Calls Needed to Encourage Congress to Pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

Fight to Keep Horses from Becoming Someone's Meal

"...There are three slaughterhouses in our nation -- two in Texas and one in Illinois -- that slaughter horses for consumption overseas. Although they are foreign-owned, they operate on American soil...

Interestingly, for 34 years, America's wild horses were protected from sale and slaughter. Then, in late 2004, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., attached a provision to a bill reversing the protection of these animals, and since then thousands of horses have paid the price.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a measure that would protect wild horses from this inhumane act. It is now up to Congress to pass The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. The legislation, sponsored in the upper chamber by Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., and in the House by Reps. John Sweeney, R-N.Y.; John Spratt, D-S.C.; and Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., would permanently ban the sale and slaughter of American horses.

Letters and phone calls to your two U.S. senators and U.S. representative are urgently needed, and we need to make our legislators aware..." [READ ENTIRE ARTICLE]

Thoroughbreds--NOT what's for dinner if Deibel can help it...

Far Away From Belmont's Winner's Circle, A Thoroughbred Race Horse Is Eaten

"...The serious injury to Barbaro and minor injury to Sweetnorthernsaint brings into the limelight the unknown but disturbing facts about what often happens to thoroughbreds who lose or are injured. Barbaro, who will generate millions of dollars as a stud horse, is fortunate to be recovering from surgery.

'But far away from the Winner’s Circle there are more than 86,000 less fortunate horses, many of them thoroughbreds, who are slaughtered each year in America and sold as horsemeat to be eaten in Europe and Asia,' says Joe Deibel, President of the Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, Inc. in Glenville, PA. www.saveahorsenow.org

Far away from the Winner’s Circle many retired thoroughbreds are sold at auction to kill buyers for horse meat processing plants. The horseflesh is then shipped overseas where diners are paying up to $25 a pound to eat horsemeat, in part because of the Mad Cow scare. Horseflesh is sold by the pound, bringing $600 to $900 for a 1,200 pound thoroughbred...[READ MORE]

Barbaro May Be Saved by Publicity...

Many Injured Horses Still Sent to SlaughterhousesEven Thoroughbreds With Relatively Minor Injuries Sometimes End Up in the Meat Grinder

By LESLIE YERANSIAN, ABC News

"Tens of thousands of thoroughbred horses are sent to slaughterhouses each year after suffering from injuries far less serious than Barbaro's fractured ankle, according to the Humane Society.

About 15 percent of the slaughtered horses are thoroughbreds, and many end up as meat for human consumption in other countries, including France, Belgium, Holland, Japan and Italy...

"...She said even if horses weren't sent to a slaughterhouse, owners could be unwittingly sending their horse to an abusive environment.

'Make sure you know where your horse is going,' she said. 'Sometimes people think they're giving their horse to a nonprofit, but that 'nonprofit' is really just posing and they turn the horse around at an auction for 27 cents a pound. That's the going rate now, so they end up getting $300 of the horse.' [READ MORE...]

With the attention being paid to horse slaughter these days, this blog writer hopes Barbaro will be spared such a horrible fate.

UPDATE: Horse Slaughter Amendment Pulled from House Floor---URGENT ACTION NEEDED

May 23, 2006

UPDATE: Horse Slaughter Amendment Pulled from House Floor

Dear Humanitarian:

This afternoon, the Sweeney/Spratt/Whitfield/Rahall Agriculture Appropriations amendment was not considered because its sponsors opted to focus their full attention on achieving a permanent ban on horse slaughter as opposed to a temporary one. Every effort must be bent towards achieving this objective. It is now crucial for constituents like you to tell your Members of Congress to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 1915), the only bill that will put a permanent end to horse slaughter for human consumption. Thank you for being on the ready to make a difference for the horses.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please continue to contact your Members of Congress in each chamber to urge them to cosponsor the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act and push for immediate action on this measure. A permanent ban on horse slaughter is the only way we can ensure the safety of America's horses. To find out more about this bill and what you can do to help, click here: http://www.saplonline.org/horses.htm.

Your assistance is essential to ensure Congress hears from an outpouring of concerned constituents as it did last year. Please share our "Dear Humanitarian" eAlert with family, friends and co-workers, and encourage them to contact their Members of Congress today, too. As always, thank you very much for your help!

www.saplonline.org

Kentuckians Feel Strongly About Horse Slaughter According to Pacelle

Slaughter of horses denounced
HUMANE SOCIETY CHIEF CITES SENDING MEAT OVERSEAS FOR HUMAN FOOD
By Jack Brammer
HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU

"Wayne Pacelle shares with many Kentuckians a strong affection for horses with their strength and beauty.

But in his line of work, Pacelle often confronts a seamy side of the horse business: their slaughter for human consumption overseas...

'He said interest is strong in Kentucky, particularly in the Lexington area, to "stop the terrible and utterly unnecessary practice" of slaughtering horses.

'No one raises horses for slaughter, but they are acquired at auctions from what we call 'killer buyers.' They show up in Kentucky, trying to get ex-racing horses, pets or whatever they can for human consumption.'

Each year, about 90,000 horses are slaughtered in three U.S.-based plants -- one in Illinois and two in Texas -- and exported principally to France, Belgium and Japan for human consumption, Pacelle said.

Horse meat is not sold for human consumption in this country, he said.

'Killer buyers show up in Kentucky, wherever there is an abundance of horses,' Pacelle said. 'They go to auctions and do the bidding for the slaughterhouses.'" [READ MORE...]

Preakness to sickness...

I don't usually post personal messages on this blog, but I was struck today by racetrack tragedy. I was in a sporting goods store this afternoon and the big screen was showing the Preakness...and the end of Barbaro's career and Triple Crown bid.

I watched and heard the announcers say something was terribly wrong...the horse yanked up his hind leg repeatedly in pain. Fortunately, as soon on the jockey heard the break he pulled him up and out of the race.

The voices sounded as sick as I felt, because a break, and in Barbaro's case two breaks, is big trouble for this giant animal that balances on long, graceful toothpicks. Equine veterinarians are going to evaluate the colt for surgery and at best, he'll be put out to stud. I tried to not tear up in the store, but in one second this horse lost everything, including maybe a future. It seemed wrong to see such suffering in the name of gambling and entertainment.

I like watching horseracing, but at times I'm quite disturbed by it. It hits you when one of God's most graceful creatures, like Barbaro, is stressed to fracture. It happens when a racer doesn't bring home the big purse. Despite all the love bestowed upon these creatures while they're winning, they are really just catalysts to build a bankroll. If Barbaro lives, lets just hope his retirement is similar to Seabiscuit's and not Ferdinand's.

Sales of Wild Horses Stopped by House

Houses Votes to Stop Sales of Wild Horses
The Associated Press
Thursday, May 18, 2006; 7:59 PM


WASHINGTON -- The House directed the Interior Department on Thursday to halt the sale of wild horses for slaughter, saying that was not the purpose of the program that makes the horses and burros available for adoption.

The measure, part of the department's spending bill for the 2007 budget year, prohibits the use of agency funds for the sale or slaughter of wild, free-roaming horses and burros.
It was approved unanimously by voice vote.

"We need to stop the slaughter of wild horses and burros not only because it is morally wrong, but also because the program itself is a failure," said Rep. Nick Rahal, D-W.Va., a sponsor of the provision...[READ MORE...]

SAPL Pleads with Public to Contact Members of Congress Today Regarding Horse Slaughter

Wild Horses Again Win Victory in US House of Representatives

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 19, 2005) - The US House of Representatives today resoundingly reaffirmed by unanimous consent what it originally declared in 1971 - America's wild, free-roaming horses and burros must be protected from commercial exploitation and the cruel slaughter industry. In a tremendous victory on behalf of all horses, the House again passed an amendment sponsored by Representatives Nick Rahall (D-WV), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), John Sweeney (R-NY) and John Spratt (D-SC) that prohibits taxpayer funds from being used to sell or slaughter America's wild horses.

"This is the fourth vote to end horse slaughter, and yet the full bill to ban the terrible practice continues to be blocked by two or three legislators. This ongoing obstruction is symptomatic of what is wrong with politics today," said Chris Heyde, deputy legislative director of the Society for Animal Protective Legislation. "We knew the House of Representatives would continue to listen to the will of the American people, and now they must end horse slaughter once and for all."

In late 2004, a rider stripping away the original Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act's decades-old protections was passed without public awareness or Congressional oversight. The new amendment will effectively stop the Bureau of Land Management from implementing this reprehensible measure.

"Today, our elected representatives have listened to the truth about wild horses," Heyde said. "Despite the enormous amount of misinformation being spread by pro-horse slaughter individuals, the facts remain clear: wild horses are not to blame for rangeland destruction, they are not starving to death and that there are far too few of these national treasures. They deserve to live free on our public lands, and we must ensure their future welfare."

With the will of the people being heard in the Halls of Congress, now more than ever, the House and Senate must take the next step in finally ending the inhumane practice of horse slaughter. The public must demand passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 1915) - the only bills to permanently ban all horse slaughter for human consumption - by calling on their Members of Congress to act immediately.

For more information--www.saplonline.org

Thoroughbreds Dumped Into Slaughterhouses Deserve Better

from Ken Murray, the Baltimore Sun, May 16, 2006

"...What Pikulski wants is an end to the slaughter of racehorses who have outlived their prime and been dispossessed.

"I have seen so much progress over the last 20 years that I believe I can see this through until the day that no thoroughbred racehorse leaves the track for the slaughterhouse. And that is my intention," said Pikulski, who quit her own law practice to become the TRF's full-time director in 1996.

Founded in 1982 by advertising executive Monique S. Koehler, the TRF (www.trfinc.org) has set up rehabilitation centers in Lexington, Ky.; Poughquag, N.Y.; and Montpelier Station, Va., to retrain thoroughbreds for second careers as riding horses, show jumpers or simply companion horses..." [READ MORE...]

From Racetrack to Today's Special--Slaughter Awaits Horses Who Can't Bring Home the Cash...

Preakness Losers May End Up on Dinner Plate in Europe and Asia

"Racing fans across America on Saturday, May 20, will be tuned in to the 131st running of the prestigious $1 million Preakness Stakes to be run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Most fans want to know whether Barbaro, the upstart winner of the Kentucky Derby, will win the second leg of the Triple Crown.

There definitely will be a horse and rider in the Winner’s Circle Saturday but what most television viewers don’t realize is that the odds are very high that one of the losers will end up being sold to a killer buyer to be processed into horse flesh and eaten.

“American racing fans need to know that more than 86,000 horses, many of them thoroughbreds, are slaughtered in the United States each year and sold as horsemeat to be eaten in Europe and Asian countries,” says Jo Deibel, President of the Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue, Inc. in Glenville, PA. www.saveahorsenow.org..." [READ MORE...]

US House Moves to Stop Wild Horse Slaughter--URGENT ACTION NEEDED TODAY!

US House Moves to Stop Wild Horse Slaughter
URGENT ACTION NEEDED TODAY!


May 16, 2006


Dear Humanitarian:

The US House of Representatives is again poised to vote on an amendment introduced by Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV) to stop the brutal slaughter of America's wild horses for human consumption in foreign countries. An identical measure sponsored by Mr. Rahall last year passed overwhelmingly in the House, but was blocked at the last minute in the Senate by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT). More information about the House vote and the tragic plight of our wild horses is available at www.saplonline.org/w_horses.htm.

Please take a moment to contact your Representative TODAY, urging his or her strong support of the Rahall Amendment to the House Interior Appropriations Bill. The House will consider the measure during the week of May 15 (most likely on Thursday, May 18), so your immediate assistance is critical. If you would like additional facts or need to find the name of your Representative, visit our website at www.saplonline.org/congress.htm or call us at (703) 836-4300.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please call or fax your Representative today, and continue to do so until the vote has taken place. The Capitol Hill Operator can be reached at (202) 224-3121.
Ask your Representative to support the Rahall Interior Appropriations Amendment (prohibiting your tax dollars from being spent on sending wild horses to slaughter) and respectfully request his or her position the issue.
If your Representative voted for last years amendment, please mention this when you call. To find out how your he or she voted, visit www.projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/109/house/1/votes/196/.
Your immediate assistance is essential to ensure the House of Representatives hears from an outpouring of concerned constituents as it did last year. Do not allow the foreign-owned slaughterhouses to thwart your will and the actions of Congress any longer.

Please share our "Dear Humanitarian" eAlert with family, friends and coworkers, and encourage them to make phone calls and send faxes, too.

Thank you so much for your help!

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
Legislative Director
Society for Animal Protective Legislation
(A Division of the Animal Welfare Institute)
www.saplonline.org/horses.htm


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