Arkansas Horse Council Resolution Pro Slaughter HR1004

Betty Jones, Pres., AR Horse Council Has Announced the Resoluton HR 1004 on Pro Slaughter

1 State of Arkansas2 87th General Assembly DRAFT GLG/RCK3 Regular Session, 2009 HCR45 By: Representative Ragland678 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION9 REQUESTING THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION10 AND THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO SUPPORT11 HORSE PROCESSING FACILITIES.1213 Subtitle14 REQUESTING THE ARKANSAS CONGRESSIONAL15 DELEGATION AND THE CONGRESS OF THE16 UNITED STATES TO SUPPORT HORSE17 PROCESSING FACILITIES.181920 WHEREAS, horse processing is the most tightly regulated animal harvest;21 and2223 WHEREAS, horse processing is the only animal processing for which24 transportation is regulated; and2526 WHEREAS, the Horse Welfare Coalition estimates that annually ninety27 thousand (90,000) to one hundred thousand (100,000) unwanted horses will be28 exposed to potential abandonment and neglect if horse processing plants are29 forced to close and horse export options are eliminated; and3031 WHEREAS, those ninety thousand (90,000) to one hundred thousand32 (100,000) unwanted horses will compete each year for adoption with the33 thirty-two thousand (32,000) wild horses that United States taxpayers are34 currently paying forty million dollars ($40 million) to shelter and feed; and3536 WHEREAS, the nation's inadequate, overburdened, and unregulated horseHCR2 11-03-2008 08:56 GLG009rescue and adoption f 1 acilities cannot handle the influx of approximately2 sixty thousand (60,000) or more additional horses each year that would result3 from a harvesting ban, according to the Congressional Research Service; and45 WHEREAS, many zoo animal diets rely on equine protein because it6 closely resembles the food that the zoo animal would consume in the wild; and78 WHEREAS, many veterinarians and animal nutritionists assert that equine9 protein is the healthiest diet for big cats and rare birds; and1011 WHEREAS, the only source of equine protein that is inspected by the12 United States Department of Agriculture will be eliminated if federal13 legislation shuts down horse processing facilities,1415 NOW THEREFORE,16 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH17 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN:1819 That the House of Representatives of the Eighty-seventh General20 Assembly of the State of Arkansas requests all members of the Arkansas21 congressional delegation to support the continuation of horse processing in22 the United States and to offer incentives that help create horse processing23 plants, such as state-inspected horse harvest for export.2425 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Eighty26seventh General Assembly of the State of Arkansas urges the Congress of the27 United States to support new horse processing facilities and the continuation28 of existing facilities on both the state and national level.2930 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Eighty31seventh General Assembly of the State of Arkansas urges the Congress of the32 United States to oppose S. 311 and H.R. 503 of the 110th Congress and to33 support the processing of horses in the United States and internationally.3435 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Eighty36seventh General Assembly of the State of Arkansas supports the location of United States 1 Department of Agriculture-approved horse processing facilities2 on state, tribal, or private lands under mutually-acceptable and market3driven land leases and, if necessary, a mutually-acceptable assignment of4 revenues that meets the needs of all parties involved with the horse5 processing facility; and67 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, after adoption, copies of this resolution8 shall be sent by the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives to the9 members of Arkansas's congressional delegation, the President of the United10 States Senate, and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
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Text of H.R. 503

111th CONGRESS1st Session
H. R. 503
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain conduct relating to the use of horses for human consumption.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 14, 2009Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BILBRAY, Mrs. BONO MACK, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. INGLIS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JONES, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. KIRK, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MITCHELL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. WHITFIELD, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. WU, and Mr. YOUNG of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain conduct relating to the use of horses for human consumption.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.This Act may be cited as the `Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009'.
SEC. 2. SLAUGHTER OF HORSES FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
(a) In General- Chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
`Sec. 50. Slaughter of horses for human consumption
`(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever knowingly--
`(1) possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives, in or affecting interstate commerce or foreign commerce, any horse with the intent that it is to be slaughtered for human consumption; or
`(2) possesses, ships, transports, purchases, sells, delivers, or receives, in or affecting interstate commerce or foreign commerce, any horse flesh or carcass or part of a carcass, with the intent that it is to be used for human consumption;shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years or both.
`(b) If--
`(1) the defendant engages in conduct that would otherwise constitute an offense under subsection (a);
`(2) the defendant has no prior conviction under this section; and
`(3) the conduct involves less than five horses or less than 2000 pounds of horse flesh or carcass or part of a carcass;the defendant shall, instead of being punished under that subsection, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
`(c) As used in this section, the term `horse' means any member of the family Equidae.'.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of sections for chapter 3 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
`50. Slaughter of horses for human consumption.'.

Clever Allemont saved from slaughter

Clever Allemont saved from slaughter


by Tom Musgrave
Clever Allemont, winner of the 1985 Rebel and Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, was rescued from slaughter on December 13.
Kristin Chambers, executive director of Winding Road Equine Rescue and Retirement in Waverly, Kansas, found the 26-year-old Clever Trick horse in a kill lot in Emporia, Kansas. Chambers said Clever Allemont's previous owner sold the horse to a dealer who sells horses for slaughter. Clever Allemont was set to be shipped out of the country to a slaughterhouse.
Chambers had been called by the dealer to come look at a mare he said was "too pretty to ship." When Chambers arrived at the dealer's kill lot on December 13, she also saw Clever Allemont.
The dealer asked Chambers if there was anything she could do to save Clever Allemont.
After taking photos of Clever Allemont at the dealer's kill lot, Chambers returned home and posted a story about him on the Alex Brown Racing online forum. In less than 30 minutes, a forum respondent, Susan Ackerman, donated funds to buy Clever Allemont from the dealer.
To view the forum thread, click here.
On December 14, Clever Allemont was shipped to Ray and Jeanne Mason's Donegal Ranch Quarter Horses in Williamsburg, Kansas. Chambers said former Thoroughbred Retirement Fund board member Diana Baker arranged for Clever Allemont to be boarded permanently at Old Friends Equine Thoroughbred retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. He will be shipped to Old Friends shortly after Christmas.
Chambers said she continues to marvel at the speed with which the horse's rescue proceeded.
"Within 28 minutes [of posting the story on the forum], his 'bail' was posted," Chambers said. "Within 24 hours, he was invited to stay at Old Friends."
Dee Ramirez, a friend of the Masons, has volunteered to pay to ship Clever Allemont to Old Friends. For now, the horse is relaxing at Donegal, where he already has been visited by the media.
"He's been such a good boy," Chambers said. "He's into the camera."
Chambers said that the previous owner told the dealer "I hope you don't kill him" when dealer came to pick up Clever Allemont.
"It just wasn't his time [to die]," Chambers said about the speedy sequence of events following his rescue. "There was a shift in the universe. How else can you explain this chain of miracles?"
In addition to his wins in the Rebel and Southwest Stakes, Clever Allemont finished third in 1985 in the Arlington Classic (G1), Sheridan Stakes (G2), and the Fairmount Park Derby (G3). In his five-year racing career he was trained first by Lynn Whiting and then by D. Wayne Lukas. He won eight of 47 starts and earned $316,329. His stud career spanned 11 years, from 1988 through '99, in which he sired 72 winners from 125 starters. He stood his last season for $500 at Illinois Stud in Woodstock, Illinois.
Tom Musgrave is internet content editor of Thoroughbred Times

Bill to End Horse Slaughter Reintroduced

Thursday, January 15, 2009

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED!
FROM: AWI
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BILL TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER REINTRODUCED

Washington, DC (January 15, 2009) – The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503), was reintroduced yesterday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Representative Dan Burton (R-IN). They first introduced the bill, which will ban horse slaughter, in the summer of 2008. It gained quick bipartisan support and passed out of the Judiciary Committee but did not move further as the legislative clock wound down. Committed to seeing the measure passed into law, Chairman Conyers has given the bill priority in his committee, as signaled by its reintroduction so early on the legislative calendar. With sixty-one original cosponsors, the bill already enjoys strong bipartisan support.

Although the few remaining horse slaughter plants operating in the US were shut down in 2007 under state law, the absence of a federal law banning the practice means that American horses are still at risk of being slaughtered for human consumption. In fact, more than 100,000 horses were exported to Mexico and Canada in 2008 for slaughter; In Canada horses are often shot to death while in Mexico some plants still use the “puntilla” knife to stab the horse into a state of paralysis prior to being slaughtered while still fully conscious. The meat is then sold to high-end consumers in Europe and Asia.

“There are naysayers who claim we should reopen the US plants rather than seek to ban all horse slaughter. Clearly, they’ve already forgotten how awful the plants here were,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of Government and Legal Affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute.

Documents recently released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal just how brutal conditions were at the US plants before they were shut down. Hundreds of graphic photographs taken by U.S. Department of Agriculture employees at one plant show live horses with missing legs, with eyeballs hanging out, with skin ripped from the body and the birth of foals at the plant. Other photos show horses dead on arrival, having succumbed to the miseries of transport.

“The suffering of hundreds of thousands of our horses rests solely on the shoulders of those blocking this bill. Were it not for their stalling tactics horse slaughter would have ceased years ago. Meanwhile an American horse is slaughtered every five minutes. We commend Chairman Conyers and Representative Burton for taking the lead once again to end this cruel practice through introduction of H.R. 503, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act,” said Heyde.