Fwd: Texas mayor wants slaughter plant closed - BUT...NEEDS TO BE REELECTED

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elgianne <elgianne wrote: elgianne <elgianneFwd: Texas mayor wants slaughter plant closed - BUT...NEEDS TO BE REELECTED Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:19:15 -0400> Mayor Bacon has been trying for years to close the slaughter > plants. Please, if you can, send her donations so she can win her > election. We need to keep her in office.Best,Marjorie > Texas mayor wants slaughter plant closed - BUT...NEEDS TO BE REELECTED>> 3/26/2007 7:25:42 PM Eastern Standard Time> CJDiBalm>> FOR ALL THOSE THAT HAVE FOUGHT LONG AND HARD TO> BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE UNITED STATES> THE REELECTION OF KAUFMAN, TEXAS, MAYOR BACON> IS KEY TO THIS FIGHT.> DALLAS CROWN SLAUGHTERHOUSE IS

IN KAUFMAN, TEXAS> "Paula Bacon, the Mayor of Kaufman,Texas,> says the horse slaughter plant breaks city codes and is bad for the > town."> "The city has fined the plant 29 times for wastewater violations ...."> USA TODAY 9/4/2007> PLEASE CROSS POST FAR AND WIDE> PLEASE VISIT THE LINKS BELOW> AND> PLEASE SERIOUSLY CONSIDER CONTRIBUTING TO/SUPPORTING> THE REELECTION OF MAYOR PAULA BACON> http://www.mayorpaulabacon.com/index.php> www.mayorpaulabacon.com>> "Paula Bacon told me the kill plant had $12 million in gross > revenues and only pays $5 in taxes but it clogs the sewage system up.">> TIME ...TUESDAY JULY 26, 2006> http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1218884,00.html>>> Texas mayor wants slaughter plant closed>> USA TODAY> Posted 9/4/2006 5:07 AM ET>> KAUFMAN, Texas (AP) - A

mile from one of three horse slaughter > plants in the United States, the stale smell of offal and blood > wafted under Mayor Paula Bacon's nose.>> "It's a kill day, isn't it?" she said, referring to the plant's > twice a week slaughter schedule. "It rained today, but it gets > worse than this.">> Bacon and others want the Dallas Crown Inc. slaughter mill to > close. The U.S. House could signal its fate with a vote expected > Thursday on a bill that would outlaw slaughtering horses for human > consumption.>> Families in the nearby Boggy Bottoms neighborhood say odors from > Dallas Crown keep them indoors. Bacon says the plant's "stigma" > stifles development and job growth in this rural exurb of 7,000 > about 30 miles southeast of Dallas.> Dallas Crown officials insist that local opposition to the plant is > not widespread and is mostly limited to a

few Boggy Bottom > residents and the mayor.>> The plant and its Belgium owners have survived numerous attempts to > close it in recent years. But the horse slaughter debate is "as > focused right now as it's gotten," said Dallas Crown attorney Mark > Calabria.>> The bill, known as the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, > would shutter Dallas Crown and other slaughter plants in Fort Worth > and DeKalb, Ill. Horse meat is not marketed as table fare in the > United States, but the slaughter plants process hundreds of horses > each week and ship the meat overseas. Horse meat is considered a > delicacy in Europe, Japan and other places. Some goes to U.S. zoos.>> The legislation doesn't directly prohibit horse slaughter but would > effectively halt such operations by banning the transport and sale > of horses for human consumption.>> Lobbying

on both sides of the bill is fierce. Supporters, including > oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and country singer Willie Nelson, > accuse the plants of cruelly killing young horses and call the > processing operations an un-American slaughter of a cultural symbol.>> Cattle associations and the American Veterinary Medical Association > rush to the plants' defense. They say rescue shelters will be > overburdened with unwanted horses and others will be sold across > the border to face a slaughter that is less humane and not as > stringently regulated.>> Then there's the odor, horseflies, blood runoff, vultures and > strain on the Kaufman sewage system that Bacon blames on Dallas Crown.>> Some wonder, however, if the mayor, who will travel to Washington > this week in support of the bill, is driven more by personal > beliefs than civic concern.>> A teacher in

her second mayoral term, Bacon said she's simply > aligned on the side of most constituents who "believed the lie" > that Dallas Crown only slaughters old horses no longer capable of > working.>> Calabria, the company attorney, points out that state environmental > officials found no air violations and wonders why Bacon wants to > close a factory employing more than 50 people.>> "Frankly, she's someone that doesn't think you ought to process or > slaughter horses," said Calabria, a Kaufman resident. "(It's) her > right to do so. But I don't know that she gets to use the mayor's > pulpit as a soapbox to advocate her animal rights ideas.">> Bacon claims Dallas Crown has treated Kaufman "like a doormat." She > said Kaufman has spent about $55,000 in legal fees fighting the > company since August 2004, and that her small city can't afford to > continue being

dragged to court.>> "I am not an animal rights activist," Bacon said. "But I cannot > likely prevail without Congress. (Dallas Crown) has deep pockets.">> Lee Ayres, the Kaufman Chamber of Commerce president, disputes the > mayor's claim that Dallas Crown's "stigma" scares away developers. > In 11 years, he said, he's never seen a business hedge at settling > in Kaufman because of the plant.>> The city has fined the plant 29 times for wastewater violations - > totaling about $58,000. Dallas Crown responded by requesting > separate jury trials on each alleged violation, Bacon said. In > March, the city's zoning board declared the plant a public health > hazard and ordered it closed by Sept. 30. But a subsequent court > ruling allowed the plant to remain open pending a trial scheduled > for January.>> By then, Congress may have already decided Dallas

Crown's fate.> Robert Eldridge, a Boggy Bottoms resident, is not getting his hopes > up that the plant will close.>> He said he's spent a lifetime picking up horse bones that dogs > carry into his yard and gagging from the stench of offal bins.>> "Until I see them gone, I don't get excited," Eldridge said. "When > they pack up the trucks and get out of town, I'll believe.">> Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This > material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.> http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt? > action=cpt & title=USATODAY.com++Texas+mayor+wants+slaughter+plant > +closed & expire= & urlID=19369650 & fb=Y & url=http%3A%2F% > 2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2006-09-04-horse- > slaughter_x.htm & partnerID=1660>> Texas Monthly Magazine> The following letter was

printed in the February 2007 issue.>> Letter to the Editor, Texas Monthly> RE: Eating a Dead Horse>>> Thank you for your recent article on the slaughter of American > horses for consumption by the French and other foreign markets.>> As mayor of Kaufman where one of the 3 foreign-owned plants in the > U.S. operates, I appreciate efforts to expose the dirty little > secret that treats my city like a doormat.>> I believe that facts are friendly, and while the article was well- > researched and written, important facts were buried or omitted:>> 1) Almost half the article passes before the reader is > informed that the author's father has a vested interest in keeping > horse slaughter legal. Mr. Olsson's firm profits from this > industry and actively opposes the proposed and widely supported ban.>> 2) While mention is made of the

paltry $5 in federal income > tax paid by the plant in Kaufman, omitted is the fact that this is > the total tax paid on $12 million in sales.>> 3) No mention is made of the millions of our federal tax > dollars spent to provide oversight for an industry that employs a > total of fewer than 200 people at all three plants.>> 4) Certainly worthy of mention is the USDA study that found > over 90% of the horses arriving at the slaughter plants are in good > to excellent condition with no behavioral problems.>> 5) Also lost in the article is the fact that it has been > against the law in Texas to slaughter horses for human consumption > since 1949.>> 70% of Americans oppose the slaughter of American horses to serve > wealthy diners abroad. Relevant facts about this dangerous, un- > American industry make clear to Texans the importance of passing >

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.>> Sincerely,> Paula Bacon> Mayor, Kaufman, TX>> http://www.mayorpaulabacon.com/index.php>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **************************************>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> **************************************> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's > free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.http://horses.generitek.comA man of kindness, to his beast is kind.But, brutal actions, show a brutal mind:Remember, He who made thee, made the brute,Who gave thee speach and reason, formed him mute;He can't complain, but God's omnicient eyeBeholds thy cruelty - He hears his

cry!He was designed thy servant; not thy drudge,But know - That his Creator is thy judge.Unknown author from The Ladies' Equestrian Guide, 1857.

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