American Horses Find Allies in US Senate
Slaughter-Bound American Horses Find Allies in US Senate. The brutal and needless slaughter of America's faithful and noble horses and ponies may soon finally be a shameless thing of the past due to today's introduction into the U.S. Senate of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S.2352). The American Horse Defense Fund (AHDF), the nation's leading horse protection, education and advocacy nonprofit applauds the bill's lead sponsor, Senator John Ensign (R-NV), who was a practicing veterinarian prior to election to Congress. Additional cosponsors the AHDF is thankful to include: Mary Landrieu (D-LA),Daniel Inoyue (D-H), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT).
Washington, D.C.-April 27, 2004 - The brutal and needless slaughter of
America's faithful and noble horses and ponies may soon finally be a shameless
thing of the past due to today's introduction into the U.S. Senate of the
American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, S.2352. The American Horse Defense Fund
(AHDF), the nation's leading horse protection, education and advocacy nonprofit,
applauds the bill's lead sponsor, Senator John Ensign (R-NV), who was a
practicing veterinarian prior to election to Congress. Additional cosponsors the
AHDF is thankful to include: Mary Landrieu (D-LA), a lifelong horseback rider,
Daniel Inoyue (D-H), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman
(D-CT).
Horse and animal lovers and owners nationwide have been
supporting and watching the House version of this bill (HR 857), introduced in
2003. Both versions would prevent American horses from being slaughtered for
human consumption within the US and also in neighboring Canada and Mexico.
Currently, the House bill has a very diverse, large, bipartisan collection of
202 cosponsors and is gaining momentum. Even though no action has been taken on
the bill by the House Agriculture Committee. Sponsors of H.R. 857, John Sweeney
(R-NY) and John Spratt (D-SC) both hold out hope that the bill will move forward
onto the floor for a full vote soon. However, House Agriculture Committee
Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), has made known that while he is sympathetic to
the some of the issues the bill raises, he does not feel the bill should move
forward. "We hope he will come to see things differently, it is high time for
the bill to become law" Trina Bellak, Esq. of the American Horse Defense Fund
said.
Advocates of the bills are very pleased to have the Senate version
sponsored by such prominent Senators and having them join the fight to protect
horses. "This is a giant stride forward in the long battle to end the betrayal
and butchering of our horses and ponies. These senators and many Housemembers
have acted upon the will of the people. " Bellak commented. Senator Ensign
agrees and said “A series of recent polls show that Americans overwhelmingly
support a ban on the slaughter of horses for human consumption. This should come
as no surprise because horses in the United States are not raised for food.
Despite state laws barring this barbaric practice, the slaughter of horses for
human consumption continues because of an absence of a strong federal law to
prohibit it. The time for such a law is now."
There are many alternatives
to slaughtering horses and ponies. In fact, the American Horse Defense Fund
hopes shortly to make available to all horse owners, the first booklet ever,
listing a vast array of alternatives and where and what they are. The plentiful
resources for alternatives will ease the transition after the bill becomes law.
The minority of people who are not supportive of the bill also claim to fear
that banning horse slaughter will lead to a surplus of horses that would cause
an increase of abuse and neglect of horses. "There is no evidence of this, in
fact, we know that in states where horse slaughter is specifically banned, abuse
and neglect cases have actually decreased. When the state of California banned
horse slaughter, the incidence of horse theft also decreased”.
The
Illinois legislature is currently considering prohibiting horse slaughter as
another plant Cavel International is making plans to slaughter horses in DeKalb.
In the US, all horses are slaughtered at one of the two equine slaughter plants
(both in Texas), which are owned by two French and Belgian families. Over 50,000
American horses annually are inhumanely killed to be shipped to France, Belgium,
other European countries and Japan for wealthy consumers to eat the pricey meat.
Additionally, Bellak pointed out, "Europeans should know that horsemeat is
tainted by drugs and is not healthy" (a European
misconception).
Horsemeat is not sold within the United States. The AHDF
urges all members of the House and Senate to support this bill. Caring people
should urge their elected officials to sponsor the bills. The AHDF is the only
nationwide organization devoted to issues solely relating to wild and domestic
horses, and is joined in support of the bill by The Humane Society of the United
States, Society for Animal Protection Legislation, the Doris Day Animal League,
the ASPCA, many local rescues, horse organizations and millions of Americans.
The Thoroughbred racing industry is actively supporting the bill as well as many
celebrities.
More information about the bill can be found at www.AHDF.org.
For More Information contact:
Trina Bellak, Esq.
866-983-3456
e-mail protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/4/prweb121875.htm