Equine Protection Network
January 2, 2007
Ban on Double Deck Trailers

Visit us at the Horse World Expo in Harrisburg, PA Booth 819!

Many people are confused or misinformed about the laws concerning the
use of double deck trailers to transport horses. Here is copy of a
letter the Equine Protection Network sent to Horse Illustrated
regarding the issue after the January issue mistakenly stated that as
of December 7, 2006 it would be illegal to transport horses in double
deck trailers in the United States:

As of December 7, 2006 the federal law, The Commercial Transportation
of Horses to Slaughter Act of 1996, applies only to horses
transported directly to slaughter and does not apply to rodeo stock
contractors and low end dealers. Killer buyers and rodeo stock
contractors have been successfully prosecuted under the Pennsylvania
Horse Transport Law, which unlike the federal regulations, applies to
all horses no matter what their final destination and has criminal
penalties that can be enforced by police.

Under the federal law the dealers such as the Ramey's who had a wreck
in Indiana in 2004 that killed more than 20 horses would not be in
violation. Nor would the drivers for Three Hills Rodeo transporting
36 horses in two double deck trailers from a rodeo in Pennsylvania to
a rodeo in the Midwest, and convicted under the Pennsylvania Horse
Transport Law.

It is imperative that readers understand that the Commercial
Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Act is nothing more than
a "paper tiger" that legalized every inhumane practice identified in
the transport of horses to slaughter and put the very people
identified as the abusers and in some cases convicted of cruelty to
horses, in charge of the horse's welfare!

Under the federal regulations the enforcement will occur only at the
slaughterhouse, not during the trip and not at holding facilities or
collection points. The law has civil penalties; not criminal meaning
it cannot be enforced by police departments, points which the Equine
Protection Network and others voiced strong opposition to during the
public comment period when the Federal Regulations were being
drafted.

An example of the federal regulations not applying to horses being
collected for slaughter comes from a state Department of Agriculture
records and a lack of owner shipper certificates from the USDA.
According to records a licensed dealer in a Midwest state purchases
between 2500-3000 horses a year for slaughter. Documentation proves
that a double deck trailer is used to transport the horses. According
to Freedom of Information Act requests from USDA for Owner Shipper
Certificates for horses leaving this state, none exist for this
shipper of slaughter horses because he is not shipping them directly
to slaughter, rather to holding facilities.

Killer buyers, low end dealers, and rodeo stock contractors all claim
that their trailers have been modified and are safe for horses.
According to the USDA it is neither safe nor humane to haul horses in
a conveyance of more than one level even if modified. If the USDA has
outlawed doubles for slaughter horses, and realizing that a slaughter
horse become a slaughter horse by the fall of the gavel, why then are
these inhumane trailers still legal in almost every state?

At 3 AM on the interstate when you spot a double with horses there is
no one you can call to report the violation under the federal
regulations. USDA is not open 24/7, they only enforce at the
slaughterhouse and according to one state police agency the USDA has
indicated they will not respond if called by the police. First time
offenders under New York and Pennsylvania state law forfeited the
horses involved and paid fines exceeding $5000.00. In contrast the
USDA gave first time offenders a verbal warning.

The horses are counting on the public to keep their eyes open for
double deck trailers transporting horses in Pennsylvania, New York,
Vermont and Massachusetts which prohibit their use for all horses no
matter their final destination. The horses need the public to push
for passage of state laws with specific language such as the
Pennsylvania Horse Transport Law that "prohibits the use of any
vehicle that has more than one level stacked on top of each other to
transport any equine animal." The Pennsylvania Horse Transport Law is
the strongest law of its kind in the United States, and one of
Pennsylvania's strongest criminal laws.

Opposition will come from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association,
PRCA, The Animal Welfare Institute, and state horse councils, even
though the USDA has stated that, "even if modifi  [ send green star]  [ accepted]