Unlike the mythical tale of the Trojan horse, horse slaughter in the United States is a cold, brutal and senseless act played out daily in the three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in Texas and Illinois.

The debate over whether horses should be slaughtered in this country for human consumption abroad is one that deserves the dissemination of accurate information, unlike what lobbyist Charlie Stenholm recently put forth in the recent commentary "Meat plant ban a Trojan Horse."

Mr. Stenholm would like the public to believe that horse slaughter is a common option used by horse owners, when, in fact, less than 1 percent of all horses in this country end up at slaughterhouses. The overwhelming majority of horses are brought in by middlemen known as "killer buyers" working for the plants who do not reveal their true business when buying horses from unsuspecting sellers.

An estimated 900,000 horses in this country die naturally or are humanely euthanized and disposed of properly each year. It is illogical to conclude that by ending horse slaughter, we would be overwhelmed with bodies or even live horses. As one person noted, "it is a wild assumption that every horse will die the same day, week, month or even year."

Sadly, wild assumptions are what the pro-slaughter folks want the public and legislators to base their decisions on, because they have no evidence to support their position that horse slaughter in America is necessary.

Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of American horse owners realize that horse slaughter is not euthanasia by any definition. They do what is right by having a veterinarian humanely euthanize their horses when the time comes, an expense which is less than one month's board for the average horse owner. (Full Story...)

Christopher J. Heyde, a former Republican Senate staffer and Army veteran, is currently with the Society for Animal Protective Legislation

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington rejected most of a Humane Society case, ruling that the group is not entitled to sue over its allegation that Congress intended to ban horse slaughter. (Full Story...)

Federal Agency Considers New Scheme to Slaughter American Horses for Human Consumption, Say Humane Groups

WASHINGTON (January 5, 2006)- Lawyers for Society for Animal Protective Legislation, Doris Day Animal League, The Humane Society of the United States, American Humane Association, and American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals today delivered a 17-page letter to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture pull in the reins on a plan to continue the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in France, Belgium, Japan, and other countries. Last year the U.S. House of Representatives voted 269-158 and the U.S. Senate voted 69-28 to stop the slaughter of horses for Fiscal Year 2006.

The USDA recently informed members of Congress that it is seriously considering creating a new horse inspection scheme to circumvent the new federal law, which prohibits USDA from paying employees to inspect horses destined for slaughter for human food. This announcement comes as a
result of a petition for emergency rulemaking filed by three European-owned slaughterhouses - two in Texas, one in Illinois - that would allow the companies to continue butchering tens of thousands of horses for foreign menus each year.

"It is beyond our imagination in the U.S. Congress that the USDA would flout its mandate and spend tax dollars in the coming months working on ways to circumvent this law," said U.S. Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY). "Even our most hardened opponents knew that the purpose of the amendment was
to stop horse slaughter -- there was never any confusion about that. It's disturbing that an agency like USDA feels it is appropriate to obstruct a law passed by an overwhelming, bipartisan majority in Congress when their sole mission is to implement the law."

After suffering a sweeping, bipartisan defeat in Congress, the horse slaughter industry has quietly petitioned the USDA to establish a "fee-for-service" inspection system for horse slaughter in lieu of federally funded inspections, which Congress voted to end.  The plants have asked
that the USDA implement this change without notifying the public or following normal rulemaking procedures, claiming that it is in the "public's interest" to keep this maneuver secret.

"The USDA is playing games and ignoring the directives of Congress while the lives of America's horses, who have served us faithfully and provided us with companionship, are at stake," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. "By even entertaining this eleventh-hour bid by the slaughterhouses to re-write the law, the USDA is thumbing its nose at Congress and trying to substitute the judgment of foreign gourmands for the judgment of our elected lawmakers."

In its letter to Secretary Johanns, animal welfare groups pointed out that the fee-for-service proposal "would not only thwart an unequivocally expressed Congressional directive, it would also violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act's requirement that the United States Department of
Agriculture, not private facilities, fund horse slaughter inspection."  The groups have called on the USDA to deny petitioners' request for expedited rulemaking and implement Congress' clear mandate to halt the slaughter of horses for human consumption. 

"Granting this petition would set a damning precedent," said Holly Hazard, executive director of the Doris Day Animal League.  "In circumventing the clear intent of our legislators to cease certain federal programs and simply buying the services of the executive branch without any
policy directive from Congress, special interests will thwart democracy."

"Why is the USDA acting in defense of three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants engaged in a brutal trade?" asked Chris Heyde, policy analyst for the Society for Animal Protective Legislation.  "The barbarity America's horses currently endure must be stopped as Congress has stated loud and clear.  Congress sought to shut down the slaughter of American horses, not merely change the method by which inspections are funded." 

While Congress has voted to end horse slaughter for most of one fiscal year, animal protection groups are lobbying for the passage of H.R. 503 and S. 1915, a permanent ban on horse slaughter for food, introduced by U.S. Reps. John Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC), and Ed Whitfield
(R-KY) in the House, and U.S. Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in the Senate.

The organizations are represented by Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, a Washington, DC, public interest law firm.

The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, a division of the Animal Welfare Institute, is devoted to passage of animal welfare laws.  The Society, the oldest organization dedicated to enacting and improving humane legislation, has substantially aided the passage of more than 15
federal laws including the Animal Welfare Act, the Humane Slaughter Act and the Horse Protection Act.

Founded by Doris Day in 1987, the Doris Day Animal League is America's leading lobbying organization dedicated to focusing attention on legislative issues involving the humane treatment of animals.  For more information on the Doris Day Animal League and its work to end horse
slaughter, please visit www.ddal.org. 

Posted on January, 09, 2006