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SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness
SHARK
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Editorial: Horse Slaughter Ban Should Not be RepealedLatest Updates in the Fight!Rodeo Industry Loves Horses? No. Loves Horse Slaughter? YES!The World Needs More Hailey AndersonsSHARK Dismantles Illinois Rep's Pro-Horse Slaughter ArgumentIllinois Horse Slaughter Factory Continues to Violate Sanitary RegulationsA Veterinarian's View16 Horses Killed En Route to Illinois SlaughterhouseHorseKillers.com
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Latest Updates in the Fight!February 16, 2009: We Must Now Fight Horse Slaughter State by State! The Horse New Slaughterers' Strategy is Now Clear State legislators have been introducing pro horse slaughter resolutions on behalf of foreign investors anxious to defeat H.R. 503. These resolutions and bills are a not-so-subtle ploy by the foreign investors that own horse slaughter houses to defeat H.R. 503 which would ban the sale, transport, and possession of horses in interstate and foreign commerce for slaughter for human consumption. Even without H.R. 503, horse slaughter cannot occur legally in the U.S. There is no point in states appropriating tax dollars for studies when currently horse slaughter for human consumption is not allowed in the U.S. These resolutions will simply insure horse slaughterers can continue to take American horses to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. The number of states taking part is alarming. They are: Arizona, Utah, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Arkansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Illinois. Read all about it here and PLEASE take action.July 19, 2007: Cavel horse slaughterhouse allowed to reopen again! July 6, 2007: A federal judge ruled in favor of an Illinois state law banning the production or possession of horse meat for human consumption, effectively putting out of business the Cavel horse slaughterhouse in DeKalb, IL--and the last remaining American horse killing factory. Read the full article here. Update June 1, 2007: U.S. District Court Judge Allows Horse Slaughter Plant to Temporarily Slaughter Horses Pending Legal Filings
From a press release from the Society for Animal Protective Legislation: Update May 25, 2007: Illinois Governor Signs Horse Slaughter Ban into LawFrom Farmed Animal Watch:Saying it was "past time to stop slaughtering horses in Illinois," Governor Rod Blagojevich on May 24th signed a bill making it illegal to kill horses there for human consumption. A DeKalb slaughterplant had been the last in the nation to kill horses. On May 16th the Illinois Senate had passed the bill by a 39 to 16 vote. Earlier it had passed the House. The two other U.S. horse slaughterplants, both in Texas, apparently will remain closed as a deadline passed without action on a state bill that was expected to be amended to authorize their reopening. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a petition to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that in effect had shut the plants down. However, time still remains for an amendment to be tacked onto another bill, as happened on May 11th. Animal protection advocates are pushing for a federal ban on the export of horses for slaughter. "Thousands of horses face grueling trips to slaughter facilities in Canada and Mexico unless Congress acts now to protect them," said Wayne Pacelle, head of The Humane Society of the U.S. Opponents say horses should be treated as other farmed animals, and that horse slaughter is humane and creates jobs. Horse breeders, trainers and others involved in the horse industry claim they are already losing money. Update March 31, 2007: Horse Slaughter Halted in US!When a court ruling on March 29, 2007 halted inspections at Cavel International, Illinois' horse killing factory, horse slaughter in the United States effectively ended. At least for now. Still pending in Congress currently are two bills (H.R. 503 and S. 311 (the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act), which if passed will also prohibit the transport of American horses across the border to Mexico for slaughter. Unfortunately, the horses arriving at Cavel for slaughter were turned back to their six originating states instead of being allowed to be adopted by the horse rescuers who were organized and waiting to receive them. The Chicago Tribune covered the story and reported comments on the situation from Colleen O'Keefe, Illinois Department of Agriculture's Division manager of Food Safety and Animal Protection, and a familiar name to SHARK supporters who are following the National High School Rodeo Finals abuse case. (Learn about this at IllinoisCorruption.com.) Ms. O'Keefe's comments highlight the insensitivity of the Illinois Ag Department to the plight of these "food-use" horses, as she defends the decision to send the horses back to ultimate slaughter in Canada by saying, among other things, that they are "not Flicka." Read more about the turned away horses here: Chicago Tribune: "Happy Ending Unlikely for Horses that escaped Dekalb slaughter" The Chicago Sun-Times published a pointedly scathing editorial on horse slaughter and the recent decision:It's simple.March 30, 2007 By MICHAEL SNEED, Chicago Sun-Times Columnist It's called pet 'em, whack 'em and eat 'em and it's barbaric. · · Translation: Butchering a pet for human consumption should be a crime, and it's been going on at the Cavel slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Ill. It began butchering horses for European dinner tables 20 years ago. That was until 8 a.m. Thursday, when common sense took over. That was when the controversial plant was ordered to cease killing horses for human consumption by a U.S. district court in Washington, D.C. · · Translation: The grisly slaughter of 4,000 pets, race horses, colts, wild horses each month for human consumption in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy is over for now. · · Further translation: But the plant, the only one of its kind now operating in the United States, plans to appeal. (Two plants in Texas were shut down earlier this year by a Texas court.) "It is a barbaric practice, and the shutting down of the Cavel plant is a tremendous victory for humane advocates across the country," said Jonathan Lovvorn, chief litigating officer for the U.S. Humane Society. "It is now up to the U.S. Congress to pass final legislation to end this practice for good." "Approximately 100,000 horses last year have gone to slaughter under an illegal scheme of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's an enormous breach of our trust to send companion animals to slaughter." · · The Cavel side: "I think it's a terrible decision," said James Tucker, Cavel's general manager. "I think it's a vast disservice to the horse industry and most horse owners. "Without this option it means that some people won't be able to dispose of their animals as they see fit -- a small group of people has contrived to shut down an industry." Tucker claims the plant will process the meat "we have from horses that were processed before today." His concern: "Fifty-five people could be out of work if our appeal doesn't work." Hmmm. Fifty-five people who listen to the sounds of frightened animals sliding in their blood. Fifty-five people who watch the agony of man's companion animals being slaughtered to put on a European table. · · Background: Congress took away federal funds going to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to inspect the plants because they didn't want horses going to slaughter for human consumption. "The USDA tried to work around that by issuing a rule allowing the plants to pay for USDA inspection," said Lovvorn. "What just happened is the U.S. district court said nope. It is illegal for them to pay the USDA inspectors ... and the plant can't operate without USDA inspection." Great job. Bravo. · · Addendum: By the way, here is a list of gutless state reps who were responsible for tanking the state's Horse Slaughter Ban bill in 2004. If they reside in your district, you might want to send them a message next time you enter the voting booth: Patricia Bailey, Patricia Bellock, Mike Boland, John Bradley, Dan Brady, Daniel Burke [SHARK note: Daniel Burke switched sides and in 2007 voted to end horse slaughter], Lee Daniels, Jack McGuire, Charles Morrow, Ed Sullivan Jr. and Arthur Turner voted "No" -- and James Brosnahan, Marlow Colvin, John Fritchey, Paul Froehlich and Calvin Giles were either excused or didn't vote. ### For more on the court decision and the closing of Cavel, read this article from the Chicago Tribune, March 30, 2007: "Slaughter of Horses blocked for now" |
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