SD Legislature Wants Horse-Slaughter Plant

Due to a meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) meeting had last December, the Agricultural & Energy Sub-Committee determined that they, "as a body"  would "officially" come out FOR horse slaughter, and they have initiated a two-pronged plan. One is to bombard Congress in opposition to a national ban on horse slaughter, and two is to push pro-slaughter legislation through their own state legislatures. South Dakota is the SIXTH state to oppose anti-slaughter legislation on a National level, and also has submitted its own state legislative proposal as outlined below; 

State of South Dakota    
EIGHTY-FOURTH SESSION
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 2009   

237Q0503       SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION   NO.   2      

Introduced by:     Senators Kloucek, Gray, Howie, Maher, and Turbak Berry and Representatives Lucas, Boomgarden, Feickert, Frerichs, Greenfield, Jensen, Nygaard, Olson (Betty), Schrempp, Sorenson, and Street

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION,  Urging the reinstatement and funding of a federal inspection program governing horse slaughter and euthanasia facilities.

WHEREAS,  in recent years, the slaughter and processing of horses has become a controversial and emotional issue which has resulted in the recent closing of the last horse processing and slaughter facility in the United States; and     

WHEREAS,  thousands of unwanted horses annually are exposed to potential abandonment and neglect because of the cessation of horse slaughter in the United States, and efforts to prohibit the transport and export of horses for slaughter purposes only exacerbate this problem. These additional unwanted horses each year compete for adoption with the wild horses that are fed and sheltered at public expense; and

WHEREAS,  the nation's inadequate and overburdened horse rescue and adoption facilities cannot begin to handle the influx of additional unwanted and abandoned horses each year that result from the cessation of equine slaughter, processing, and transport activity; and

WHEREAS,  in the United States the harvest of animals under federal inspection is highly regulated to provide for humane handling of the animals as well as for a safe and wholesome product. Horse processing in the United States was the most tightly regulated of any animal harvest, and the horse is the only animal whose transportation to processing was regulated; and

WHEREAS,  equine slaughter in many foreign facilities is not held to the standards for humane handling and euthanasia required in the United States and often involves practices that would not be tolerated in this country; and

WHEREAS,  there is a critical need for humane horse processing facilities in the United States to reduce the suffering inflicted on unwanted and abandoned horses and to meet overseas export markets for horsemeat in a humane manner; and

WHEREAS,  horse processing facilities cannot be established in the United States unless federal inspection for such facilities is funded and reinstated:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,  by the Senate of the Eighty-fourth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature urges the Congress and the United States Department of Agriculture to reinstate and fully fund USDA's inspection program for horse euthanasia and horse slaughter facilities and to enact legislation to authorize the establishment of horse slaughter facilities in the United States.
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Here is a link to the South Dakota State Legislatures website where you can contant them to let them know you are against horse-slaughter, as are most Americans, and to remind them that we will campaign and fight against horse-slaughter in any state!

http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2009/MemberMenu.aspx


PLEASE ALSO NOTE that, as a result of the NCSL organising, the states below have also "officially" come out in favor of slaughter and are seeking to reinstate horse-slaughter in their own states;

Arizona;
http://tinyurl.com/dza7v5

Arkansas
 http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ak-legislature-asks-for-horse-slaughter-plant

Illinois;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/illinois-seeks-2-reinstate-horse-slaughter

Kansas
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/kansas-legislature-supports-horse-slaughter

Minnesota;
http://tinyurl.com/alv2tn

Missouri;
http://tinyurl.com/cjkwwy

Montana;
http://tinyurl.com/aomggs

North Dakota
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/north-dakota-to-get-horse-slaughter-plant

Tennessee;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/tenn-rep-promoting-horse-slaughter

Utah;
http://tinyurl.com/bh3m5q

Wyoming;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/wyoming-wants-horse-slaughter

UNITED WE STAND