Preventing horse slaughter - a personal evolution
By Former
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) - 02/14/12
12:36 PM ET
A few years ago, when I was still serving in the Senate, I was asked
to support legislation that would ban the practice of slaughtering horses for
human consumption. My initial reaction was cool to the notion that the federal
government should be mandating or telling owners of these horses what they can
or cannot do with their animals. However, my initial instincts on such a policy
were outweighed by the personal and practical experience that horse owners
brought to my attention, including my son, Chet.
An avid horseman, Chet is active in the
horse industry and had rescued several horses from a “killer buyer” — one who
buys horses from sometimes unsuspecting owners and then sells them to
slaughterhouses. My son retrained and sold those horses to become champion polo
ponies. His experience showed me that live, active horses support an important
infrastructure of jobs and economies in the United States. A live horse needs
to be fed, groomed and trained, as well as receive vet care, among other
things. This in turn creates and maintains a viable and enduring way of life in
rural America. The sale of horses to killer-buyers in fact generates very
little profit for the seller while simultaneously choking off the demand for
the goods and services that other buyers would create.
I was proud to become a co-sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act and strongly support its enactment into law. Notwithstanding my
personal evolution in seeking a ban to the practice of slaughtering horses for
human consumption and the interstate transportation thereof, which the
legislation would do, I support this legislation for three compelling reasons:
Banning horse slaughter would save taxpayers millions of dollars every year, as
it would eliminate a wasteful federal program that only serves to benefit a
handful of foreign-owned companies; it would help foster and promote
sustainable jobs in rural America; and it would end the needless suffering of
more than 100,000 American horses each year, which are hauled across the United
States to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada to supply so‐called “high‐end”
restaurants in France and Belgium.
Recently the proponents of the horse slaughter
industry, who have been vigorously opposing the American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act, seized on a report by the Government Accountability Office that
made flawed claims, based on flawed evidence, about there now being “too many
horses,” which are starving to death and subsequently depressing horse prices.
None of this is true. Unfortunately, in the ensuing confusion Congress enacted
H.R. 2112, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012,
which removed a long‐standing prohibition on the
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ability to inspect horses bound for slaughter,
thus allowing for the resumption of horse slaughter in the United States — and
the expenditure of federal tax dollars on a program that will benefit only
foreign interests, not rural America.
Horse slaughter proponents further claim that
slaughter exists because there are too many unwanted horses, but fail to point
out that even when horse slaughter was allowed in the United States, a large
number of horses from Canada were imported annually to a horse slaughter
facility in Illinois. If we had too many horses, why did that facility need to
import them?
I spent my entire political career working to
reduce federal spending, shrink the size of the government, and promote
American jobs. Supporting the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act fits all
of those key goals while also helping reduce unnecessary animal suffering. For
myself, the horse industry, and the majority of Americans who support a ban on
horse slaughter, passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is a
win‐win issue for America.
Lott is
senior counsel at the law firm Patton Boggs LLP and former Senate majority
leader.
I wish Trent Lott was still a Senator Declan. We certainly could use his support now. He is a good man.
ReplyDeleteSenator Declan...I think he has the floor...lol great job Declan
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