Horse Slaughter Update

I don’t know how I missed this, but evidently horse slaughter plants in Fort Worth and Kaufman will stay closed. Now that Illinois has outlawed its horse slaughter plant, it appears that this is the end of slaughtering horses in the United States for human consumption abroad.

Horse Sense

Former Dallas Cowboy Jay Novacek published an op-ed in Monday's Star-Telegram opposing HR 503 to stop the slaughter of horses. I've heard these arguments before and I'm not sure I believe them.

Another S-T op-ed on Wednesday summarizes my feelings better:

Of course, if you accept the slaughter industry's line of argument, we would have no laws against any form of cruelty. The dogfighter or cockfighter could just as readily invoke this principle in defense of his own depravities. The argument further unravels when you realize that there are already good federal laws -- including the Horse Protection Act -- that forbid the harming of horses for profit. In fact, historically, it was rank cruelty to horses that first inspired our state laws against cruelty.

If we are going to slaughter horses like this, why not do the same with dogs. Other parts of the world eat dog, so why not export them for food also? Funny how no one makes that argument. To me, dogs and horses are the same -- noble creatures who deserve better.

Stop The Slaughter!

I am sad to say that even in the great state of Texas, places exist to butcher horses to export their meat as food -- one of the three in the U.S. is right here in Fort Worth. This is wrong and must stop. Please write Congress to stop this slaughter now!

H.R. 503, The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act has been reintroduced in the US House by Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY), Co-chair of the Congressional Horse Caucus, Congressman John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC) and Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-KY). In the Senate. S. 1915 has been reintroduced by Senator and veterinarian John Ensign (R-NV) and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA). Last year in the House 228 bipartisan Members of Congress cosponsored the bill, let's reach that number again.

Seems All American. Who could be against this? Well ...

"Why is Congress rushing to pass legislation that creates many problems and solves none?" said House Agriculture Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., whose committee has managed to block proposed bans for years. He called the effort "emotionally misguided" and derided the "very wealthy horse owners pushing this legislation" without regard to those who would lose the only financially viable option for disposing of unwanted horses.