PLEASE CROSS POST-HORSE SLAUGHTER-Where Are We Now?

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PLEASE CROSS POST FAR AND WIDE In the Senate, the bill was reported out of Committee without amendment favorably on April 25, 2007.To date, no floor action has been

scheduled. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-the-transport-of-horses-for-slaughter PLEASE GO TO THE ABOVE LINK AFTER READING THE FOLLOWING INFO ON HORSE SLAUGHTERPLEASE EMAIL/CONTACT YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVESTO DEMAND THAT THEY SUPPORTH.R. 503 would both end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and prohibit their export for slaughter in other countries. This bill passed a crucial Senate committee on April 25, 2007 and we need

your help to keep it moving. TO FIND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIAL PLEASE GO TO http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtmlBLITZ THE PRESIDENT'S EMAIL LINK & YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS IN WASHINGTON D.C.commentshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/interactive/interact_1.htmlDEMAND THAT LEGISLATION BE PASSED NOW

TO BAN TRANSPORTING FOR & SLAUGHTER OF THE OUR HORSES SCROLL DOWN TO THE HISTORY OF HORSE SLAUGHTER LEGISLATIONWhere Are We Now?"Eyes wild, she lowered her head and raised it as the blade punctured her body around the withers, again and again."

Texas state helping get horses to slaughter in Mexico The Associated Press Wednesday, October 3, 2007

WASHINGTON: Horses are filling some state-owned livestock pens along the Texas-Mexico border before they head to a grisly slaughter for their meat in Mexico.With the only three horse slaughter plants in the U.S. closed, the industry has turned to Mexico and Canada to kill horses for their meat largely for export abroad for diners.As of this week, the U.S. exported 20,196 horses from Texas for slaughter in Mexico. That's up from 1,109 over the same period last year, U.S. Agriculture Department statistics show. Through the week of Sept. 22, the latest date for which

statistics were available, 29,741 horses had been exported to Mexico for slaughter from Texas and New Mexico, compared to 6,331 for the same period last year. Arizona and California showed no exports of horses for slaughter. The Humane Society of the United States criticized the Texas Department of Agriculture for allowing companies to use taxpayer-funded pens to help get the horses to slaughter.The group planned to hold a news conference Thursday to show video collected at the pens and a Ciudad Juarez slaughter plant. It is pushing for a national ban on the shipment or export of horses for slaughter.The House in August passed a $91 billion (€64.11 billion) farm and nutrition spending bill that would make it illegal to transport

or export horses for slaughter so their meat can be eaten by people. The Senate has not voted on its version of the bill. Another Senate bill protecting horses from slaughter was approved in committee and a House version is pending in committee."The state should have absolutely no role in facilitating slaughter given the existence of a statute that forbids the practice," said Wayne Pacelle, president of The Humane Society of the United States.A 1949 Texas law bans the sale or possession of horse meat for human consumption or transferring horse meat so it can be sold for human consumption. The law does not address live animals.The Humane Society used that state law to successfully sue for the shutdown of a Beltex Corp.-owned horse slaughter plant near Fort Worth and a Dallas Crown plant in Kaufman.An Illinois law, upheld by a federal appeals court, bans horse slaughter for human consumption and the import, export or possession of horse meat designated for

human consumption.Beverly Boyd, spokeswoman for the agriculture department, said the agency's pens are a rest stop for animals headed to Mexico and South America.She said the agency is required by law to accept all animals as long as state and federal laws and the department's pen policies are being followed.Animals eat, drink and rest at the pens after traveling hundreds of miles (kilometers). They also are checked by Mexican veterinarians before being shipped south. The agency has several pens along the border for exporting livestock to Mexico."A lot of these animals going into Mexico or Canada have traveled a long distance. You don't want them on the trucks all the time," Boyd said.About four to six trucks carrying approximately 30 horses each were arriving at the state pens at the time, said Kathy Milani, The Humane Society of the United States' vice president for investigations and video.The loads were being delivered by Beltex Corp. Beltex also runs a

Panhandle feedlot in Morton, Texas, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of Socorro. Truck drivers also told the animal protection group's employees they had driven from Morton.Beltex did not respond to phone messages requesting comment.The horses arrive at around daybreak, some with injuries. In early afternoon, Mexican trucks arrive at the pens to load the horses and take them to Mexico, she said.Some horses are walked across the border at nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico to San Geronimo, Mexico. They are loaded into double-decker cattle trailers that the U.S. has outlawed and driven further into Mexico, Milani said.Opponents of efforts to ban horse slaughter had warned during previous congressional debates that closing the plants in the U.S. would lead to the export of horses into Mexico and Canada."The U.S. plants had, certifiably so, the most humane way to end the life of unwanted horses available to those horse owners who did not object

to horse slaughter and we turned our back on it," said Charlie Stenholm, a former Texas congressman who now lobbies for the horse slaughter industry."Now we are transporting horses hundreds of miles and it's all because some people object to horse slaughter," he said.___On the Net: The Humane Society of the United States: http://www.hsus.orgTexas Department of Agriculture: http://www.agr.state.tx.us/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/03/america/NA-GEN-US-Horse-Slaughter.php Horse Slaughter: Where Are We Now? For many people, mere mention of the equine slaughter issue evokes very passionate feelings. While some folks don't possess a high level of emotional fervor, it's clear that everyone in the racing industry has a distinct opinion

regarding the subject. Like it or not, the views are spread across a quite broad spectrum. Rather than discuss or evaluate the many divergent positions enunciated, let's simply analyze how recent developments will shape the issue into the near future.This column first discussed the equine slaughter issue in August of 2006.At that time, House Resolution 503, a modified version of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act first introduced in 2003, was being debated in the United States House of Representatives.As so modified, H.R. 503 would have prohibited transport of, and trafficking in, horses for the purpose of introduction in the human food chain.Click Here to read the August 2006 Racing and the Law article.http://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=41484While the measure easily passed the house on September 7, 2006, the United States Senate failed to vote on the proposed legislation before the 109th Congress came to an end, effectively negating the action of the House.The prime House sponsors of the Act reintroduced the measure in the 110th Congress on January 17, 2007. The proposal presently has 180 cosponsors.On that same day, a companion measure was introduced in the United States Senate with 30 cosponsors (S.311).The measures seek to, "prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes."In the House, the bill presently languishes in the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee. In the Senate, the bill was reported out of Committee without amendment

favorably on April 25, 2007.To date, no floor action has been scheduled.Ironically, while Congressional action regarding slaughter for the purpose of human consumption is still under consideration, federal court decisions have resulted in a complete cessation of horse slaughter for human consumption in the United States, at least for the time being.In Texas, home to two of the only three slaughterhouses in the United States that processed horse meat for human food (the third is in Illinois), a portion of the state's Agriculture Code promulgated in 1949 prohibited the processing or sale of horse meat for human consumption.A 2002 opinion of the Texas Attorney General clarified the applicability of the measure to the two entities in question.Thereafter, the slaughterhouses sued to permanently enjoin (stop) the local District Attorney from prosecuting them under the regulation.The Federal District Court for the Northern District of

Texas granted the injunction. On January 19, 2007, however, a three judge panel of the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals (covering Texas) reversed the District Court.The tone for the appellate decision is established in its first two sentences, "The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon. Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse, but film is an imperfect mirror for reality."The Circuit Court rejected all the arguments of the slaughterhouses, specifically holding that the Texas law had not been repealed, was not preempted (superceded) by federal food inspection laws, and was not in violation of the Commerce Clause contained in the U.S. Constitution.A week after the ruling, two major American airlines announced that they would no longer ship horse meat from Texas.In March, the 19 judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to entertain a petition by the slaughterhouses for en

banc (full court) review, effectively affirming the decision of the three judge panel and closing the operations of the Texas plants which remain closed to this day.On March 28, 2007, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated a United States Department of Agriculture regulation that circumvented Congressional intent by permitting slaughterhouses to pay the salaries of meat inspectors when funding for them was eliminated by Congress.By finding that the "Fee for Service" program established by the USDA was illegally promulgated, slaughterhouses were rendered unable to function, as the required meat inspectors were not present.The third and last American slaughterhouse recently met a fate similar to its Texas counterparts.In May, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed into law a ban on all import, export, possession and slaughter of horses destined for human consumption.The measure had passed both houses of the state

legislature by comfortable margins.On July 5th, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that the state's ban was a constitutional exercise of the state's police power.Then, on September 21st, a three judge panel of the Seventh Circuit United States Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling, and vacated all previously issued injunctions. The third and last slaughterhouse in the United States was placed out of business.Do these rulings effectively end once and for all the slaughter of domestic horses for the purpose of providing steaks in European and Pacific Rim restaurants? While the present answer is clearly "no," the options for the slaughterhouses are rapidly dwindling:Appeals: The appellate rights of the plants are not yet fully exhausted.First, the ruling of the District Court in Washington, D.C. invalidating the USDA "Fee for Service" regulation can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals.The

slaughterhouse in Illinois may ask for en banc (full court) review of the decision in their case, though it appears that the Texas slaughterhouses have not attempted to persuade the United States Supreme Court to hear their appeal.At each of these levels, the entities could ask for temporary injunctive relief permitting them to operate while decisions of these higher courts are pending.Still, permission to appeal where required in the higher federal courts is rarely granted.A significant constitutional issue must be raised and, even then, the court might contemplate the issue and decide to affirm the lower court.Obtaining a temporary injunction permitting the plant(s) to remain operational pending appeal is not guaranteed. In sum, the slaughterhouses are true longshots to come out ahead in the federal judicial system.Other states: Assuming any of the three entities can find a judicial or political way to get the USDA meat inspectors back in the plants,

they could attempt to reestablish their operations in states where the legislatures are receptive to their business.Then again, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York and a growing number of states have bills pending in their respective legislatures similar to those already promulgated in Texas, Illinois, California, Oklahoma and other jurisdictions banning equine and certain other types of slaughter for human consumption.It would appear quite risky to expend significant capital to establish a plant, only to have the plant's new home state, or the federal government, impose anti-slaughter legislation.Direct Transport: At this time, it is conceivable that an entity could purchase unwanted horses in a state where no transport ban exists and ship the animals directly to places like Mexico and Canada where equine slaughter plants are operating.In its decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals pointed out that one of the Texas slaughterhouses owns a controlling

interest in a Mexican slaughter plant.The parent company of the Illinois plant struck a deal over the summer to utilize two cattle slaughter operations in Canada to process horses.In the absence of a transport ban in a certain state, and given the present lack of a federal ban on interstate transport, a chartered plane could bring the horses directly to a foreign plant, forgoing land transportation through "ban" states.It's probably happening as you read this article.What's the deal with slaughter?The old Yogi Berra-ism: "It ain't over till it's over" aptly describes the present circumstances.Remember, humanely accomplished slaughter of horses is always legal, so long as the resultant meat is not destined for a dinner plate.No matter what stance you take regarding the issue of equine slaughter for human consumption, there is still ample time and opportunity for your voice to be heard.----------Chris E. Wittstruck, an attorney and

Standardbred owner, is the founder and coordinator of the Racehorse Ownership Institute at Hofstra University, New York and a charter member of the Albany Law School Racing and Gaming Law Network.By Chris E. Wittstruck, Esqhttp://www.harnesslink.com/www/Article.cgi?ID=56867 http://www.chooseveg.com/meet-your-meat.asp

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