ILLEGALLY ACQUIRED HORSES

Judy Taylor of Kentucky sought help in caring for her two beloved Appaloosa horses, Poco and PJ, due to her own serious health problems. At the recommendation of a friend, she contacted Lisa and Jeff Burgess. The couple agreed to take care of the animals with the understanding that, if they were unable to continue doing so, the horses were to be returned to Judy. Despite this agreement, within seven days of receiving the horses, the Burgesses sold them to a known killer-buyer for $1,000. Soon after, Judy discovered what had happened and frantically searched for her fraudulently acquired horses.

Eventually she learned the horrifying truth—her horses had been slaughtered for their meat. Successful charges were brought against the Burgesses. The Kentucky Court of Appeals noted “the Burgesses’ conduct clearly rises to the level of being outrageous and intolerable in that it offends generally accepted standards of decency and morality, certainly a situation in which the recitation of the facts to an average member of the community would arouse his resentment against the actor, and lead him to exclaim, ‘Outrageous!’”

WILD HORSES SLATED FOR SLAUGHTER

The wild stallion, Cloud, subject of two popular PBS specials and companion books, is at risk of round-up and slaughter because of recent legislative changes to the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. (Ginger Kathrens/www.thecloudfoundation.org)

In the 1950s Velma Johnston, better known as “Wild Horse Annie,” revulsed by the cruelty she witnessed at horse roundups and during transport, began a campaign to protect wild horses from this butchery. Her work culminated in the passage of The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971 that stated in part, “It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death....”

A backdoor Congressional Appropriations rider, engineered by the former Senator Conrad Burns (R–MT), gutted this law. Now, the Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for protecting wild horses, must sell “excess” horses (those 10 years of age or older or not adopted after three tries) at livestock auctions. As a result, thousands of wild horses will be removed from their range and sold for slaughter.

A BRUTAL DEATH

The transportation, handling and slaughter process are rife with cruelty. Failure to properly stun animals at the slaughter plant results in horses being shackled and dismembered while still conscious. Slaughter is not humane euthanasia. (Gail Eisnitz/HFA)

Last year, three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States killed horses for human consumption. They were Beltex Corporation in Ft. Worth, Texas; Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas and Cavel International in DeKalb, Illinois. According to the US Department of Agriculture, over 100,000 horses were slaughtered in 2006. All three have been closed due to changes in state law.  In addition to the horses killed in the US, 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 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.

Therapeutic riding programs benefit children and horses.

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 box”), 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.

You can make a difference

Many of the horses sold into slaughter have been abused and neglected. Be sure to report all instances of cruelty to your local animal control office and law enforcement office.

Please report stolen horses to local and state authorities. The Internet has numerous websites for reporting and looking for stolen horses. These sites allow individuals around the country to share information and photos.

Do not sell your horse at an auction; many of the horses at auctions are bought by killer-buyers. Consider the following options:

- Legislative Information provided by the Library of Congress. Search Congressional records and legislation for current and previous years.  Find your member of Congress and their contact information.