the U.S in 2012 has Bacon speaking out about what one horse slaughter plant with 46 non-unionized employees can do to a small town of 6,700 hard-working people.

“You’d be better off with a lead smelter plant and sexually-oriented businesses,” says the fifth-generation resident, citing environmental issues along with the stigma attached to horse slaughter.

Bacon, whose family owns P.G. Bacon Lumber Co., (“Friendly service since 1896”), offers a cautionary tale for any town thinking that horse slaughter will benefit their communities.

“Five million dollars in federal funding was spent annually to support three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants: Dallas Crown, Beltex in Fort Worth and Cavel in DeKalb, Illinois,” claims Bacon. “When Dallas Crown’s tax records came to light in the city’s legal struggle, we found they’d paid only $5 in federal taxes on a gross income of over $12 million. They liked to say they were good corporate citizens. But it is my belief they were more like corporate thugs.”

Life In A Slaughter Town

The twice-elected Bacon has plenty of gruesome stories to share, dating back to the ’80’s, when the Belgian-owned Dallas Crown put in a pump to force horse blood through the city sewer system and burst the pipes. Within hours, horse blood backed up into residents’ bathtubs and bubbled up through city streets.

Then there were the out-in-the-open offal piles, ever-present flies, vultures and stench lingering inside the Presbyterian hospital, daycare center, churches and, of course, people’s homes. Yet despite a litany of gothic horrors in the community, Dallas Crown’s violations and operations continued unabated until February, 2007. That’s when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals finally shut it down, citing a 1949 Texas law making horse slaughter illegal that had somehow been buried and forgotten.

The decision brought to an end the constant lawsuits, injunctions to cease and desist and legal bills. “During that time, legal expenses consumed 20% of the town’s property tax revenue. That floored me,” says Bacon, describing the day she pulled the city manager’s records while he was out of the office and tallied up the bills.

Read the rest of this article at Vickery’s blog: http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff/2012/01/10/texas-mayor-paula-bacon-kicks-some-tail/2/

New York, NY – February 9, 2012 – A broad-based group of Thoroughbred industry stakeholders announced today the establishment of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA)—an organization designed to serve as both the accrediting body for aftercare facilities that care for Thoroughbreds following the conclusion of their racing careers and a fundraising body to support these approved facilities.

Funded initially by seed money from Breeders’ Cup, Ltd., The Jockey Club, and Keeneland Association, the TAA is comprised of owners, trainers, breeders, racetracks, jockeys, aftercare professionals and other industry groups.

“It is our responsibility as owners, tracks, breeders, trainers, jockeys, bloodstock agents, and anyone who has a stake in the game to take responsibility for the aftercare of these great animals who are the keystone of our sport,” said TAA board President and Thoroughbred owner Jack Wolf. “Securing support and funding from Breeders’ Cup, The Jockey Club, Keeneland and so many other great organizations speaks to the credibility and importance of our effort and is so greatly appreciated.”

Read the rest of this entry »

A young Pennsylvania horse dealer was charged with defrauding horse owners by posing as a rescue and instead sending their animals to slaughter.

A preliminary hearing for Kelsey Lefever 24, of Honeybrook, was to be held in Dauphin County Monday but the case was continued and is rescheduled for Feb. 21.

The five counts of fraud against Lefever, who was well known in the show horse world and in rescue circles, were brought the Pennsylvania State Police in November after a months-long investigation.

In two instances Lefever had told the owners of retired racehorses at Penn National racetrack outside of Harrisburg that she would retrain and find homes for their horse.

Instead she sold them to ”kill buyers” in a parking lot deal at the New Holland auction in Lancaster who shipped them to Canada to be butchered for meat for human consumption overseas.

But testimony by a witness suggests there were many more. Lefever, she said, told her she sent 120 horses to slaughter. (See Inquirer story here)

Lefever could face 31 years of imprisonment and fines of up to $65,000 if convicted on the three felony and two misdemeanor counts, according to prosecutors.

The Lefever case emerged just as the debate over slaughter has gained steam again. Horse slaughter had effectively been banned in the U.S. since 2008 when the last plant closed because federal funding for inspectors had been eliminated.

Now, under a new budget bill, that funding has been restored. Pro-slaughter advocates, like United Horsemens Front which will focus on slaughter in the U.S. at its annual meeting in April, have been lobbying to bring back the industry pointing to what they call a glut of horses.

They also argue that unwanted horses would suffer less if they were killed in plants in this country, rather than being shipped to Mexico or Canada as they are now.

But don’t tell any of that to the average American who does not believe equine pets belong on dinner plates.

That’s according to the ASPCA which conducted a nationwide poll last week that found 80 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter.

“The overwhelming majority of Americans are not just against horse slaughter but are intensely opposed to this cruel practice. As more people learn that we are allowing our horses to be shuttled off to a gruesome death all for the sake of foreign gourmands, they are outraged and opposition for this grisly act is growing,” said Nancy Perry, senior vice president of ASPCA Government Relations. “Anyone who has been to the movies lately knows the price horses have paid by carrying us to war, building our nation, and serving our entertainment and companionship needs. Americans have a responsibility to protect these intelligent, sensitive animals from being butchered.”

Here’s why the ASPCA says slaughter is inhumane:

Horse slaughter is inherently cruel because the biology of horses makes them difficult to stun and they often remain conscious during their slaughter. In addition, horsemeat can be toxic to humans, as horses are frequently administered drugs that violate the safety regulations mandated for food animals.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., PA) is among federal lawmakers advocating for a permanent ban on horse slaughter in the U.S. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 2966 and S. 1176 ), which would prohibit the sale and transport of horses for slaughter in the United States, as well as across the border to Canada and Mexico. The passage of this legislation would end the current export and slaughter of approximately 100,000 American horses each year.

The group also argues the majority of horses killed for human consumption are in good condition and could go on to lead productive lives in loving homes. They just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, the ASPCA says, and this means that any horse, no matter how loved, is just one bad sale away from the slaughterhouse until the nation bans this practice.

Many groups are trying to do their part to reroute horses that might end up crammed in a trailer heading for the border, chief among them is Philadelphia Park, which three years ago began what is likely the strongest anti-slaughter program of any racetrack.

The track banned the auction sale of horses off the track and warned trainers they would permanently lose their stalls if they were caught (Track officials say they just threw out the first trainer caught violating the restriction). At the same time, they developed a retrain and rehome program, Turning for Home, which is funded by fees placed on winnings, uses area trainers to turn racehorses into show and pleasure horses.

Maryland trainer Steuart Pitman, who works with young retired racehorses at his farm, prepping them for new careers, last month launched the Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge - think “Dancing with the Stars” for horse trainers and equines.

Four top trainers were matched with four right-off-the-track thoroughbreds at the Maryland Horse Expo last month. (For a report on the kick off click on the Chronicle of the Horse here). You can follow their progress through blog entries and video on the RRTC website and on its Facebook page.

At the Pennsylvania Horse Expo later this month (Feb. 24-26), the trainers will show off their mounts and a winner will be chosen.

Five horses were found starved and abandoned in one day in Miami-Dade County, including four the C-9 Basin, once considered the heart of South Florida’s illegal horse meat industry, according to a prominent animal activist.

“Bad people get ahold of these horses, and they have relationships with the illegal slaughter farms in Miami-Dade,’’ Couto said. “They give these horses to these slaughter houses as a favor or for a small payment, maybe a couple hundred bucks.”

This isn’t the first time abandoned horses have turned up in the Basin, possibly in line to be slaughtered. The illegal activities in the Basin reached the point that, in January 2010, federal, state and county inspectors swept through there to stop the rampant illegal butchery, hazardous waste dumping and brutal handling of animals that had gone on, sometimes openly, for years.

Couto said the raids made a difference. But horses like those found this week give him reason to fear the illegal slaughter farms are trying to return.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/26/2610903/starving-horses-found-in-miami.html

The opponents of S. 1176 (American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act) are making donations at a 3-to-1 clip compared to the bill’s supporters.  Are campaign contributions the driving force behind action, or inaction, in Congress? When it comes to antislaughter legislation, it’s more than a numbers game.

Eight out of 10 American voters oppose slaughtering horses for human consumption according to a new poll sponsored by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), one of the country’s leading advocates for animal welfare. This overwhelming opposition to slaughter crosses gender lines, geography, political affiliation, and whether people live in the country or in the city.

With that much voter support, passing antislaughter legislation should be a slam dunk in Congress. But it isn’t, never has been.

So why does federal anti-slaughter legislation stall every year?

It’s a puzzling question, without an easy answer.

One reason lies with the representative nature of our government. The 80% of voters who oppose horse slaughter don’t actually vote on individual bills. That’s impractical for a lot of reasons, although we’re closer than ever to a real democracy thanks to the exponential growth of the Internet. Instead, voters go the polls to elect representatives who—in the best of all possible worlds—actually represent the interests of their constituents. Unless they don’t.

Another possibility is that our Congressmen and women represent the interests of people who didn’t elect them to office, including the individuals or organizations willing to turn over the most money. These campaign contributions are not bribes, technically anyway, but staying in office is the first priority for politicians, and winning the next election can be a pricey endeavor.

According to MapLight, campaign contributions from interest groups that oppose S. 1176 total $605,850, while contributions from groups that support the anti-slaughter legislation total $204,305. The opponents of S. 1176 are making donations at a 3-to-1 clip compared to the bill’s supporters.

Read the full article: http://cs.thehorse.com/blogs/horses-and-the-law/archive/2012/02/07/pay-to-play-in-congress.aspx

Washington, D.C. — The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is pleased to report that the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, H.R. 7, approved earlier today by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee includes a prohibition on the hauling of horses via double-deck trailers. The move to incorporate this prohibition within the larger transportation bill was strongly supported by AWI and championed by Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) and Committee Ranking Member, Nick Rahall (D-WV). The entire bill now goes before the full House of Representatives for a vote.

While the overall transportation bill is by no means an unqualified success and contains many unsavory elements from an animal welfare perspective, final passage of this ban on double-deck transport in interstate commerce would represent a clear and important victory for horse protection. AWI has long fought to have this inhumane practice outlawed, and in the present instance AWI worked to fend off a last-minute attempt by committee member Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR) to amend the bill so as to strip out the double-deck transport ban.

Chris Heyde, Deputy Director of Government and Legal Affairs for AWI, said, “We are very pleased that this ban has been approved by the House Committee. For far too long, unscrupulous individuals have been legally permitted to pack horses into dangerously cramped trailers with ceilings so low that horses are unable to stand properly. The horses are hauled on long-distance journeys that very often cause serious injuries and even deaths. Today, thanks to Representatives Harris and Rahall along with others on the Committee, we moved one step closer to putting an end to this inhumane and utterly unnecessary practice.”

Equine rescue, advocacy, and professional organizations including the American Veterinary Medical Association, National Black Farmers Association, and Veterinarians for Equine Welfare support a ban on double-deck transport of horses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has expressed opposition to double-deck hauling of horses, stating that, “We do not believe that equines can be safely and humanely transported on a conveyance that has an animal cargo space divided into two or more stacked levels.”(9 CFR Parts 70 and 88). In fact, the USDA has prohibited using these trailers for transporting horses to slaughter, but its rule doesn’t cover horses being transported for other purposes. All horses, regardless of where they are going, deserve this important precaution, and the language included in the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act will provide it.

http://www.awionline.org

Chicago (EWA) – A six month investigation by the EWA and other animal investigation organizations has finally determined the predominant source of abandoned horses in the Southwestern US. The findings show that most or all of more than 5,000 horses a year are being abandoned after being rejected for slaughter at the Mexican border.

The investigation explains the source and reason for abandonment, most of which have been reported in the vast stretches of isolated land north of the Mexican border since 2009. Most of these horses could clearly be identified as domestic stock from such indications as nail holes in their hooves (where shoes had recently been removed) but no other clues to their source were found.

Until now articles about their discovery have speculated that they were abandoned by individual owners because they could no longer afford to feed them. The horse slaughter lobby has further suggested that this was made worse because individuals “no longer had a slaughter option”.

Equine advocates countered this hypothesis by pointing out that there had been no decrease in slaughter to force such actions, and that the areas where they were being found did not have significant domestic horse populations.

Moreover, it made no sense that someone who could not afford to euthanize and bury a horse would elect instead to pay for hauling it hundreds or thousands of miles only to turn it loose. In fact, many horse advocates had good reason to suspect the reports were bogus.

Following the closure of US horse slaughter plants in 2007, there were a large number of stories published claiming horses were being abandoned because of a lack of slaughter. These reports ranged from reclaimed strip mines in Kentucky to the Florida Everglades and Oregon ranches. For a year each of these was investigated and found to be false or hugely distorted.

But in the past two years there have been an increasing number of authenticated reports of abandoned horses, mostly in the remote stretches of the southwest Border States. A few of these horses actually had hide removed, apparently to obscure a brand.

Read the rest of this entry »

ASPCA urges public support for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced in a newly released poll conducted by Lake Research Partners that 80 percent of American voters are opposed to the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption. The nationwide survey reveals that Americans oppose horse slaughter overwhelmingly regardless of their gender, political affiliation, whether they live in an urban or rural area, or their geographic location. Further, it confirms that a vast majority of horse owners are also against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines.

“The overwhelming majority of Americans are not just against horse slaughter but are intensely opposed to this cruel practice. As more people learn that we are allowing our horses to be shuttled off to a gruesome death all for the sake of foreign gourmands, they are outraged and opposition for this grisly act is growing,” said Nancy Perry, senior vice president of ASPCA Government Relations.  “Anyone who has been to the movies lately knows the price horses have paid by carrying us to war, building our nation, and serving our entertainment and companionship needs.  Americans have a responsibility to protect these intelligent, sensitive animals from being butchered.”

Read the rest of this entry »