Horses Out of the Gate Quickly in 111th

Every month, thousands of ex-racehorses, work horses, and family ponies are crammed into double-decker trucks where they can barely stand, and shipped hundreds of miles to Canada and Mexico. After arriving across the border, they are slaughtered for food exports to Europe and Asia, where horse meat is considered a delicacy. As Brad Woodard of Houston's KHOU-TV exposed last month, the journey is harsh and the killing methods are brutal. Yet it still happens day after day -- even though Texas and other states have banned horse slaughter, Congress has failed to shut down the cruel exports.

In the first weeks of the 111^th Congress, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) have reintroduced their bill, H.R. 503, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. Previous bills to end horse slaughter have been blocked by some western lawmakers and committee chairs aligned with the agribusiness industry, but now it's time to get the job done and put this issue to rest. Americans don't eat horse meat and our horses are not raised for food. They shouldn't be scooped up by opportunistic "killer buyers" when there are willing adopters and a network of horse rescues ready to assist.

Investigators from The Humane Society of the United States have documented the long-distance transport of horses to Juarez, Mexico, and the clumsy killing methods such as stabbing them in the spine. Watch this video to be reminded of the cruelty to horses that is still taking place, while agribusiness groups use stalling tactics and make the same old tired arguments about "unwanted" horses. Then take action by telling Congress to pull in the reins on this abusive, foreign-driven market, and finally pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.

Comments

[thewho77]

This is really sad. Horses are great animals. T. Boone Pickens got Bush to push the legislation to ban horse slaughter!

[Cindy Letchworth - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks, Michael for bringing this into the forefront. This awful practice just seem to continue despite all efforts to shut it down. Maybe this time will be different.

[avraamjack]

good column.

[les09]

Anyone concerned with the welfare of animals should be appalled by the treatment of horses sent to Mexico and Canada. Unscrupulous breeders and horse traders offload horses by sending them to slaughter. Horses are sensitive animals and have done much throughout history to assist us. There is no excuse for this type of treatment. Anyone who makes money by helping horses get slaughtered needs to find another job!

I'm going to contact my congressman and ask him/her to back HR 503.

[3H-Rider]

Sorry drock973 but stupid economic decisions by our leaders is not an excuse to turn a blind eye to animal cruelty.

Thanks for the reminder, I'll be contacting my congressman. As a horse owner I know how cruel it is to transport horses in double-decker rigs, this and subjecting our horses to brutal killing methods must be stopped.

On the flip-side, there's something most people don't consider. Many products routinely used in horse care, from dewormers to wound care products contain ingredients that can cause cancer in humans. American horsemeat isn't even fit for human consumption.

[larry278]

Is there a possibility that nations where horsemeat is often eaten by human beings will ban meat of or from American horses as was done when American cattle exported to other nations was found to have symptoms of mad cow disease? As I recall, Korea banned US beef till recently. Waiting till American horsemeat is banned isn't the way to end this systematic cruelty to horses. The USA needs to ban shipping horses to other countries to be slaughtered by cruel means. Banning the double deck trailers for transporting horses for any reason should be banned. We must stop inhumane treatment of animals. We now have a reputation of torturing humans at Gitmo & elsewhere. It's time for the USA to abandon cruelty to a living, sentient beings.
We must work to again be a nation of humane people.

[drock973]

Sure, let's destroy the livelihoods of more people. It's not like we're in a recession or anything.

[Vic in Chicago]

There is nothing in this legislation that will "destroy livelihoods". We will still have horses, and we will still deal with them. The issue is that they must be dealt with - humanely - (by employed humans), rather than the inhumane, barbaric ways we deal with them now.

[drock973]

Where's about the money these people make selling the horses, how are they going to make that up? Or are we going to bail them out too?