The fight is not over, we cannot stop!! We need to push for a ban even harder now and never give up!! Contact your legislators and let them know what is going on and ask them to cosponsor
HR 2966/S 1176 - The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act!! ~Declan
As posted on RT Fitch's blog:
CONFUSION REINS AS CANADIAN SLAUGHTER PLANTS HALT IMPORT OF US HORSES
CONFUSION REINS AS CANADIAN SLAUGHTER PLANTS HALT IMPORT OF US HORSES
Posted: October 12, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse Health, Horse SlaughterTags: Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, European Union, Horse, Horse Slaughter,horsemeat, Mexico
Press Release from Equine Welfare Alliance and the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
Market for Butchered American Horses is Slaughtered
“Shove THAT in your pipe and smoke it, ‘Slaughterhouse’ Sue Wallis”
Chicago (EWA) – US horses are no longer being accepted by Canadianhorse slaughter plants, according to multiple sources. The Shipshewanaauction in Indiana confirmed reports that they have discontinued loose (slaughter) horse sales for an indefinite period of time.
A spokesperson for the Sugar Creek auction in Ohio also confirmed that the kill buyers were no longer taking slaughter horses because “the plants are shut down”. This was further confirmed by a Richelieu slaughter house official. An unconfirmed report by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicated it was the result of an EU directive.
Canadian customs officials, however, knew nothing of the action. To add to the confusion, at least one driver stated that he did deliver horses to an undisclosed plant Friday afternoon.
The move came so suddenly that many trucks were already on the way when they learned of it. According to Lambright the issue is that theEuropean Union (EU) has banned American horse meat from being shipped for consumption in Europe. The EWA has yet to receive confirmation from the EU.
Following the closure of US based horse slaughter plants in 2007, the export of horses to slaughter in Canada and Mexico increased dramatically. In 2011 the US exported over 64,000 horses to Canada and 68,000 to Mexico for slaughter.
Documents showing horse meat contaminated with phenylbutazone (a carcinogen) and clenbuterol (a steroid) had recently surfaced, indicating that the CFIA and the EU were both accelerating their residue testing programs. These reports were followed by claims from some kill buyers that blood was being drawn from as many as half their horses (an unprecedented percentage) before they were being accepted.
Since most of the meat from both the Canadian and Mexican plants is being consumed by the EU, it is reported but not confirmed that Mexico too will curtail imports of US horses.
In 2008, the EU announced that it would require third countries to come into compliance with their standards which require horses to be micro-chipped and all their medications tracked, but few observers expected any action would come before the expiration of a July, 2013 deadline.
The most likely explanation for the sudden move is that the expanded residue testing program has yielded worse than anticipated results.
This isn't a good thing it's a travisty. What pray tell do you think is now going to happen to the 100k+ horses that would of gone to slaughter? Do you think they will find happy homes? A few maybe but most will end up being starved in someones back yard or turned out to fend for them selves where they will either starve or become the prey animals they are. I hope you have a whole lot of land and an endless supply of money, because it's not going to be cheep for you to house, vet,feed and have all of them trimed. I can tell you I'm sure as hell not going to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteKristin L.
Tennessee
Do you know how the KBs get their hands on the horses that go to slaughter? They BUY them. It's not like they collect them running loose in the wild. They troll Craigs list free horse offerings, advertise in local papers and on radio stations, do deals with unscrupulous racing trainers and lottery-style breeders, and buy horses at auction.
DeleteAnd if there are no kill buyers guess what? The owners still own them, the vast, vast majority of whom can well afford to continue to provide feed and care.
And the best news? No more incentive for reckless breeding. Breeders will have to put an emphasis on quality breeding without their convenient discard market. That's going to be one of the best things ever to happen to equines and our industry.
THEY WILL LIVE , MILLIONS OF PEOPLE NOT LIKE YOU WHO ONLY WANT TO PROFIT WILL SAVE THEM FROM SLAUGTER.I HAVE LOTS OF HORSES ,THEY ARE PETS NOT FOOD.SO LOOK OUT WHAT YOU EAT MIGHT KILL YOU. HA HA. YA SAVE AMERICAS HORSES .
DeleteI just like to know since you people have advocated to have all of the horse slaughter plants closed. I'd like to know what you are doing to save all of the starving horse that people don't want or can no longer afford to feed due to the rising price of hay & grain costs. I love horses too, but horses are "livestock" and as such can be a healthy meat source for those that use it.
ReplyDeleteHealthy meat source? Why do you think the EU has stopped buying the meat and the plants shut down? It's because US horses are not raised for food and we give our horses substances which are banned from human consumption. The meat is not safe and we don't eat horses in this country. Buy the way, the plants don't buy starving horses.
DeleteWell, those weren't the horses going to slaughter. Kill buyers are looking for fat, healthy horses, not skinny ones people can't afford to feed!
DeleteAnd furthermore, if a horse has no value except for 'by the pound,' a humane death is far more preferable and conscionable than shipping to slaughter. A well-placed bullet costs $0.50.
A bullet may cost but $.50 but where I live it costs $500 for the rendering truck to come take away the carcus - it is illeagle to bury an animal over 125 #!!
DeleteI make a reasonable comment and now I am needing your approval for my comment. Wow!! Talk about cencorship!!!
ReplyDeleteALL comments are moderated.
DeleteLooks like somebody had better get to those borders and start caring for the horses that are going to be unloaded and turned loose!
ReplyDeleteThat would be great, as it would lead to the immediate arrest of the kill buyers! WOOT!
DeleteThe killbuyers received calls from the plants around 6am Friday morning, most of the auctions are held on Fridays, therefore the majority of the kill buyers did not buy or load. If those buyers or traders should unload and abandon horses, then they are violating laws and should be dealt with accordingly.
DeleteThat is not a good thing at all... With hay prics being out of control and a shortage of it.. More horses are going to be left on the side of roads or deserts and left to die or starvation how can you think that this is at all a GOOD thing.. its horrible... slaughter is a most for the un wanted and crippled horses!!
ReplyDeleteA 6 month study was conducted on "abandoned" horses, guess what, they were rejects from the slaughter pens who were dumped by the kill buyers.
Delete92% of the horses going to slaughter are young, sound, healthy horses, who can go on to second careers. Last years USEF horse of the year was a horse rescued from slaughter. Many of us have rescues from the slaughter pipeline and they are amazing horses, sound, nothing wrong with them and very wanted.
I'll be sure and tell my friends who had their horses stolen and sold to slaughter that their horses were unwanted. That's why they still suffer from PTSD, are haunted by nightmares of what their horses were subjected too. Horse slaughter is a dirty nasty business and the killbuyers even refer to themselves as a "mafia."
Well, it's L-O-N-G overdue that the EU took a position on America's drug-laden horse meat being shipped by unscrupulous profiteers to unsuspecting Europeans. American horse meat is a toxic pharmacopeia of common medications banned from the food chain and given to the vast majority of equines on a regular basis. This closure is good news for horses AND humans!
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like "Anonymous" may be ticked at the risk of losing his/her outlet for his/her "inconvenient" Horses. Time for responsible breeding and ownership, Anon, long overdue time. Leave it to the rest of us to pick up the pieces, you know, like the likes of yours always do.
ReplyDelete