Currently, three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States are killing horses for human consumption. They are Beltex Corporation in Ft. Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas and Cavel International in DeKalb, Illinois. According to the US Department of Agriculture, 65,976 horses were slaughtered in 2004, up from 50,564 killed the previous year. In addition to the horses killed in the three US-based plants, thousands more are transported under deplorable conditions across our borders into Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered.Conditions of transport are appalling. Horses are typically hauled for more than 24 hours without rest, water or food in trailers that provide little protection from weather extremes. They are often forced onto double-decked cattle trailers with ceilings so low they injure their heads. Many horses—sick, lame, pregnant or blind—are in distress even before being loaded. Once at the slaughterhouse, the suffering continues unabated. Horses are left for long periods in tightly packed trailers, subjected to further extremes of heat and cold. In hot weather, thirst is acute. Downed animals are unable to rise. All the horses are moved off forcibly when it’s time to unload. Callous workers, using fiberglass rods or electric prods, poke and beat the horses’ faces, necks, backs and legs as they are shoved through the facility and into the kill box.Subject to extreme overcrowding, abuse, deafening sounds and the smell of blood, the horses become more and more desperate, exhibiting fear typical of “flight†behavior—pacing in prance-like movements with their ears pinned back against their heads and eyes wide open.Despite the federal mandate that horses be rendered unconscious before having their throats slit, repeated blows with captive bolt pistols are often necessary to stun the animals. Terrified horses writhe in the holding stalls (known as the “kill boxâ€), legs buckling under their weight after each traumatic, misguided and ineffective blow to their heads. Death, the final betrayal of these noble animals, is protracted and excruciating. Please call or fax your Representative TODAY, asking him or her to vote in favor of H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Keep checking your email every day for the latest news, and continue to contact your Representative until the vote has transpired. When talking with your Representative's office please include some of the additional facts about horse slaughter listed below. To locate your Representative’s contact information and to learn more about horse slaughter and the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act please visit www.saplonline.org/horses.htm.
US Slaughter Plants are finally CLOSED, but slaughter remains an issue!US Plants are no more! State level legislation has shut down the slaughter plants in Illinois and Texas, but horses are still being shipped by truck and by boat outside of the USA for slaughter in Canada, Mexico, and Japan. It's more important now than ever to pass a federal law protecting our horses from slaughter for human consumption!Who eats horsemeat? The biggest consumers of horsemeat are France, Italy, Belgium, and Japan. Horsemeat, considered a delicacy, is used as an alternative to beef. This hurts the US beef industry. Japan regulates the amount of American beef imported into the country, but these regulations are not imposed on American horse meat. Eating horses has never been an accepted part of American culture.What kind of horses are slaughtered? No horse is safe from slaughter. Children's ponies, show horses, family horses, retired show horses, or horses from families who just can't afford them any longer are all at risk of being slaughtered for human consumption. Stolen horses also often end up at slaughter houses. Slaughter is an easy way for a horse thief to make a quick $300-700 on a stolen horse and the evidence is destroyed. 90% of horses slaughtered for human cosumption are young, healthy, sound horses who deserve a better life.What's the big deal anyway? Both the transport of horses to slaughter and the slaughter itself is inhumane. Equipment used in the transport of horses to slaughter is designed for cows. Horses often end up trampled and injured, even dead, while being transported 24 hours or more with no food, water, or rest. The equipment used to stun the horse before being slaughtered is also made for cows. Horses are often slaughtered while still consciously alive (2,500 or more horses met their fate this way last year alone).What can you do? Contact your members of Congress and ask them to support The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. This bill will stop horse slaughter for human consumption in the USA as well as the transport and sale of horses across our borders for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption. Ask your Representative to become an original co-sponsor of this bill and help end the suffering of American horses to feed wealthy Europeans and Japanese. The 109th congressional session is over. HR 503, the 2005-2006 bill, did not pass. It will be reintroduced in the 110th Congressional Session! HR 503 passed the House by a very good majority, but was held up by Senator Conrad Burns in the Senate. It was not allowed to come before the Senate for a vote. Please contact your Senators and House Representatives NOW and ask them to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act! It will ammend the Horse Protection Act to protect horses from horse slaughter for human consumption, including the sale and transportation of horses for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption.There are currently three bills in Congress about Horse Slaughter. Click on the bill numbers to be connected to the actual bill.1. To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to... (Introduced in Senate) [S.311.IS] 2. To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to... (Introduced in House) [H.R.503.IH] 3. To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros. (Introduced in House) [H.R.249.IH]Links to contact your Congress Representatives, and some sample letters/arguments:* http://www.horse-protection.org/info.php?id=45 * http://www.fund4horses.org/info.php?id=774 * http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/631181096 - A new 2007 petition to support the banning of horse slaughter. Please sign! But also keep in mind that contacting your Representatives directly is much more effective than only signing a petition.Breaking News!!* 11-24-07 Here to defend the indefensible * 10-10-07 Vets Speak Out Againat Horse Slaughter * 10-5-07 Ban urged on horses exported for slaughter * 10-3-07 Texas state helping get horses to slaughter in Mexico * 9-23-07 U.S. court backs [Illinois] state ban on horse-slaughtering for human food * 4-19-07 Illinois House Approves State Slaughter Ban * 3-28-07 USDA Ordered to Halt Inspection of Horses for Slaughter * 3-18-2007 Two reactions to the recent AP news article on "Unwanted Horses in Kentucky" * 3-6-2007 Texas Ruling Against Horse Slaughter Confirmed by Federal Court of AppealsFor more information on horse slaughter, facts, statistics, links to videos, and photos, visit the following pages and documents on this site:* Slaughter Statistics & Information - Also great arguments against slaughter and informative links to photos, videos, and more information. * gailsletter.html - Letter to the AVMA about their support of horse slaughter for human consumption * Stop Horse Slaughter poster - free to dowload and distribute. * Radio Interview - Oct 21, 2005 interview by Barbara Reeves on a talk radio show. * Horse Slaughter, an Unnecessary Evil - a white paper commissioned by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Long, but a good read. * The Relationship of Abuse to Slaughter - a great paper backed up by facts & statistics, written by an anti-slaughter advocate, John Holland. * What Horses can teach us about our Government - another great paper written by an anti-slaughter advocate, John Holland. * Horses are Our Friends - Check out this very moving video about the relationship of horses and humans, and the disgrace of horse slaughter.Here are some helpful outside links:* Slaughter Videos: http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/media.html * Weekly Slaughter Stats from the USDA: http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/stats.htm * Analysis of the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 - this proves that horse slaughter is in violation of that statute because the horses are not killed - dispite how Bonnie Beaver perjured herself - and it takes more than ONE blow: http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/captive_bolt.htm * Full contact directory for the 110th Congress: http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/congress_110th.htm * The Amercian Horse Council Report from 2005 - Analysis of the horse industry: http://www.manesandtailsorganization.org/American_Horse_Coun cil_2005_Report.pdf * Veterinarians for Equine Welfare - A group of US vet opposed to horse slaughter for human consumption: http://vetsforequinewelfare.org
"If we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt." (Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)