Stop Sue Wallis From Killing Horses And Reoening HorseSlaughter Slaughter

Sue Wallis is running for house of represenative she is killing all the mustangs and she is only running for house of represinative just so she can reopen horse slaughter and she is wanting to serve horse meat in schools to school children and to colleges and in cafaterias so she is going to posion out school children this needs to stop now do not vote for her if you dont belive me read her article about her and read for your self
Wyoming State Representative Sue Wallis, Republican, House District 52
* Wallis is the Worst of the Worst in the Horse Hall of Shame. *
--> Although Wallis is an elected representative of the people, she lobbies for bills which will financially benefit her personally, openly displaying a clear conflict of interest, apparently without legal challenge (http://tinyurl.com/26p5xr4).
--> Under the guise of "humanely" managing "unwanted horses" through her organization, Unified Equine Programs, Wallis plans to "humanely slaughter unusable and unneeded horses; market safe, wholesome and quality horse meat through all legal avenues available; and make it all portable and replicable anywhere in the country" (http://tinyurl.com/2352lpb).
--> Although Wallis was elected to represent the 52nd Congressional District in the Wyoming state legislature, she continuously attempts to wield national influence in the interest of legalizing horse slaughter for human consumption.
* Executive Director of the United Organizations of the Horse (UOH), which is currently planning to develop an initial horse slaughter plant in Wyoming, later to be reproduced elsewhere (http://tinyurl.com/2352lpb).
* Sponsored HB 122, enabling the Wyoming Livestock Board to send stray, unclaimed or feral horses to slaughter.
* Sponsored HJR 8, a resolution asking Congress not to interfere with the shipment and slaughter of "unwanted" horses (bill text http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2009/Introduced/HJ0008.pdf).
* Opposes U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 503 Prevention of Cruelty to Equines Act, saying that passing the bill "would be a threat to Wyoming's horse and livestock industries".
* As Vice Chair of the Agricultural Sub-Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Wallis co-wrote the pro-slaughter position paper for National Council of State Legislators (NCSL) which was is being used to ask U.S. Congress not to pass H.R. 503. As many of you have heard, January 3rd-6th will be a sad day for horses. There is a conference in Las Vegas at the South Point Casino called, "The Summit of the Horse Conference". This conference is a meeting of the biggest pro-slaughter heads in the country. The event organizer is Sue Wallis, the very same Sue Wallis who thinks that horses, domestic and wild alike, should be slaughtered and be fed to our children in schools and colleges. They are going to discuss, "How to deal with UNWANTED feral horses", "How to restore slaughter in the USA" and " How to deal with unwanted and abandoned horses".... a few guest speakers include:

-The BLM's Chief Bob Abbey
-Dave Catoor- Sue Wallis- Wyoming
-Ike Sankey -- Joliet, Montana
-Sankey Pro Rodeo -- PRCA stock contractor
-Larry Johnson, Nevada Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife and former member of BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Committee
-Arlen Washines, Yakama Nations
-Frank Bowman, Illinois Horse Council
-Katherine Minthorn Good Luck, Umatilla, Inter tribal AgricultureCouncil & Northwest Tribal Horse Coalition
-Jason Smith, Warm Springs Tribe
-Tim Amlaw, American Humane
-Temple Grandin & Mark Deesing from Grandin Livestock Systems
-Joey Astling, USDA/APHIS Slaughter Horse Regulation
-Jennifer Woods -- Humane Handling and Assessment Tool Project
-Bill DesBarres, Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada
-Chris Gould, Canada, World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses
-Manuel Sada, Criadores de Caballos Deportivos Mexicanos AC, Mexico


It's basically a giant conference of horse killers.... the BLM (our government, who is paid with OUR tax dollars) is now saying slaughter is a the only reasonable means of disposal for the "Mass"abundance of wild horses.


We have an incredible opportunity to make a HUGE difference in Las Vegas!

SHARK has SO generously donated the use of their "TIGER truck", a truck with 4 HUGE TV screen's surrounding it playing looped video. We will drive around downtown Las Vegas, showing the general public images of what they are REALLY talking about inside the summit meeting. Driving back and forth in front of the Casino, in front of the pro-slaughter people walking in and out... Imagine the impact, and attention this would bring to our cause! To be able to EXPOSE the truth to the general public, RIGHT in Sue Wallis' face!!! The look on her face will be priceless, and worth EVERY PENNY!


We are in need of funding to RUN the truck! It needs to be driven from Chicago to Vegas for the Event


- The truck runs on diesel- The screens run on a gasoline generator


We need your help to make this happen!! This is our CHANCE to stand up for the horses in the faces of those who oppose us!


Please donate the following to help:


We need: Frequent flyer miles to get our volunteers to and from the event- Gas cards to run the truck and get it from A- B


Any donation can be made to:

Paypal- cowgirl101786@yahoo.com (please include a mailing address foryour tax write-off receipt)


Mail Check or Money Order to: (Gas cards can be mailed to the same address)
Animal Rescue Unit P.O Box 50 North Bridgton Maine 04057


We need to stand together, to be the voice for the horses, for their future!



Brogan Horton

President & Lead Investigator
Animal Rescue Unit
Phone (207) 939-7852
Fax (207) 647-3798
www.animalrescueunit.com
"We will probably work up to the point where we're killing 20 horses a day."December 2, 2010
By Nell Walton
Who is Sue Wallis and Why Should I Care? Part I in a Series

The statement in the headline was made to a reporter from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in late April of this year, by Wyoming State Representative Sue Wallis of Recluse, WY.
On March 9, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed into law a bill that enables the Wyoming Livestock Board to send stray, unwanted or feral horses to slaughter. Prior to this legislation, the Board could only send such horses to public sale. This bill (http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2010/Enroll/HB0122.pdf
), was introduced into the Wyoming House on February 11, 2010 by Rep. Sue Wallis, and was signed into law less than 30 days later.
Upon review, many parts of the bill are quite troublesome (even aside from the fact that horse slaughter is an extremely controversial issue in the US). In the section in regards to the due diligence required for a Board inspector to determine ownership of an "estray" horse, the horse "cannot be held for more than 10 days" before being sent to slaughter. Under this language, an inspector could make the decision in 1 hour that the horse was a stray or feral and make the arrangements to have the horse sent to the slaughter facility. Additionally, it states that "the board shall provide meat from estrays disposed of by slaughter....to Wyoming state institutions or to nonprofit organizations......" meaning among other things prisons, schools and state run health facilities.
Even more troublesome is the fact that Rep. Wallis is also the Executive Director of the United Organizations of the Horse (UOH), which is diligently working towards the development of a horse slaughter plant in Wyoming. The UOH website states that it is a "mutual benefit nonprofit organized primarily to work in the political arena and is registered in Wyoming" (i.e. a lobbying group). The Wyoming Secretary of State's records show that the UOH was incorporated in November of 2009. According to a press release on April 24, 2010, the UOH is also negotiating to take over ownership of the Cheyenne Stockyards facility which currently belongs to the Wyoming Livestock Board. Plans are to turn it into an "intake and rejuvenation" facility for stray, feral or otherwise unwanted horses, where they can be evaluated for usefulness, health, and other criteria (i.e. adherence to federal regulation in regards to slaughter). If a horse fails this triage, it will be sent to the UOH slaughter facility.
So, we have the following scenario:
Rep. Wallis is a Wyoming elected state representative
Rep. Wallis is also the executive director of a lobbying group, whose purpose is to promote horse slaughter in the State of Wyoming
Rep. Wallis was also the sponsor of a Wyoming HB 122, which enables the Wyoming Livestock Board to send stray or feral horses to slaughter
Rep. Wallis' bill HB 122 was brought to session and signed into law in less than 30 days time, with little to no time for public comment, according to the records
Under Wyoming legislative ethics law (W.S. 9-13-106), very clear distinctions are made as to conflicts of interest for state legislators, and, states that any legislator "...shall not make an official decision...if the <legislator> has a personal or private interest in the matter...." So how was it that Rep. Wallis was allowed to sponsor and lobby to get a bill passed within the Wyoming House in about 3 weeks, when there was such a clear conflict of interest?
Also, under "Organizational Structure," on the UOH's web page it lists two other affiliated corporations: 1) The United Horsemen's Front, which categorizes itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charitable organization and 2) Unified Equine LLC -- "a Wyoming limited liability company under which all humane horse processing and related businesses are operated."
However, Unified Equine, LLC does not stand up to scrutiny. The Wyoming Secretary of State currently does not have a Unified Equine, LLC listed as either an active or inactive corporation in the State of Wyoming, and it would be of interest to see if such an organization has or will have Rep. Wallis as a paid employee. The United Horseman's Front is listed at www.guidestar.org as a nonprofit corporation under category "Animal related / (Animal Protection and Welfare
(includes Humane Societies and SPCAs))" as a 501(c)(3) charitable group established in 2009. It's President is Dave Duquette, owner of Duquette Quarter Horses in Hermiston, OR.
......... Mr. Duquette and his organization will be further addressed in tomorrow's edition.
More information:
http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/04/28/new
s/19local_04-28-10.txt
http://www.unitedorgsofthehorse.org./ http://www.allpetspost.org/allhorsespost/?p=3838
before you belive the lies read this Have you or someone you know been misled or duped about horse slaughter?
Horse slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia. The so called "unwanted horse problem" is a phrase coined by the AAEP to support their position in favor of horse slaughter. You may be a follower, or be a member of pro slaughter association and not even realize that they are actively fighting to reopen horse slaughter plants in the US. You or an entity you belong to might even be parroting their favorite pro slaughter argument; the so called "unwanted horse problem".
Please Beware!! Pro slaughter proponents have one of the strongest lobbyists around; the Ag Department. (The US Department of Agriculture)
A Partial Listing of some of the entities that support horse slaughter, or that are listed as member organizations of the Unwanted Horse Coalition (a pro slaughter proponent) are listed below:
* AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners)
* AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) * The Unwanted Horse Coalition
* UOH (United Org of the Horse)
* United Horseman's Front
* AHC (American Horse Council)
* AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association)
* American Humane Association
* Various State Horse Councils
* American Paint Horse Association
* Various Farm Bureaus
* California Thoroughbred Breeders Association
* Arabian Horse Association
* Maryland Horse Breeders Association
The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) and the UOH (United Org of the Horse) supports horse slaughter. Their theme is to restore horse meat processing (aka horse slaughter) in the US to control the so-called unwanted horse problem and what they claim to be the overpopulation of wild and feral horses on federal, state, tribal, and private lands. For a more complete list of entities that are on record as supporting horse slaughter, click here. Current list of Unwanted Horse Coalition Member Organizations
Don't be duped by pro slaughter attempts to misinform the public. The UOH (United Org of the Horse) claims that Tribal horse people from across the Nation have joined their cause. They also claim that name celebrities have been paid off to advocate against animal cruelty... But these things are NOT true.
WFLF suggest that Anti slaughter supporters use caution when connecting with new friends and or joining new groups on social websites like Facebook and MySpace, etc. Pro slaughter proponents have been increasingly clever with distributing misguided information. (UOH) Support the WFLF "WANTED HORSE CAMPAIGN". Stomp out cruelty. The "unwanted horse" argument is a pro-slaughter position. Slaughter makes cruelty profitable.
Please support the WFLF "WANTED Horse Campaign". Together were are their voice and they need to be heard.
%u2022 Horse slaughter is NOT humane and cannot be made humane
%u2022 Horse slaughter does not stop; has nothing to do with Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment of equines %u2022 Americans do NOT support human consumption of horsemeat
%u2022 A Federal Law permanently banning horse slaughter in the US is necessary
%u2022 A Fed Law permanently banning the transport of equines for slaughter is necessary
%u2022 Wild horses and burros belong free on the range
%u2022 A moratorium on all BLM round ups is necessary
%u2022 Horses may become homeless, but No horse is unwanted
%u2022 Horse owners should have the right to humanely euthanize their equine
%u2022 Equine owners and breeders must take responsibility for the life of each equine in their charge
unregulated. Thrashing on a meat hook. These horses are slaughtered ALIVE conscious during their own slaughter and throat slitting! Over 30 million horses slaughtered in the past 12 years. This is a holocaust! Now this includes our Wild Mustangs too! Protected no more! Gone FOREVER. Only alive in pictures and books. This agenda and it's deception represents pure evil and only appeals to those who have no soul! Most horses arrive at the slaughterhouses via livestock auctions where, often unknown to the seller, they are bought by the middlemen working for the slaughter plants called Killer Buyers. They collect mostly the young and the healthy. Packed in their trucks until full and some are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time piled and crammed into double & triple decker cattle trucks without food, water or rest. America's hidden dirty secret travels our highways under the dark cover of the night. Think about it. Look for it on your next road trip. Is this a means of behavior and employment that you want our children to find acceptable in their future? With horse slaughter under our flag there is no honor or pride! What then are we at war and fighting for? In EVERY state across the country we say we love and hold dear? Americans DO NOT EAT HORSES! We DO NOT RAISE THEM FOR FOOD! HORSE MEAT IS TOXIC! %u2022 Horse slaughter is NOT humane and cannot be made humane
%u2022 Horse slaughter does not stop; has nothing to do with Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment of equines %u2022 Americans do NOT support human consumption of horsemeat
%u2022 A Federal Law permanently banning horse slaughter in the US is necessary
%u2022 A Fed Law permanently banning the transport of equines for slaughter is necessary
%u2022 Wild horses and burros belong free on the range
%u2022 A moratorium on all BLM round ups is necessary
%u2022 Horses may become homeless, but No horse is "unwanted"
%u2022 Horse owners should have the right to humanely euthanize their equine
%u2022 Equine owners and breeders must take responsibility for the life of each equine in their charge The cruelty of horse slaughter is not limited to the act of killing the animals. Horses bound for slaughter are shipped, frequently for long distances, and are not rested, fed, or watered during travel. Economics, not humane considerations, dictate the conditions, including crowding as many horses into trucks as possible. Often, terrified horses and ponies are crammed together and transported to slaughter in double-deck trucks designed for cattle and pigs. The truck ceilings are so low that the horses are not able to hold their heads in a normal, balanced position. Inappropriate floor surfaces lead to slips and falls, and sometimes even trampling. Some horses arrive at the slaughterhouse seriously injured or dead. Although transportation accidents have largely escaped public scrutiny, several tragic ones involving collapsed upper floors and overturned double-deckers have caused human fatalities as well as suffering and death for the horses. In July 1991, they were unloading one of the double-decker trucks. A horse got his leg caught in the side of the truck so the driver pulled the rig up and the horse's leg popped off. The horse was still living, and it was shaking. [Another employee] popped it on the head and we hung it up and split it open. .... Sometimes we would kill near 390, 370 a day. Each double-decker might have up to 100 on it. We would pull off the dead ones with chains. Ones that were down on the truck, we would drag them off with chains and maybe put them in a pen or we might drag them with an automatic chain to the knockbox. Sometimes we would use an electric shocker to try to make them stand. To get them into the knockbox, you have to shock them ... sometimes run them up the [anus] with the shocker. ... When we killed a pregnant mare, we would take the guts out and I would take the bag out and open it and cut the cord and put it in the trash and sometimes the baby would still be living, and its heart would be beating, but we would put it in the trashcan.
Facts and FAQs About Horse Slaughter
The former US-based, foreign owned horse slaughter companies and a handful of trade associations that support horse slaughter have contributed to the continued export of tens of thousands of America's horses for slaughter in Mexico and Canada either by physically shipping horses to slaughter or by actively opposing legislation banning horse slaughter. Slaughter is NOT humane euthanasia. Horses suffer horribly on the way to and during slaughter.
The current patchwork of state laws on horse slaughter -- including statutes prohibiting slaughter in Texas and Illinois where the only domestic horse slaughter plants operated until very recently -- is insufficient. A federal law prohibiting horse slaughter is imperative to ensure slaughterhouses don't simply relocate to states with weaker laws and to prevent horses from being exported en masse for slaughter in Canada, Mexico or further abroad.
Passage of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act will reduce animal suffering, hence its wide support throughout the equestrian and veterinary world, as well as the humane community.
According to numbers obtained from the California Livestock and Identification Bureau, since horse slaughter was banned in California horse theft has dropped by over 34%.
Americans overwhelmingly support an end to horse slaughter for human consumption (recent polls from Kentucky, Texas and Utah respectively show that 82, 72 and 69 percent of those questioned oppose the practice). A recent national poll found that almost 70 percent of Americans support a federal ban. In California, a 1998 ballot initiative (Prop. 6) banning horse slaughter for human consumption passed with 60 percent of the vote.
Horse Slaughter and States Rights
Question: Banning horse slaughter is a states rights issue and the federal government should not get involved?
Answer: No. Horse Slaughter is a Federally Regulated Industry. Opponents try to claim that slaughtering horses for human consumption is a states rights issue. However, this is not true. The slaughtering of any animal for human consumption in the US is a federally regulated process. This is the same for beef, hogs or other livestock (Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603); Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 1901 note; Public Law 104-127)). In addition, since horsemeat is not consumed in the US it must be hauled across state lines and the US border which are clearly defined issues within the US Constitution's Commerce Clause. While a state does have some leeway to ban certain slaughter practices within their state boundaries, these actions to not apply outside of their jurisdiction. For example, Texas, California and Illinois have banned horse slaughter within their states but those laws have no impact elsewhere.
Furthermore, nobody has a "right" to abuse or neglect an animal. There are laws against animal abuse, neglect and abandonment at all levels of government in the US. There are numerous federal animal cruelty statues in place now given the transitory nature of many issues.
Sick and old horses to slaughter
Question: Is it true that slaughter is a last resort for infirm, dangerous or no longer serviceable horses?
Answer: No. In fact, 92.3 percent of horses arriving at slaughter plants in this country in recent years were deemed to be in "good" condition, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Guidelines for Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter. The horse slaughter industry makes a greater profit off of healthy horses and therefore purposely seeks out such animals.
Neglect and abuse
Question: Will horse abuse and neglect cases rise significantly following a ban on slaughter?
Answer: No. There has been no documented rise in abuse and neglect cases in California since the state banned horse slaughter for human consumption in 1998. There was no documented rise in Illinois following closure of the state's only horse slaughter plant in 2002 and it's reopening in 2004. Since closure of the domestic plants in the earlier part of 2007 there has been no correlating rise in neglect and abuse cases. Conversely, horse slaughter engenders indiscriminate breeding and neglect by providing a "dumping ground" for unscrupulous owners.
Cost of caring for unwanted horses
Question: If there is a ban on horse slaughter, will horse rescue and retirement groups have the resources to take care of unwanted horses? Should the government have to pay for the care of horses voluntarily given up by their owners?
Answer: Hundreds of horse rescue organizations operate around the country, and additional facilities are being established. However, not every horse currently going to slaughter will need to be absorbed into the rescue community. ­ Many are marketable horses who will be sold to new owners. Sick and elderly horses should be euthanized by a licensed veterinarian. It is not the government's responsibility to provide for the care of horses voluntarily given up by their owners.
A safe and humane solution for sick, old and unwanted horses
Question: If slaughter is not an option, what will we do with sick, old and unwanted horses?
Answer: Approximately 920,000 horses die annually in this country (10 percent of an estimated population of 9.2 million) and the vast majority are not slaughtered, but euthanized and rendered or buried without any negative environmental impact. Just over 100,000 horses were slaughtered in the US 2008. If slaughter were no longer an option and these horses were rendered or buried instead, this would represent a small increase in the number of horses being disposed of in this manner - an increase that the current infrastructure can certainly sustain.
However, there is no logic in suggesting that all horses currently going to slaughter would need to be euthanized and disposed of following passage of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. Because most horses going to slaughter are marketable animals, many of the horses previously slaughtered would instead be kept by their owners, sold to someone else or placed at sanctuaries following passage of a ban, thereby reducing any impact on the current infrastructure even further.
Additionally, humane euthanasia and carcass disposal is highly affordable and widely available. The average cost of having a horse humanely euthanized and safely disposing of the animal's carcass is approximately $225, while the average monthly cost of keeping a horse is approximately $200.
Export of horses for slaughter abroad
Question: If there is a ban on horse slaughter in the United States, will there be an increase in the export of horses for foreign slaughter? Will horses suffer from longer transport for slaughter in countries where there may be weaker welfare laws?
Answer: The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act contains clear provisions prohibiting the export of horses for slaughter abroad, as well as clear enforcement and penalty provisions. Risk of federal prosecution and the high costs associated with illegally transporting horses long distances for slaughter abroad are strong deterrents. Ironically, the very organizations most critical of the recent closure of the three domestic horse slaughter plants due to the subsequent surge in horses going to slaughter in Mexico are working to defeat passage of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. In doing so, they are working in tandem with the companies that until recently slaughtered horses here and which now are buying horses in the US and shipping them to their plants in Mexico and Canada.
Standards of care at sanctuaries and rescue organizations
Question: Is it true no standards exist for horse rescue facilities that take unwanted horses?
Answer: The Animal Welfare Institute and The Humane Society of the United States published "Basic Guidelines for Operating an Equine Rescue or Retirement Facility" in 2008. These and other materials are being incorporated into an expanded sanctuary accreditation program via the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
Additionally, Horse rescue groups must also provide for the welfare of horses in their custody in compliance with state and local animal welfare laws.
Racing to End to Horse Slaughter
It's time to save America's horses and put an end to this cruel practice
The Humane Society of the United States
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Horses are shipped for more than 24 hours in cramped trailers without food, water or rest. Kathy Milani/The HSUS
The bloody, panic-stricken environment of a slaughterhouse is no place for any horse to meet her end.
But as long as horse slaughter is legal in the United States, this covert, predatory industry will have its buyers at American horse auctions, outbidding legitimate horse owners and funneling these animals off to foreign slaughterhouses to be sold as meat overseas.
Cruel industry
Horse slaughter is a death fraught with terror, pain and suffering. Horses are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time in crowded cattle trucks%u2014vehicles with ceilings too low for a horse to stand up straight%u2014without food, water or rest.
Horses bound for slaughter often sustain severe injuries from the bites and kicks of other, more aggressive horses. They frequently fall, and unable to regain their footing, are often trampled to death. Healthy, very young, injured, pregnant, blind%u2014all endure the grueling journey.
Once horses arrive at the slaughter plant, their suffering intensifies. Terrified, they struggle in the kill box, making it difficult for the often untrained staff to render them unconscious. In Mexico, our undercover cameras documented the use of the puntilla knife to stab horses repeatedly to paralyze them for butchering.
Horse slaughter is not humane euthanasia%u2014in fact, there is nothing about this process that is "humane."
Lethal loophole
Although some state legislatures have acted to stop horse slaughter, shuttering the last remaining foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the United States in 2007, Congress has yet to enact a federal ban.
This means that not only can horses continue to be exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, but more foreign-owned horse slaughter plants could even try to set up shop on U.S. soil.
Fortunately, many members of Congress remain committed to horse protection. "I will continue to fight in Congress to end this brutal practice and ensure that American horses will no longer be savagely slaughtered for human consumption," says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), who is the lead Senate sponsor of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (S. 727) to ban horse slaughter. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) all join her in that fight as lead authors of S. 727/H.R 503.
At the forefront of the fight
In addition to our legislative efforts, The HSUS has taken an active role in the rescue and care of horses heading to slaughter.
When all three U.S. based horse slaughter plants closed, The HSUS offered to take the horses that were already at or en route to the plants. While most of the horses were reloaded and sent to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada, The HSUS was able to rescue a group of 30 horses who had literally been standing inside one of the plants, waiting to die, when the court order came to shut down the kill floor.
These horses were distributed between many different horse rescues, all opening up their barn doors and offering to take them in. In fact, two of these horses are enjoying the green pastures at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, one of The HSUS' two horse sanctuaries.
The HSUS will continue its efforts as the nation's largest direct care provider for at-risk equines with the opening of the Doris Day Rescue and Adoption Center at the ranch later this year.
Second chances trump slaughter
Proof that slaughter isn't the answer is evident in the stories of horses rescued from that horrible fate only to go on to successful careers:
Ten years ago, a 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood named Jamaica was nearly sent to slaughter, saved at the last minute from a killer buyer's pen. Jamaica has now racked up numerous awards, and was recently named "Horse of the Year" by the United States Equestrian Federation. (Unfortunately, Thoroughbred racing's 1987 Horse of the Year and 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand, was not so lucky and was slaughtered in Japan.)
Miss Judge also escaped slaughter. After years of making money for her owners on the racetrack, the 11-year-old Thoroughbred mare was sent to an auction%u2014one that killer buyers frequent%u2014but Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue stepped in, paying $350 to save her life. Miss Judge went on to strut her stuff as a featured horse at an event with world-renowned natural horsemanship horse trainers Pat and Linda Parelli. She was adopted by someone who fell in love with the gentle mare.
You can give horses a second chance
While The HSUS and horse rescue organizations across the country work tirelessly to give every horse a second chance, thousands of American horses are still shipped across our borders each week for slaughter because the horse slaughter industry can outbid them.
Ask your U.S. Representative and Senators and to support The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727). It will ban the barbaric killing of American horses for human consumption, including the export of horses across our borders for slaughter.
Each year, tens of thousands of American horses%u2014riding horses, carriage horses, race horses, wild horses, and children's ponies%u2014are inhumanely transported and slaughtered, their meat shipped to places like France, Italy, and Japan for human consumption. Help us end horse slaughter.
Purchased by slaughterhouse middlemen at auction, horses are shipped long distances in cramped trailers without food, water, or rest. The majority of these horses are young, healthy animals who could go on to lead productive lives with loving owners.. WHAT IS NOT HUMANE EUTHANASIA? Horse slaughter is inherently cruel. The inhumane transport and the grisly slaughter processes are well-documented. Former race horses, work horses, riding ponies, and carriage horses are purchased at regular horse auctions and crammed on double-decker trucks designed for cattle. Trucked long distances, they are subject to injuries and being trampled.HORSE SLAUGHTER IS "NOT"HUMANE EUTHANASIA


Is Horse Meat Safe To Eat? How safe is horsemeat?

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE), Hoof & Mouth, Aminogycoside Antibiotics, Anabolical Steroids, Streptococcus Equi, and Trichinosis



Gaps in U.S. food safety regulations and their enforcement and the dearth of information about how bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE or "mad cow" disease spreads have raised questions over whether European and Asian horsemeat eaters are insulated from the disease that has caused the deaths of 94 people across Europe.

US regulators stand firm on their assurances that "Americans are safe" citing the safeguard of livestock feed restrictions." These feed restrictions however only include traditional "food and fiber" animals (animals that are raised for the production of an edible product intended for consumption for humans including cattle (beef and dairy), swine, sheep, poultry, fish, and amphibian species.) NOT HORSES. Why? Horses are considered recreational and sporting animals, commonly pets in the United States and accordingly are neither raised for food nor are they eaten in American culture. And as recreational and companion animals, horses are not under the same scrutiny by the USDA*.

The irony of course is that European and Asian meat eaters have naively cut back on their consumption of cattle, swine and sheep turning instead to eating horse presumably as a safer alternative? A further irony is that in their desperation, Europeans are buying up Canadian horsemeat largely comprised of American horses exported to Canada for slaughter.

Related diseases in other species have contracted diseases in the same family as BSE known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or TSE's which are not fully understood and carry some of the same neurological symptoms. According to the California Animal Health & Food Safety Lab, there is no program, and they do not test, for TSE during routine equine necropsies.

It is a little known fact that "horse feeds and supplements still contain animal product" which is a concern regarding the spread of transmissible songiform encephalopathy. It was the continued sale of feed made from animal products particularly bone meal of contaminated animals that was responsible for BSE's rapid spread across Europe. Some of Americaąs largest feed companies still use animal products and bone meal in feeds for animals other than cows!

American milled horse feed and supplements currently contain bone meal, activated animal sterol, extracted glandular meal, dried meat solubles, and liver concentrate among other animal product.

Horses which are slaughtered by use of a compressed air pneumatic captive bolt gun have a four-inch bolt shot into their skull resulting not in death but irreversible damage to the brain at which time they are bled. Recent research has shown that pneumatic stunners can force brain and spinal tissue into the heart and other parts of the body. Due to concerns about BSE, pneumatic stunners should not be used due to concerns that people could get new variant creutzfeldt Jakob disease (mad cow).

Contributing to the confusion and fear is the host of similar diseases affecting other animals. Experts can't fully explain how the other species developed the cell abnormality to begin with. BSE or TSE has crossed and been identified in non-ruminant species.

Further:

Earlier this year, the European Union called for a ban on imports of horsemeat citing concerns over the safety of US meat and their inability to guarantee the purity of the meat exported. The EU agriculture inspection team which recently visited the US plants stated, "the USDA inspected plants are incapable of separating treated and untreated meat, and goes on to say it has become obvious that US food inspection services had falsely certified the export of meat (horse) to the EU. Inspectors also say there has been no residue testing for years and recommended withdrawal intervals before slaughter have been ignored."

There has also been a lack of disclosure to the European and Asian horsemeat eaters regarding commonly used horse medicines and products all boldly labeled "NOT TO BE USED ON HORSES INTENDED FOR USE AS FOOD." Therein lies the USDA's liability disclaimer. Horses are not intended for food.

Recreational and pleasure horses in the US today are routinely given medications such as penicillin, bute (phenylbutazone), ace promazine (promazine hydrochloride), banamine (flunixin meglumine), wormers (anthelmintic), Nolvansan (a topical suave), betadine scrub, Kopertox (hoof care), SWAT (fly repellent) to list just a few. This has never been a concern to Americans because again the animal is never used for human consumption.

This is coupled with the widely acknowledged however illegal use of anabolic steroids in American racing and performance horses.

Lawful use of prescription drugs is regulated differently for Food Animals than it is for horses and other companion animals that are not perceived and legally recognized as food animals. These regulatory differences are in place for the purpose of protection of public health.

The current epidemic of antibiotic resistance for microbial diseases in humans, which is considered to be a worldwide and significant public health threat, has been determined to be to two origins:

(1) Overuse of prescription antibiotics in human medicine by physicians and by over the counter irresponsible use of antibiotic agents by consumers;

(2) Consumption of meat and other animal products (eggs, fish, dairy, etc.) from animals that have antibiotic residues in the consumed tissue or products.

If American horses are used for human consumption, we would have to require equine veterinarians to follow the same regulatory guidelines for prescription drug use, in order to ensure protection of the public. This would eliminate the use of many uniquely beneficial drugs such as aminogycoside antibiotics, which REMAIN IN TISSUES FOR AS LONG AS 18 MONTHS following appropriate therapy. Recently, a veterinarian from New England received a warning from the FDA when it was discovered that the carcass from a slaughtered animal had residues of this antibiotic. Since this is a widely prescribed antibiotic in horses, there would be a significant risk that horses treated could end up at slaughter.

Most drugs used with horses are used in "extra-label" fashion *1. If equine veterinarians had to follow the same standards for using these extra-labeled drugs in horses, as food animal veterinarians do, many horses would go untreated and the standard of practice to the horse owning public would greatly diminish and the equine population would be put at risk.

When food animals are treated by veterinarians, the treatment always has as its goal, the protection of the public since this is fundamentally the purpose of the food animal's existence. When equine veterinarians treat horses, we must have the individual, herd (stable or other community of horses), and client's interest as our fundamental basis for appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, these priorities are often in conflict.

Another little known fact is that horses housed in many feedlots and shipped to slaughter plants have been exposed to streptococcus equi (strangles/distemper), a strep bacteria which infects upper respiratory, lymph nodes and abdomen. Strangles is one of the reasons there are no quarantine periods before the slaughter of horses. Aside from obvious economics, this highly infectious disease has an incubation period of three days to several weeks before the horse becomes deathly ill running high fever and developing infected, oozing lymph nodes.

And the double decked "possum belly" trucks used to haul horses to slaughter in the United States routinely transport hogs or sheep one way and horses on the return trip, or crossed species at the same time often in trucks which have not been cleaned raising the question of trichinosis.



*excerpts "Mad Cow" Risk Unlikely but Possible, Experts Say, Melinda Fulmer, Times Staff Writer.

*Excerpts BBC News, "A New Trans-Atlantic Bone of Contention: Europe Mistrusts All US Meat", Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby

*excerpts Temple Grandin, Asst Professor of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University,authority animal handling and facility design.

*"Horses however are not looked at as agricultural products by USDA; they are viewed as companion animals,:,,,Veterinarian Ed Ford, former Kentucky State Senator.

"Agricultural Statistics Service do not keep horse statistics because they are not related to the food and fiber system to merit resource use"

"USDA and NASS do not support horse research because the industry does not have a production base of support"

(*,1) Survey of licensed practicing ambulatory veterinarians in exclusive equine practice of current drug inventory and treatment records. 2001