STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S HEART

WHO'S ON FIRST?

Guest Editorial by Vicki Tobin, Vice President of The Equine Welfare Alliance

EWA Exec Speaks out on Anti-Horse Activists

The slaughter proponent’s arguments bring to mind the old Abbott and Costello routine because you never really know what they are saying. They talk back and forth to each other with neither, understanding the other or making sense.

Each new year brings new arguments and scare tactics from our opponents. When each talking point is disproved, they move on to the next. Every once in a while, they throw a curve ball and resurrect an old argument thinking it just might stick this time around.

We, on the other hand, have been consistent in our message. Humanely euthanize your horse. End your horse’s life by humane euthanasia as we do with all non-food animals in the United States. It is the preferred method by all major veterinarian associations. Any competent veterinarian will tell you that. Veterinarians don’t carry captive bolts in their medical bags or advise their clients to send their horses to slaughter. Veterinarians for Equine Welfare has an excellent updated white paper on this subject.

Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM & former Chief USDA Inspector stated, “The captive bolt is not a proper instrument for the slaughter of equids, these animals regain consciousness 30 seconds after being struck, they are fully aware they are being vivisected.”

When the slaughter debate started heating up in the late 2000s, the argument of choice was; what are we going to do with old, lame, sick horses? Jeez, any responsible horse owner knows the answer to that. Pick up the phone and call the vet.

Next was the argument that horses are livestock. While many categorize horses as livestock, that’s not the issue. The issue is that of a food animal vs. a non-food animal. US horses are not raised as food animals but for other purposes. Mounted police are not riding food animals. Therapy horses are not food animals. Race horses are not food animals. The country does not use food animals in military and presidential funerals. Have you ever seen a riderless cow? Dressage, cutting and reining horses are not food animals. Livestock (food animals) do not perform any of the functions that horses perform in our society.

US horses must have maintenance medications that are prohibited in food animals to keep them at peak performance and healthy. There is no tracking of horses as there is with livestock. Unlike horses, you can trace livestock back to the original farm. It is obvious by the opposition to NAIS last year that owners don’t want horses tracked.

This brings me to the “abandoned” horses. If you can’t find the owners to charge them for the crime they have committed, how are you going to certify the horses are free of prohibited substances? A horse that has received a prohibited substance can never enter the food chain. There is no withdrawal period. Those are the EU rules and the FDA rules.

We have been warning of the drug issue for years. We were made the brunt of many a joke and constantly laughed at. We were so ridiculously funny, the EU took notice. It is important to note that all current anti-horse propaganda never addresses the drug issue.

There have been many scare tactics such as the AQHA release in 2008 warning owners that if the federal legislation passes they won’t be able to transport their horse across the street. Senator Landrieu promptly responded with a release stating the intent of the law and we never again saw that argument.



One of the most often used arguments is property rights. Nobody can tell slaughter proponents what they can or cannot do with their property. This is one of the more laughable arguments since there are many laws on the books telling property owners exactly how to dispose of property such as appliances, batteries, toxic substances, cars, etc. There are even laws in certain areas on horse disposal. Owning property does not give the owner the right to abuse the property, especially when the “property” is a living, sentient being.

Now we are hearing how inhumane slaughter is in Mexico and Canada. Slaughter proponents conveniently forget that they never uttered a peep when thousands of horses were sent over the borders when the US plants were open. Why was it okay then but not now? They never mention the inhumane slaughter that took place in the US and dismiss government FOIAs. The truth is that no matter where horses are slaughtered it will never be humane.

They complain of the long distances in travel now but didn’t have any concerns when horses were being trucked across the US to slaughter plants and also to plants in Mexico, Canada and Japan. All documented humane violations in shipping have taken place within US borders and yet, they oppose the slightest change to improve conditions such as a ban on double deckers. It is quite obvious; they have no concern for horse welfare, only lining their pockets. There were years and years of investigations and FOIAs of the domestic plants and never was an attempt made to correct anything.

The latest comments we are seeing is that they will start raising horses for slaughter. I’m not sure what type of business model will survive paying thousands on feed for pasture ornaments to bring in revenue of $300-$600 per horse from a kill buyer.

This is yet another shining example of their refusal to address the issue of excess horses. Instead of addressing the mess they have created, they’re going to start a new population of horses. Slaughter at all costs! One only needs to follow the rules of engagement to be a diehard anti-horse person.

Rule #1: Never admit responsibility for producing the excess horses going to slaughter.

Rule #2: Call horses “unwanted” so you can blame the horse. Call slaughter harvesting or processing so that it is more palatable.

Rule #3: Never take responsibility for horses you choose to buy or breed and transfer all blame to the “radical vegan tree huggers” that oppose slaughter.

Rule #4: Blame the rescues.

Rule #5: Blame the legislators.

Rule #6: Exploit Native Americans for the few that have chosen to go against their teachings and spiritual beliefs that revere and respect the horse.

Rule #7: Blame anyone that dares to speak up publicly for the horses, make sure you publish a list of these terrible people and call for a boycott. Even include celebrities that have raised millions of dollars for farmers. All people that want horses treated humanely must be exposed. Wait a minute. Doesn’t that sound like the organization that they so vehemently oppose? They blast them but when they do the same, it’s okay.

Rule #8: Be sure to present all propaganda to legislators with nothing to back the statements but emphasize it as fact.

Rule #9: Create bogus polls and surveys that slant questions and circulate only to those sharing your view. Then, present the results to Congress as the view of horse owners across the country.

Rule #10: State that all rescues are full and become combative when asked for the data to back the claims.

Rule #11: Ignore that slaughter is still very much available and blame all horse woes on the closure of the plants. To fully utilize this rule, under no circumstance, mention or blame the economy. The impact of the economy does not play a role in the horse industry. That is the only industry in America that would not have been impacted by the economy if the slaughter plants had remained opened.

Rule #12: Ignore the horrific investigations and FOIAs and always state that slaughter is a good thing. After all, it allows irresponsible breeders to breed and dump so they can breed more. It allows owners that are abusing and neglecting their horses to hide their crimes by having the horse slaughtered. Then, chuckle and whisper under your breath, America’s Dirty Little Secret.

Rule #13: Never discuss present society and culture. Always refer to 70 or more years ago when some people were forced to eat horse meat but make it sound like present day and thus, you may be able to create a false market in the US.

Rule #14: Always state, with emotion, that slaughter opponents are trying to change other country’s cultures. With even more emotion, state that the horse meat is feeding the hungry in foreign countries even though the hungry cannot afford the gourmet priced horse meat.

Rule#15: Never mention the largest case of neglect in the US occurred in 2005 when all three plants were operating.

Rule #16: Ignore all studies and data on abuse and neglect.

Rule #17: Be sure to always interject the slippery slope. It is your greatest weapon to scare farmers and ranchers into believing that ending the slaughter of a non-food animal will bring down livestock slaughter.

Rule #18: Never mention that slaughter is a predatory, demand driven business and especially don’t mention that US plants imported horses to fill the demand when demand increased. In years when the demand was down and fewer horses were slaughtered, just state that there were fewer “unwanted” horses in those years. Don’t ever admit that slaughter houses only slaughter the number of horses needed to fill the demand. Let everyone think they are performing a service to rid the US of “unwanted” horses.

Rule #19: Lobby against any legislation for animal welfare, even if it’s something you feel you should support. At all costs, even good legislation from any animal “rights” organization for the humane treatment of any animal must be prevented.

and the two most important rules…

Rule #20: Never directly answer a question, especially when facts are requested. Doubletalk and then change the subject. It is imperative this rule be invoked when asked to discuss the drug issue and how unsafe US horses are for human consumption.

Rule #21: Learn the art of spinning. Always accuse the pro-horse advocates of being emotional, attack their credibility and spin the facts. This is especially important when indisputable facts are provided. When footage or photos are provided, be sure to state with authority they are fake or have been altered. Always state that because they are against slaughter that they are responsible for the horses suffering.



Slaughter proponents don’t stop at domestic horses. They must target all horses, including our wild horses. Perhaps they haven’t read the EU regulations that state that the only wild equidae meat that will be accepted is zebra meat – or did they?

Rule #1: Ignore mitochondrial DNA studies and start calling all wild horses and burros feral so they can be shipped to slaughter.

Rule #2: Be sure to send and publish propaganda on how the wild horses and burros are overpopulated and ruining the ranges.

Rule #3: Never, never mention the millions of privately owned livestock that have turned our public lands into a giant feedlot.

Rule #4: Never mention the hundreds of millions of dollars the taxpayers shell out for the private livestock grazing on public lands.

Rule #5: Dismiss and never mention the GAO studies that prove the livestock, not the horses, are ruining the ranges.

Rule #6: Never mention the pictures of the horses that died of thirst laying alongside the fences that cattle ranchers erected to block the wild horses from using the water sources.

Rule #7: Ignore all footage and photos of the healthy, thriving horses being removed from public lands. At all times, state the horses are starving and removing them is for their own good.

Rule #8: Provide your own wild horse and burro population counts. Make up a staggering number and state with authority and conviction the data source is Google Earth and begin circulating and publishing the number as fact in all communications.

The best argument, by far, is that because of the “ban” on horse slaughter, horses are being starved, neglected and abandoned. This is quite amusing since there is nothing stopping anyone from sending their horse to slaughter. 2008 saw the second highest slaughter count since 1995. Shouldn’t they wait until slaughter isn’t available to make such a statement? In one swooping statement, they disprove their own argument and prove our point that slaughter does not prevent suffering.

Why are owners allowing their horses to suffer instead of sending them to the killers? Did it ever occur to the slaughter proponents that owners are holding on to their horses because they fear the horse may end up on a slaughter truck if they sell or donate the horse?

The bottom line is that slaughter proponents don’t have a platform. They have no facts or data to back their statements and as a consequence, they continually have to invent new arguments and scare tactics.

It is time to call the ball game. Call your legislators to stop this insanity and ask that they pass the legislation to protect our horses. Pick up the phone and do it now.

London March for Mustangs, US Embassy, March 25th, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J9m_qkB_14

MARCH for the Mustangs, March 25, 2010, Washington, D.C.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbXhYL7g7e0

USDA and CFIA studies unreliable?

April 2, 2010

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  

Contaminated Horse Meat a Health Risk, According to Study

 

CHICAGO, (EWA) – A peer reviewed scientific study tracing race horses sent to slaughter for human consumption has found that 100% of the horses in the study group had been administered phenylbutazone, a banned carcinogen that can also fatally damage the bone marrow of humans. The findings appear to validate the European Union’s recent tightening of traceability requirements on horse meat from third countries.

 

The paper, titled Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk, appeared in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology and calls into question the reliability of the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) and CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) testing programs which have consistently failed to detect the substance.

 

The manuscript(1), which was authored by Drs. Nicholas Dodman(2), Nicolas Blondeau(3) and Ann M. Marini(4), followed eighteen Thoroughbred (TB) race horses that were identified by matching their registered name to their race track drug record over a five year period and were given phenylbutazone (PBZ, Bute) on race day and were subsequently sent to slaughter for human consumption.

 

The study also traced records on sixteen TB race horses that were given PBZ on race day and would have also entered the food chain had they not been rescued. The study was limited to race horses because of the availability of drug records, but phenylbutazone is one of the most common drugs used in the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in horses.

 

Because of the bone marrow toxicity caused by PBZ in humans, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set no safe levels of PBZ and bans its use food producing animals, including horses. While PBZ is but one of the numerous banned substances that are routinely given to US horses, it is one of the most dangerous.

 

Defenders of horse slaughter have long pointed to USDA testing records which consistently showed no positive results for PBZ. The new study shows that the USDA testing could not have been accurate. Indeed, the study uncovered a pilot test performed by the USDA in 2004 and 2005 that used a different testing technique and found 8.3% of the meat to be contaminated with PBZ. The pilot program had been subsequently discontinued.

 

The study estimates that sixty seven million pounds of horse meat derived from US horses were sent overseas for human consumption in 2008. If 8.3% of this meat contained phenylbutazone residues, it would translate to over 5 million pounds of contaminated meat.

 

Opponents of horse slaughter have long warned that US horses are not raised as food animals and mechanisms to ensure the removal of horses treated with banned substances from the food chain are inadequate at best.

---

 

Equine Welfare Alliance recently issued a discussion paper with their partners, Canadian HorseDefence Coalition on the serious drug issue concerning North American horses. The comprehensive paper covers concerns over the ability to meet compliance with European Commission regulations on food safety.

 

 

 (1) Article is cited as, Dodman, N., Blondeau, N., Marini, A.M., Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk, Food and Chemical Toxicology (2010), doi: 10.1016/j.fct. 2010.02.021

(2) Tufts University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA

(3) Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire - I.P.M.C, UMR 6097,

C.N.R.S/Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, 660 route des Lucioles, Sophia Antipolis

06560 Valbonne, FRANCE

(4) Department of Neurology and Program in Neuroscience, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD.

John Holland

540.268.5693

john@equinewelfarealliance.org

 

Vicki Tobin                         

630.961.9292

vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

 

Chamber of Horrors in Canada

HSUS URGES CONGRESS to Ban Export of U.S. Horses to Slaughter in Light of New Footage

Canadian undercover video shows horses conscious as they are shot multiple times

New undercover video footage released Tuesday by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition confirms the horrible abuses inherent in the slaughter of our horses for human consumption, and illustrates the need for the U.S. Congress to bar the export of tens of thousands of U.S. horses each year to slaughter plants across the border. At the Bouvry Exports plant in Canada, a chestnut horse is shot three times while a gray mare waits in the kill box. As the chestnut horse panics and struggles—as horses are biologically wired to do—the the gray mare is shot. She remains alive and kicking even as two more .22-caliber shots are fired at her face. She languishes. The pattern repeats itself.

The CHDC's video footage, titled "Chamber of Carnage," further demonstrates what The Humane Society of the United States has documented for years about horse slaughter: Foreign-owned horse slaughterhouses have set up shop just over the border, and U.S. horses will continue to suffer both during long-distance shipping and then during a gruesome butchering process—all for the culinary whims of foreign gourmands.

To see the "Chamber of Carnage" video, click here. Some horses in the CHDC footage bear tags from the United States Department of Agriculture, indicating animals shown in the video originated in the United States.

"Every day while Congress delays, 'killer buyers' are transporting American horses to Canada and Mexico, and there the animals are meeting an awful demise, often after a painful and harrowing journey," said Wayne Pacelle, The HSUS' president and CEO. "This new investigation affirms again that there is unmistakable cruelty in this industry and it will only end when the Congress passes the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act."

The footage is consistent with similar footage obtained by The HSUS of horses cruelly butchered in foreign-owned plants on U.S. soil as well as that of horse slaughter in Mexico. One theme runs through every investigation – U.S. horses are generally not raised for food and where this trade occurs, there is inherent abuse.

Horse slaughter is not a form of humane euthanasia — something The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's video clearly shows. Horses are trusting, majestic creatures, and extreme flight animals. They fight or try to flee, and they suffer in these slaughter houses. Approximately 100,000 U.S. horses are purchased by "kill buyers" at auctions across the United States, who frequently outbid good horse owners to secure the fattest, healthiest horses, and are then transported cross-country often with no food, water or rest to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico, where they are butchered. Despite Canada's regulations and inspection standards for plants that process horses, this investigation shows how ineffective they are at preventing suffering. 

Nicholas H. Dodman, D.V.M., one of the world's most noted and celebrated veterinary behaviorists, a founding member of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine professor, reviewed the videos for The HSUS and echoed the same sentiment: "Noise, blood and suffering is what you get at the Bouvry equine slaughter plant: Horses kicking after they have been shot, sinking down and rising up; sometimes periods of struggling or paddling before a second or third shot has to be administered. This atrocity goes against all veterinary guidelines for humane euthanasia. Terror and suffering is the rule at this equine house of horrors...and all in the name of the gourmet meat market."

The HSUS joins CHDC and hundreds of other horse industry and animal welfare groups in calling for the immediate passage of H.R. 503/S. 727 to prevent our horses from the cruelty of horse slaughter for human consumption. This legislation, authored by Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and John Ensign, R-Nev., has 181 House cosponsors and 29 Senate cosponsors.

-30-

The Look -

Crossposted from tbfriends

___________________

Wednesday, March 24th... The Look. For years now, horses have found new homes because of The Look.

I think it was 2004 when all this started. A hot summer day, and in our yard a young girl gave The Look to a small chestnut gelding. A hundred or so horses on our ranch, but it was only the small chestnut gelding who received The Look. You can easily imagine. Love at first sight. Never saw it coming. Like getting bonked in the back of your head by a barn door. 

You must have an agreeable parent. Which the young girl had. We made all the arrangements. Gave the parent and young girl dozens of options, including bringing the gelding back if there were problems. Soon the chestnut gelding belonged to the young girl. She still sends us pictures. And later this fall, when the girl moves away to college, her horse is going with her.

Perhaps 30 times since, because of The Look, a horse from our ranch has found a loving home. Two have been returned, both because of money problems.

The oldest person 65. The youngest 9. I remember The Look from each. It is impossible to witness The Look and not react. You see The Look, you must do something about it. 

On my website I have not once writen about The Look adoptions. Until now. No way to write about this without sounding like we are above everyone else. Plus, for us anyway, The Look adoptions are private. We only charge a dollar for the horse. And we make the person come back at least 5 times before it becomes official. The person spends time with the horse in our yard. Always their love grows stronger. Always there is The Look.

Okay, after all of the above, I can get to the point. Earlier this year, in rain and wind, a girl gave The Look to a mare on our ranch. The girl was only here to bring us grain from Costco. The girl saw the mare, and there was The Look. I said take the mare for a walk, and she did. Both the mare and girl soaked from sideways rain. I said you can go into the mare motel and groom her. The girl did. The mare had just arrived from a race track, and was on her toes. High strung with me, but quiet and sensible with the girl. It was easy to see the connection between the two. The mare stood quietly while the girl introduced her to a blanket. I found out later, this was the first time the mare had worn a blanket.

We made all the arrangements. A nice place in Davis. Financial concerns taken care of by the owners of the nice place. The girl is a student with money woes. The owners of the nice place were happy to help.

The mare was transported to the nice place. And less than a week later, she was crippled.

The rain went away, the sun came, and horses were turned out to play. The mare took a bad step, and broke both her ankle and sesamoid. 

A vet at UC Davis told the girl, you have to put your mare to sleep. The girl decided to seek a second opinion. And so the mare was taken to a vet hospital in another town. 

The girl told the doctor, she has little money. But if something can be done for her mare, she promises to pay for the rest of her life.

Well the doctor had done the same kind of surgery many times before. It involves screws. The horse has no chance of passing through airport security. 

The doctor performed the surgery, and only charged the girl for meds. Unbelievable. She only had to pay for the medicine. 

There is rehab, which includes hand walking everyday for the next 4 months. The mare should be fine.

I phoned the doctor, and told him what a wonderful person he is. To do this for the girl and her mare.

And this is what he said: How could I turn the girl down? You should see the way she looks at her horse.

March 20th Update on Condition of Horses rescued from Hemphill's

Ms. Hemphill admits she sells horses to slaughter in Canada. Two of these three are sick but probably would have been on the truck to slaughter regardless. So the question is, Who wants to Eat a Horse .. especially a sick one? 

The road from Crowley's auction house to Hemphill's to Canadian slaughterhouse would have been brutal. Did Hemphill know these horses were ill? Would it have made a difference?

Derby Trafaire - Good News on him thank goodness because weight wise he was the worst and according to Carole who shipped him very depressed. His bloodwork came back negative for everything. On Monday, when his coggins comes back if everything stays the same he will be able to leave. His vet bill will be approx $880 that will include his stay, tests medication etc.

Heaven's Host - Not good news, she has tested positive for EHV4 (Equine herpesvirus 4) we have no idea yet how long she will be staying, she is currently being treated. This affect the respiratory system. I am also not sure of the laws in Maine but I know sometimes farms are put under QT for this.

Ilithyia -  Not good news either - she has tested positive for Influenza A, we have no idea how long she will be in the hospital, she is currently being treated.

Who Wants To Eat A Sick Horse?

Horses purchased at Crowley's auction by known trader/kill buyer barely saved from slaughter.

Partial story below:

Brenda Hemphill isn't saying how two thoroughbred fillies from Florida ended up at her notorious farm in Maine.  But what we do know is that horses who are unlucky enough to land there often end up on a one-way truck to a Canadian slaughterhouse.  And if it were not for emergency intervention by Pure Thoughts Rescue's Florida Thoroughbred Rehab & Placement, these young horses would have met the same fate.

Heaven's Host, a 3-year-old thoroughbred filly saved from slaughter

Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue

March 16th,  Pure Thoughts founders Brad Gaverand Jennifer Swanson were tipped off that the former Florida horses were in harm's way at the Hemphill farm.  They became alarmed after having read a recent Boston Globe article in which Brenda Hemphill admitted that she makes her money by marketing horses for meat.

The people at Pure Thoughts knew they didn't have much time to save three-year-old fillies Heaven's Host,  who'd last raced at Calder Race Course, which has instituted a no-tolerance, anti-slaughter policy, and Ilithyia, an unraced daughter of successful sire Siphon (BRZ).  The slaughter truck was arriving in the morning, and if they didn't secure the horses' safety before then, both fillies, and Derby Trefaire, a nine-year-old gelding who had competed at Suffolk Downs, would be goners.

As Pure Thoughts scrambled to raise the funds to free the three thoroughbreds, Brenda Hemphill upped the ante.  Realizing that these horses had suddenly become valuable commodities, she put exorbitant prices on their heads.  "She knew who we were and what we wanted, so we knew she would put us through the ringer," said Jen Swanson.  In the end, Pure Thoughts paid $850 for Derby Trefaire, and $1300 apiece for the fillies.