Wild Horse foal dies at the Broken Arrow

Visitors went to the Broken Arrow facility as they do every Sunday. Observers have been traveling to the remote privately contracted facility to document the conditions our wild horses are held in after being rounded-up by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) this past winter. 

Dean Bolstad of the BLM led the tour. Bolstad informed the visitors that there had been over 300 births at the facility and the daily number of births had slowed.

As the tour was ending observers came across a severely emaciated foal. The mare was present and protective but appeared to have no bag. They notified Bolstad who said he would contact the vet immediately after the tour.When questioned as to how often the horses were observed by the on staff veterinarian Bolstad responded that the vet was out to the facility daily. 

"I'm assured repeatedly that these horses are cared for," said Elyse Gardner "so why does it seem that it is the public observers that continually need to bring so many overlooked injuries, illness or orphaned foals to the attention of the BLM?"

The foal was euthanized Sunday after observers vacated the facility.

Births and deaths of foals are not counted in inventory until they are freezemarked at 4-5 months of age. So the death of this foal is not expected to appear on the BLM update page.

The War Against the Horse

Article by Deanne Stillman

One front in this war involves agencies tasked with wild horse management, primarily the Bureau of Land Management. It recently carried out a mandated although deadly mustang roundup in Nevada during which foals were harried by helicopter over rough terrain until their hooves apparently fell off and other horses later died of stress and exhaustion.

The other front involves lone operators who venture into the wilderness and kill wild horses—which is illegal, although arrests are rarely made and when they are, the cases often fall apart. Many of these incidents have occurred in Nevada, where more than half of the country’s wild horses still roam, having gone there like others to hide. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” may be a cute reflection of the local condition, but behind that is another statement that surfaced in an official piece of state travel literature several years ago: “Seize life and throttle it like a rag doll.”

Tennessee Says No

Tennessee Pulls Horse Slaughter Bill

 

Thank you, John and Paula for taking the time to speak at the hearing yesterday. We hope your presentation of solid facts weighted heavily in this decision.

 

RT Fitch: Your Voices Were Heard: Tennesse Horse Slaughter Bill has been ...

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/04/28/your-voices-were-heard-tennesse-horse-slaughter-bill-has-been-pulled/

 

 

Harnesslink: Bill to promote horse slaughter withdrawn 

http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=80127

 

 

AWI: Tennessee legistlators pull Bill advocating horse slaughter ...

http://stillisstillmoving.com/willienelson/tennessee-legistlators-pull-bill-advocating-horse-slaughter/

Hardin, MT says thanks, but no thanks.

..... 200-400 kills a week would have brought our waste water treatment plant to a screaming halt."

Hardin, Montana Says "No Thanks!" to Horse Slaughter Plant.   CHICAGO, (EWA) - Montana Representative Ed Butcher's plan of building a horse slaughter plant in Hardin, MT has ended. The city of Hardin unanimously passed Ordinance No. 2010-01 that amends the current zoning ordinance to prohibit the slaughter of more than 25 animals in a seven day period. The action effectively bars the building of a slaughter plant in Hardin. Mayor Kimberly A. Hammond provided the following statement to Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA). "I have no deluded thoughts or feelings about the need for proper disposal or care of unwanted horses. As Mayor of a small city, it is my responsibility to make information available to our public, especially when it concerns public safety, health, and how their tax dollars are being spent. The way our City Industrial Park is set up, a business is required to hook up to City Water and Sewer. A horse slaughter facility running at 200-400 kills a week would have brought our waste water treatment plant to a screaming halt. Our City would have been forced to construct a new waste water treatment plant that would capacitate the slaughter facility, at the cost of our tax payers. The City most likely would not have been able to get aid with funding a 6-8 million dollar treatment plant. I, as Mayor had our City Attorney draft an ordinance that prohibited slaughter houses within the city limits. Upon 1st reading, our city council did not like the verbiage that there would be NO slaughter facilities. They thought it was unfair to the small mom and pop operations that could be looking for a commercial plot. So we changed the language to only prohibit facilities that would kill more than twenty-five animals in a 7 day period. Our decision was based purely on the adverse impact that a facility of this size and nature would have had on our City Waste Water Treatment Plant."   Mayor Hammond's concerns were well placed. Horse slaughter plants are notorious for their waste problems. Horses have almost twice as much blood per pound of body weight as cattle and it has proven very difficult to treat. In the three years Cavel International operated in DeKalb, Illinois, their discharge was in violation every month. The operation moved to Saskatchewan, Canada where it was caught discharging blood into the local river from a tanker truck. That operation was shut down last year because of health violations. EWA applauds the city of Hardin, Montana for this proactive legislation to preserve the environment of their beautiful city.

Some Interesting Comments on Wyoming article

Slaughter Sue's Plan B site now that Hardin, MT shut her out:

"If Cheyenne wants one, they'd better be well prepared for it, because it's disgusting," ....

Horse slaughter plant may open here

By Michael Van Cassell
mcassell@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE -- A Wyoming state representative from Recluse is interested in opening a horse slaughtering facility in Laramie County, according to the director of the Wyoming Livestock Board.

Earlier this year, Rep. Sue Wallis, R-Recluse, was one of several legislators to sponsor a bill that allows the "disposal of" stray animals, as opposed to their sale.

"She is interested in doing something with the horses that have no value anymore," said Jim Schwartz, director of the Wyoming Livestock Board.

Derek Grant, public information officer for the Wyoming Department of Agriculture, said such a plant would have to follow the same rules that other meat facilities do in the state.

"We have not received any blueprints or an application for a permit," he said.

Grant did add that the meat at the potential facility is going to be used for animal feed.

"We don't really know where it's going to be," he said.

Patricia Fazio, who has been involved with animal welfare issues at the state and local level in Wyoming since 1994, said Wallis had "become a pariah among people like myself."

"I question the legality of it. I question the ethical and humane issues involved in this," Fazio said. "I find it totally ghastly and disgusting."

Horses cannot be slaughtered for human consumption because those facilities must be inspected by USDA inspectors, funding for which has been taken away, according to Fazio.

Fazio said such facilities create environmental problems. She said the facilities are noisy and smell.

"If Cheyenne wants one, they'd better be well prepared for it, because it's disgusting," she said.

Too graphic to watch but the government says its okay to happen

Chambers of Carnage
A Sweeping Undercover Investigation of Canada's Leading Equine Slaughterhouses

In late February 2010, the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) received hidden camera footage of horse slaughter practices at Viande Richelieu in Quebec and Bouvry Exports in Alberta - the latter known as the largest exporter of horsemeat in North America. The CHDC has compelling proof that puts into question the effectiveness of the assembly-line slaughter of horses. The evidence demonstrates that both the facilities in Alberta and Quebec fail to meet humane slaughter standards used by the CFIA to audit Canadian slaughterhouses.

To view compilations of the footage obtained, please click on the YouTube links below.

WARNING: Content is very graphic and could be disturbing to some viewers.

Bouvry Part I of III
Bouvry Part II of III
Bouvry Part III of III
Richelieu Part I of III
Richelieu Part II of III
Richelieu Part III of III
As of April 9th and 10th, 2010, YouTube has removed the links to our horse slaughter footage. (Viewers can still access that footage on another site simply by clicking on the links above.) There have been tens of thousands of hits on these videos since they were originally posted, which leads us to wonder: could YouTube be caving to industry pressure? These segments include very disturbing footage, including that of a worker being kicked by a horse who had been improperly stunned, then suspended. Her suffering as she hangs upside down, attempting to right herself, is clearly intense and prolonged. This segment also illustrates the dangerous nature of a job that involves the assembly-line slaughter of horses.

Link to Photo Slideshow
Photo stills on Flickr

For footage indexes, report and photo stills, click links below:
Bouvry Index
Richelieu Index

Watch Global TV coverage here. Go to 32:25 for horse slaughter story airing on April 7, 2010.

Open Letter About MO HB 1747

Letters To Leaders
All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Animal Welfare:
Subject:
Horse Slaughter Bill in Missouri

To:
President Barack Obama
Sen. Richard Lugar
Sen. Evan Bayh
Rep. Mark Souder

April 3, 2010

I am writing today to share my disturbance regarding Missouri House Bill
1747, the passage of which would authorize horse slaughter and negatively affect horses in all states. Three years ago America's last horse slaughterhouse was closed, bringing to fruition the desire millions of
Americans across the nation shared, that horse slaughter will not be
sanctioned within these borders. Horses are iconically held beings,
representing perseverance, freedom, and determination, and we must not
degrade this symbolism or the wish of Americans by validating the
fundamentally inhumane act of commodifying them.

Please allow me this opportunity to elaborate. The duplicitous nature of
this bill is shocking, a unprincipled motive to secure financial wealth
for a few exploiting an already tenuous economy and majority fears. The
reasoning has been presented that slaughterhouses would provide
much-needed capital and employment. This is an irrational argument meant
to invoke societal approval for a condemned industry. Working in a
slaughterhouse is hardly an employment option many would consider except under the most dismal, desperate circumstances. Indeed, jobs provided by a slaughterhouse are among the most dangerous, grueling, and sporadic, exposing excessive injuries and turnover rates. In fact, if you study the past employee demographics of slaughterhouses a disturbing pattern emerges, revealing shockingly exploitative positions and conditions, many times without associated benefits.

Additionally, any slaughterhouses would most likely be European-owned.
Because horse consumption is illegal in America, even rudimentary
economics expose foreign markets as cost-advantageous. Unfortunately, the shipment of horses to be slaughtered in other countries, including Canada, is largely concealed by a greedy industry, but Americans, having already collectively voiced to terminate horse slaughter, would reject the same in other countries. And certainly any American benefits as the result of foreign ownership would be negligible, and establishing potential economic advantage to validate unethical actions is unacceptable and we must not allow finances to compromise our moral parameters.

HB1747, an inherently deceptive proposition, would severely compromise
already marginal protections for other numerous nonhuman animals as well, including companions, essentially eliminating any proactive measures as championed by concerned and compassionate voters. Eroding protections to sanction savagery desensitizes society to animal exploitation, relaying the inaccurate and unethical message that animal abuse is not only tolerated, but it is also promoted. When human animals become immune to nonhuman animal suffering, acceptance of all suffering is realized, an immoral and dangerous legacy for future generations. I therefore respectfully request that you consider your potential participation in an inherently cruel industry that capitalizes on the abuse and killing of
horses and voice censure of HB1747. Please instead practice compassion and respect by refusing complicity in death.

US NEWS and World Report Article

Horse Slaughter Is Cruel, and 'Bute' in the Meat Kills Humans

April 05, 2010 04:04 PM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

(LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE)

If you can't persuade them for the right reasons, then scare them with the facts.

A new paper in the journal Food & Chemical Toxicology shows how dangerous American horse meat is for human consumption.

Americans should stop selling horses for slaughter abroad because we love our horses and do not treat them as livestock. That's the right reason to stop this incredibly cruel practice. Still, millions of greedy horse owners and breeders send horses off to slaughter because it's more remunerative than not breeding at all or even having them euthanized.

But according to this new paper, humans who consume horse meat (most often overseas and especially in France, Italy, Japan and Belgium) are at risk for being poisoned by Phenylbutazone or "bute." It's a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug originally developed for treating severe cases of arthritis, but it was later found to...

"cause serious and lethal idiosyncratic adverse effects in humans. Sixty-seven million pounds of horsemeat derived from American horses were sent abroad for human consumption last year. Horses are not raised as food animals in the United States and, mechanisms to ensure the removal of horses treated with banned substances from the food chain are inadequate at best."

Bute is still routinely used not just at the thoroughbred racetrack, which is what the authors of this paper studied, but also by horse owners nationwide to mitigate pain for all sorts of horse injuries. Horses do not have the same lethal reaction to bute that humans can display, although long-term use of bute for horses can create ulcers and other organ damage.

The paper's authors call it a "significant health hazard" for people to consume horse meat. I hope this information is highly promulgated throughout horse-consuming societies in Europe and Asia.