| Subject: |
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Animal Rights Win, horses lose |
| Name: |
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Sherryl |
| Date Posted: |
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Nov 12, 07 - 12:31 PM |
| Email: |
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Sherryl@Sulphurhorseranch.com |
| Website: |
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http://www.icebase.com/r.pl?YseiDbLOmpkWhyDa_e01d25232b5fc120> |
| Message: |
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Animal Rights Win, horses lose!
By Cindy Schonholtz, NAIA Director
50 HORSES SIEZED IN INDIANA
HORSES STARVED AND ATTACKED BY DOGS IN NC
HORSE ABUSE AND NEGLECT ON THE RISE IN GA
FIVE TIMES MORE HORSES SENT TO MEXICO FOR SLAUGHTER
Does all this sound familiar? It should, because those opposed to a
horse processing ban have been telling lawmakers, media and the horse
industry that this is exactly what to expect if US processing plants
are closed. Now that animal rights groups and ban supporters have been
successful in legislative efforts to shut down almost all of the US
horse processing plants and legally hobble the last remaining one, we
have them to thank for the current sad state of welfare for US horses.
Instead of being processed at USDA regulated plants and transported
under regulations the horse industry helped formulate, horses destined
for processing can count on longer truck rides and an uncertain fate
at Mexican processing plants. Additionally, anyone who pays attention
to the news can see that the long draught in many parts of the country
and the elimination of commercial US horse processing has created a
two-pronged problem: thousands of horses that otherwise would be
processed are neglected and in threateningly poor health and
condition; and because the processing market has been closed off,
these horses are being placed on the active market, causing a drop in
horse prices across the board.
Ironically, after the horse processing ban advocates created this
situation, they now are calling for the passage of more federal laws:
bans to close the borders to shipments for horse processing. This will
not eliminate the issues of horse disposal or commerce in horse meat
or commercial processing, which were all handled effectively under
USDA regulations prior to the processing ban crusade. Please contact
your legislators and tell them that this situation was created by
proponents of the ban and tell lawmakers to keep them from making
things worse!
The IssueThe United States Horse Industry has been struggling to
address the issues surrounding the processing of unwanted horses for
commercial consumption. As the U.S. becomes increasingly urban and
the population becomes less familiar with livestock, food production
and agriculture as a whole, the struggle over animal welfare, animal
rights and related issues such as horse processing continues to
escalate.
The scope of this issue is huge. Based on 2005 figures, the Animal
Welfare Council estimates that the annual cost of caring for horses
vs. sending them to processing plants would be $226 million. And with
the continued care of base year horses piled onto successive years of
potential horse processing, that number would grow each year.
The estimated horse population in the U.S. is 9.2 million, according
to the American Horse Council. Approximately 1% of the population is
now marketed annually for human consumption overseas. The number of
U.S. horses being processed has ranged from 65,000 to 100,000 in
recent years and the average estimate of annual maintenance costs for
a horse is $2340.
These horses are unwanted for a number of reasons: they no longer
meet the owner's needs, they have behavioral or health problems or the
owner can no longer financially care for the horse. A ban on
processing horses will heavily impact the horse industry in four ways:
1. Costs of maintaining unwanted horses; 2. Building and improving
infrastructure to sustain unwanted horses; 3. Environmental impact of
horse euthanasia and carcass disposal; and 4. Revenue loss from the
sale and export of horsemeat.
BackgroundThe issue came to the forefront in 1998 when the voters of
California passed a ballot measure making the processing of horses and
the commerce surrounding it illegal. While this has been a law for
nearly 10 years, there has yet to be a prosecution since there were no
enforcement procedures or funding included in the ballot measure.
Horses in California are most likely being shipped out of the country
to processing plants in Mexico or Canada and to the remaining US plant
operating in Illinois. The demand for horsemeat remains high as it
is culturally popular in many countries including China, Japan,
France, Italy and Mexico. The worldwide production of horsemeat has
grown 38% since 1990, largely due to the nutritional value of the
meat.
Current Legal and Legislative Status
Animal rights proponents have used the courts to successfully close
all of (two total) the horse processing plants in Texas. A law that
was enacted in 1949 and not enforced in recent years prohibited the
processing or sale of horsemeat in Texas. The proponents of a ban
realized this law was not being enforced and sued. After years of
legal wrangling, the processing plants were dealt the final blow in
May of 2007, when a federal court ruled they were operating illegally
and they were forced to close. An effort was made to repeal the law
in the Texas State Legislature, but that move failed.
Those in favor of a ban on processing for human consumption, backed by
wealthy animal rights groups, were successful in getting a ban passed
in Illinois, signed by the Governor in June of 2007. The final plant
operating in the US, Cavel West in DeKalb, IL, has challenged this law
in court and in late July of 2007 was granted permission to reopen
pending the hearing of that case in court. Further court proceedings
were unfavorable to the plant and this plant also has closed.
Current State of Equine Welfare in the United States
Many factors have led to a very serious situation for equine welfare
in the United States. Droughts in many areas led to a serious
shortage of hay. Horse auctions suffered from the uncertain status of
the processing business and the price of horses has plummeted in many
areas. Some auction barns are requiring horse owners to leave a
deposit when they leave their horse since so many are just being
dropped off. Large scale equine neglect and cruelty cases are being
discovered in all parts of the country.
The number of horses being shipped to Mexico for processing has more
than quadrupled this year. Those opposed the US bans on the
processing of horses have long said that if the plants in the US were
closed, the horses that were being shipped to the plants in Texas
would simply be shipped to Mexico, and if not shipped for processing
per se, would be shipped as pleasure horses or pets and then rerouted
to processing plants once inside Mexico.
This is becoming the reality and the horses are enduring much longer
trips and are being processing and transported in Mexico without the
protective regulations enforced by the USDA. USDA reports show that
the number of US horses being exported for processing in Mexico is
rising alarmingly. The export report for the week of October 27, 2007
showed for the year to date, 36,190 horses have been exported to
Mexico for slaughter, compared to 7,597 reported for the same period
in 2006.
The supporters of horse processing bans have claimed that the unwanted
horses that were being slaughtered in U.S. plants would simply be
absorbed into the rescue population or bought for other purposes, but
this is clearly not the case. The current federal bans, if passed,
would make it illegal to export horses for processing, leaving more
unwanted horses in the U.S. with no outlet and no resources to care
for them, or causing massive horse shipments categorized as other than
processing for subsequent re-categorization once across the border.
Where to We Go From Here?
From worldwide commerce, nutrition, environmental and ownership
standpoints, the U.S. horse industry must figure out a way to inform
and educate the public; eliminate ignorance from the policy making
process and be recognized as a respected and thoughtful contributor to
the resolution of this issue.
Animal rights groups are currently taking advantage of a divided
industry to define our issues and get those who agree with them on the
slaughter issue into the fold of animal rights - a scary scenario.
They will take the undereducated new horse owner and those who
wouldn't consider sending their horse to a plant for processing and
convince them they should join their animal rights group and
contribute money to the cause of stopping the processing of horses for
human consumption. The money and membership numbers will not only be
used to stop the processing of horses, but will also be applied to the
continued stripping of rights of all who utilize animals for
recreation, industry or sport. The horse industry must address our
issues, educate our owners and work on identifying and solving the
problem of the unwanted horse and not allow animal rights groups to
chip away at our rights as horse owners.
The U.S. horse industry has addressed this issue in the past through
USDA comment and rulemaking. More recently, many of the larger
industry organizations and horse councils came together to form the
Unwanted Horse Coalition. This group is identifying reasons for the
unwanted horse, creating education campaigns for the horse industry
regarding unwanted horses and is working on developing effective real
world solutions. Hopefully, this effort is not too little too late,
because if additional federal bans pass that reach farther and
restrict other aspects of commerce associated with the processing of
horses, the US is not prepared with the infrastructure, funding or
other resources to care for the hundreds of thousands of unwanted
horses or those otherwise destined for commercial use that will not
have an outlet in the processing industry. The one definite fact is
that the welfare of horses in the United States and the rights of
those who own them are in serious jeopardy.Notes: Our thanks to the
American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the Animal
Welfare Council and the American Horse Council for information
included in this article.
Please join our 16-year old movement
Donate to NAIA Today!
Look for this article on the NAIA website
NAIA is the Reform Wing of the Animal Welfare Movement!
November 12, 2007For more information contact: naia@naiaonline.org or
503-761-1139
Copyright © 2007 National Animal Interest Alliance |
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