More Owners, Breeders and Trainers Take Stand Against US Horse Slaughter

Trainer takes reins against slaughter

BY CHRISTINE SHOW
Newsday Staff Writer

June 10, 2006


Millions will be watching as trainer Nick Zito's horse, Hemingway's Key, breaks from the gate in Saturday's Belmont Stakes. But after the race and away from the track, Zito and others plan to keep pushing for wide-ranging legislation to protect all horses - not just thoroughbreds.

Zito - along with legislators and horse owners, breeders and trainers - is urging Congress to enact the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act to end horse slaughtering in the United States. The bill originally was introduced in 2002...

"It's a horrible, degrading, ruthless process," Arthur Hancock of Paris, Ky., breeder of three Kentucky Derby winners, said during the conference call. "The other horses are screaming. They can smell the blood."

Some sellers aren't aware that buyers from slaughterhouses are bidding in such auctions.

"When you bring your horse in [to auction], a couple of people don't know they're selling their horses to slaughter," said Chris Heyde of the National Horse Protection Coalition.

The prevention act is sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), a veterinarian who has taken an active role against horse slaughter. Ensign was not available for comment Friday...

Hancock said he has auctioned off horses in the past, but after learning of the slaughtering, he is supporting the bill... [READ ENTIRE ARTICLE...]