(WASHINGTON,
D.C.) May 10, 2008 – On the heels of Eight Belles’ tragic
death at the 2008 Kentucky Derby, HBO is exposing an unsavory side
of the Thoroughbred racing industry. The network’s “Real Sports with
Bryant Gumbel” will air a segment on May 12 revealing that thousands
of unsuccessful horses are sent to a brutal death in the
slaughterhouse every year.
As shown in the program, horses no longer winning on the track are
often sold for profit by their owners to slaughterhouse
“killer-buyers.” The animals are then transported to the
foreign-owned plants across US borders, where they are brutally
butchered and sold for human consumption in Europe and Asia. Many of
the horses depicted in the HBO segment went from the track to a
slaughterhouse in Mexico very quickly.
“It’s disturbing that anyone would sell a horse to slaughter, but to
do so the moment a young horse stops earning the owner a big check
seems particularly repugnant,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of
government and legal affairs with the Animal Welfare Institute.
“This piece further demonstrates the clear need for passage of the
American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.”
While the last three horse slaughterhouses operating on US soil were
closed in 2007 under state laws, more than 100,000 American horses
continue to be killed annually at plants located in Canada and
Mexico. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, introduced in
the US Congress as H.R. 503 and S. 311, would prohibit the domestic
slaughter of horses for human consumption abroad, as well as their
export for the same purpose.
“This is a black eye that the Thoroughbred racing world just can’t
afford right now,” Heyde said. “We hope the industry will clean up
its act.”
AWI encourages everyone to step up calls to their legislators and
House and Senate leadership demanding a vote on the American Horse
Slaughter Prevention Act immediately to stop the slaughterhouses
from exporting tens of thousands of American horses to Mexico and
Canada.For more information
on horse slaughter and how you can help end this cruel industry once
and for all please click here:
http://www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/index.htm
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UPDATE: The updated AWI color
brochure and action alert insert on horse slaughter are now
available to everyone working to end horse slaughter and protect our
horses. It contains background on the issue, dispels myths spread by
pro-horse slaughter organizations and provides contact information
on how to take action. To request copies please email
awi@awionline.org with the
amount you would like, name, address and phone number.
For More
Information Contact:
Chris Heyde, (703) 836-4300
For over 57 years
the Animal Welfare Institute has been the leading voice for animals
across the country and on Capitol Hill to reduce the sum total of
pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Find our more at:
www.awionline.org.
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