Friday April 20, 2012, 10:23 am



USA: Urge U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to Deny Horse Slaughter Plant Applications

Action Needed: Using the email below, contact U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and urge him to reject any application to operate a horse slaughter facility in the U.S.

http://capwiz.com/aspca/issues/alert/?alertid=61214086

Friday April 20, 2012, 10:27 am
Some info. that you may like to add into the email...

by Kim Sheppard on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 1:42am







There is no such thing as humane horse slaughter at this time. What is stated below can be backed up with absolute evidence or extensive documentation of what actually happens. Please know that as awfully horrific as horse slaughter actually is, the untold suffering many horses go through from point of sale to slaughter is horrific. At the point at which the Kill Buyer owns the horse that is is loaded on a large crowded tractor semi trailer, his biggest expense is fuel for the truck not food (or water) for the horses; which often are injured by the time they arrive at their first US feedlot stop many many hours later. DOT and USDA Laws are often broken by driving too many hours; as well as drivers not providing horses rest, food and water at required intervals that are set forth in the Transport to Slaughter Act. Since laws are not enforced, Animals that are supposed to be protected suffer *before* the horrific death with the act of slaughter itself, regardless of the country where the horse is slaughtered.



Whether the slaughter house is in the United States of America, Canada or Mexico: intentionally the captive bolt, nor 22, nor knives are used to kill the horse. The heart MUST be pumping in order to pump the blood out of the horse that is hung upside down prior to slaughter. The problem with using captive bolt, 22, or knives in horse slaughter is that unlike with other species of livestock, often several attempts (multiple strikes) are required to render the horse unconscious, resulting in immense suffering of each horse prior to slaughter. This is not only due to the anatomy of the horse's skull and long neck, but also the natural animal behavior including (flight instinct) in a horse. When a horse is in this extreme fear state, not only does he have explosive strength; but his head continually moves with a range of motion during the multiple captive bolt, 22, or knife strike attempts used to render him unconscious. As many as 4 minutes have been documented that the horse was conscious during and after these injuries. Film has also evidenced a horse on its side, still flailing in the kill box; after regaining consciousness after the injury and horrific pain of a captive bolt or 22 it had already experienced. Once the chains are applied to the back legs of the horse on its side in the kill box, and the horse's throat is slit: the horse then goes down the production line (now unconscious) hanging upside by it's hind legs, behind the horses he saw and heard screaming before him as he smelled their blood before his own death experience. There is NO humane horse slaughter, nor was there when it was legal in the US for the purpose of human consumption. No designs, or processes have changed.



On top of that, for a visual, put flyspray, wormer, bute, tranquilizer or other chemicals banned for use in animals for human consumption on a dinner plate. That is what is in tainted horse meat being shipped off to foreign countries and eaten off of their dinner plates by virtue of what the horse has been exposed to in its life~***unlike other slaughter livestock intended for human consumption from point of birth***. It is important to understand that only a minute percentage** of the >100,000 annually slaughtered American horses, mules and donkeys (equines) have *not been exposed to these chemicals (some are BANNED for use in food animals, while others have a 6 month residual period by law). The Phrase "From Stable to Table in Seven Days" says it all. If slaughter were to be legalized in US for human consumption, those poisons still are there, except more tainted meat might possibly stay in the US, instead of ship to European countries.. In some pro slaughter circles, reportedly it has been suggested that our school children eat it (if it were to be legalized for human consumption in the United States).



Just like the environmentally dangerous act of dumping tankers of slaughter house blood onto soils and into water tables, disposal is simply disposal. But it is *not* a solution to a bigger problem~nor are events leading up to slaughter and the slaughter act itself of unwanted living breathing horses people have given away, sold cheaply or dumped at an auction a solution for poor choices and horse management by those in the horse industry~regardless of the country it occurs in. What about USDA inspections? Well currently, just as with law enforcement, there are currently holes and complacency with regard to enforcing USDA regulations and enforcing prosecution for USDA violations to begin with. Even if there were no USDA violations, a huge problem remains because: what do you then do with a large percentage of >100,000 horses per year that end up in the slaughter pipeline, that also have chemicals in their bodies that are BANNED for use in animals for human consumption? Lastly, Humane Euthanasia is Sedated Euthanasia (as many including myself have sought out and experienced) with their beloved companion animals. Even in this "throw away" society, they would not think of putting a beloved animal into the slaughter pipeline. There IS NO HUMANE horse slaughter. These statements are not based on supposition, but derived from fact and extensive documentation surrounding this issue.

On and above that, many from the public sector, as well as experts are not comfortable with others (regardless of the country) eating meat tainted with chemicals that cause health problems including cancer. Chemical warfare itself is designed on that very premise and therefore morally there are repercussions for a nation to knowingly ship off tainted meat intended for others to eat, regardless of whether or not we choose to eat it. The humanity that a society has can be seen in how it treats its animals; its actions show the potential for cruelty or mercy on its very people.

Kimberly Sheppard 09/07/2011

Updated 09/08/2011


>•Neglect and abandonment do not increase when slaughterhouses close. According to the International Fund for Horses:
California banned horse slaughter in 1998. California has experienced no increase in abuse case, and even noted a decrease 3 years following the ban. During the 4 years that [the Cavel slaughterhouse] was closed, Illinois saw a noticeable decrease in abuse and/or neglect cases. Texas, which had the only two slaughter plants in 2003, had among the nations highest rates of cruelty and theft.



>Horse Slaughter - An American Disgrace, Not a Necessary Evil



>Invalid Arguments
Export to Foreign Countries: The argument to regulate slaughter in the U.S. so as to prevent the export horses to a foreign country where the slaughter act is not regulated and is even more barbaric, is not valid.
We do not legalize and or regualte a practice/act that is repulsive to American Culture so as to prevent the unregualted practice in a foreien country. It is not a valid argument. We would not legalize Human Trafficking in the U.S. because it is worse in other countries.


Law will be Violated: If we outlaw horse slaughter people will find a way to violate the law.
If we followed this argument, we would not have any laws on the books. Passage of legislation results in honest people following the law. Dishonest people have since the beginning of time found a way to violate the laws. We have a criminal justice system because people will alwasys find a way to violate the laws.


Property Rights - We have laws regulating what we can with our property. Passage of the the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is in line with American Culture.


> If given the opportunity, Americans would overwhelmingly vote to outlaw the slaughter of America's horses. The pro horse slaughter forces have depended on the secrecy of horse slaughter. In recent years, in large part due to the Internet, the existence of horse slaughter has been revealed to the American public and to horse lovers and owners.



Previously the anti-slaughter forces were dependent on horse publications to cover horse slaughter-which happened about as often as a solar eclipse. When the issue was covered, the articles were typically pro slaughter. Mainstream media only covered the issue when there had been a horrific accident involving horses being transported to slaughter. Thus the horse industry's "dirty little secret" has been allowed to continue for over 20 years. The result has been the cruel slaughter of over 3 million of our noble American horses in the past 2 decades to satisfy a foreign taste for horsemeat.



The Thoroughbred racing industry has now come out against slaughter and is actively working to oppose legislation that would legalize the slaughter of our horses. The CA Thoroughbred industry supported CA's Prop 6 in 1998, which made the slaughter of CA's horses a felony.



The American Horse Council, AHC, long pro slaughter, has now adjusted their position to neutral, due in large part to the Thoroughbred industry opposition to slaughter. The vast majority of state horse councils remain out of step with the position of horse owners and still remain pro slaughter. Their attempt to remain neutral or to oppose anti-slaughter legislation based on their concern for the welfare of unwanted horses is a lame attempt at damage control.



Recently many of these pro slaughter organizations have taken the step of supporting horse welfare organizations as an option for unwanted horses. That is a step in the right direction. Yet, very few of these state horse councils are working to enforce laws on the books against cruelty to horses. If anything they support laws with vague and ambigous language that will make the successful prosecution of abusers nearly impossible.



The AQHA remains pro slaughter, stating that owners need the option of slaughter, and describing slaughter as humane. The word slaughter and humane in the same sentence is an oxymoron. The American Paint Horse Association testified in favor of horse slaughter legislation in TX in 2003.



Probably most disturbing of all is the American Association of Equine Practioners, AAEP, support of horse slaughter. Who would ever believe that a vet would support the cruel slaughter of our horses?

Friday April 20, 2012, 1:09 pm
I cannot sign and noted, thank you!

Friday April 20, 2012, 6:45 pm
Thank you Chris!

Of Course I signed with Prayers~

Friday April 20, 2012, 7:17 pm
Signed with thanks~♥