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April 25,
2008 (Washington, D.C.) – A renegade resolution to
promote the continued slaughter of American horses for human
consumption abroad was defeated at today’s meeting of the National
Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The measure, offered by
state Representative David Sigdestad (D-SD), urged the United States
Congress to oppose the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act,
currently pending in Congress. AWI commends those state legislators
who stood up in support of humane treatment of horses.
“The scheme was yet another dirty
trick brought to you by the horse slaughter industry and its
lobbyists. Contrary to their claims, the federal American Horse
Slaughter Prevention Act has enormous Congressional and public
support, and the current trend at the state level has also been
towards the passage of laws that protect horses from slaughter,”
said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs
for the Animal Welfare Institute.
The American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act (S. 311/H.R. 503), will prohibit the slaughter of
American horses here or abroad for human consumption in Europe and
Asia where it is often considered a delicacy. The Senate and House
versions have 38 and 200 cosponsors, respectively.
Polls show that the majority of
Americans support an end to the foreign-driven trade, as do hundreds
of horse industry leaders and organizations, humane groups and
dozens of celebrities. As a result, the American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act passed the United States House of Representatives by
an overwhelming margin in the 109th Congress and is up for
reconsideration again. States are also weighing in.
“While the US Congress is
considering a federal ban, California, Texas and Illinois have taken
action to send this predatory business packing. South Dakota
recently considered the issue when a bill authorizing state funds
for the construction of a horse slaughterhouse was stopped in its
tracks, yet here we have a legislator from South Dakota,
Representative Sigdestad, offering a resolution that flies in the
face of legislative trend and public sentiment,” said Heyde. “We
must enact the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act immediately
to protect America’s horses from being trucked alive across our
borders for slaughter abroad, and to further the will of those
states that have enacted measures to end this barbaric trade.”
In recent years, more than 100,000
American horses were slaughtered annually at three foreign-owned
horse slaughterhouses operating out of Texas and Illinois while tens
of thousands more were exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter
there. Last year laws were enacted in Texas and Illinois prohibiting
the slaughter, thus shutting down the country’s remaining domestic
plants. Nonetheless, the industry continues to haul huge numbers of
American horses over the border for slaughter where they may be
stabbed in the neck to induce paralysis before slaughter.
“There has been a concerted effort
by the misnamed ‘Horse Welfare Coalition,’ mentioned in
Representative Sigdestad’s resolution, to mislead legislators and
the American public on the gruesome nature of horse slaughter. The
fact is that this coalition was founded and is led by the very same
foreign-owned companies that were previously slaughtering our horses
here and are now trucking them over the border to Canada and Mexico
to do the same, only under worse conditions. That the horse
slaughter lobby claims to be working in the best interest of
American horses by pushing for the defeat of a federal ban on their
slaughter is disingenuous,” said Heyde. “We’re just glad that reason
ruled the day and the NCSL defeated the resolution.”
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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.
For More
Information Contact:
Chris Heyde, (703) 836-4300
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