Obama restores U.S. horse-slaughter industry

[casallc]

President Obama earlier this month quietly signed into law a spending bill that restores the American horse-slaughter industry, just a few months after a government investigation said the ban on slaughtering for human consumption was backfiring.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... -industry/

[wilf]

Hopefully this bill will include the dignified and humane treatment of the animal during sales and/or shipping and at the plant. This then will avoid the awful long distance that the poor beasts must endure on their way to plants in Quebec or even worse ,Mexico.

[oleos93]

Finally he did something right.

[reenci]

so im to believe that this is a good thing government cant do shit right.....never has never will. more responsible owners are whats needed....if you cant care for that animal ...DONT BREED IT OR BUY IT.

[IcouldbeU]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/1130/Lifting-horse-slaughter-ban-Why-PETA-says-it-s-a-good-idea Peta thinks its a good idea

So what happens when a trainer sells to the kill buyer since it is not illegal?

[reenci]

as with anything in life...you reap what you sow...instead of that couple hundred bucks thats not going to change your life for the better..put the animal down. vultures.

[reenci]

you know theres an aweful lot of lack of personal responsibility in this country and this subject just adds to it.

[ratherrapid]

i'd want the focus to be on humane transport and slaughter. very few abusing neglecting owners or owners unable to afford the expense are going to euthanize their own horse regardless. u'd think, opening a new slaughter plant, the opportunity is there to figure humane slaughter and transport. if the anti-slaughterites spent half as much energy on these issues than they do raiding kill buyer lots for publicity, most of this problem would disappear, possibly?

[Crystal]

Slaughter plants opening in the US again would better help control the transportation of horses to slaughter because of the laws on US road ways (weigh stations/USDA check points). A USDA inspector won't let horses pass over the boarder to another state if they think a horse is ill or coming from a state/facility that has had problems. Nevermind the uproar of if a overloaded-double-decker pulls into a highway weigh station and is overloaded with equidae. Plus the police would pull him over if he tried to skip the weigh in.. Also plants cannot except a shipment (and will refuse shipment) if weigh in/driver paperwork is not in order. They would receive huge fines.

So as long as the USDA inspectors at such stations are doing their jobs than the cruel transport from kill pens would stop..

Now horses ending up in kill pens/at auction (as well as the health condition they arrive in/stay in) is a whole 'nother can of worms. As well as the processing of horses with regulated methods to assure a single-time kill.

Rescue groups could still be effective IF there was a span of time between auction-processesing for them to do their fund raising/bail out. Such as a 90 day "clearing time" from meds, etc. Such as if a seller had to bring their animals to a "clearing pen" before they sold for say 90 days. They wouldn't have to be paying for the animal any longer and they animal would receive a chance to get proper feed and medical care. But this would be a huge expense and I'm such auction houses would not want to absorb this cost without government expense. But it would make exported meat clean(er) than 10 days track-to-plate.

Also Americans would not embrace the $40/pound cost for horse meat in this day or time.

[casallc]

Barbi twins: Obama abandoned the horses

Over the years, we’ve covered the efforts of former Playboy playmates Shane and Sia Barbi to put an end to the slaughter of horses in the United States. And, now that Congress has just lifted a ban that could result in a return to horse slaughter for meat after it had been outlawed for five years, the Barbi Twins are revamping their efforts.

The two blasted a release to their email list, headlined, “Twin Bunnies Campaign Against ‘Slaughter House Sue’ over Pet Horse Meat.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/12 ... z1fOhSTYef

[casallc]

i'd want the focus to be on humane transport and slaughter. very few abusing neglecting owners or owners unable to afford the expense are going to euthanize their own horse regardless. u'd think, opening a new slaughter plant, the opportunity is there to figure humane slaughter and transport. if the anti-slaughterites spent half as much energy on these issues than they do raiding kill buyer lots for publicity, most of this problem would disappear, possibly?

There are laws in effect now that adresses the transportation issue. Congress, in their "wisdom" made the laws effective years down the road from the original bill passage. The laws took effect in December 2006 (I think but didn't look it up - close anyway). By that time there were no USDA slaughter plants left so the laws dealing with transportation of horses to U.S. slaughter plants became moot. Double deckers are no longer allowed and most of the issues have been addressed:

USDA funded research at Colorado State University on the physical conditions of horses arriving at slaughter plants, at Texas A&M University on the effects of water deprivation in equines, and at the University of California, Davis on stress in equines shipped to slaughter facilities. The recommendations and findings of the USDA, stakeholder, and research groups became part of the regulations in 2000. Under these regulations shippers must:
•Separate stallions and other aggressive horses from the rest of the shipment.
•Provide adequate food, water, and rest six (6) hours prior to loading onto a vehicle.
•Confine horses in a vehicle no longer than 24 (+4?) hours without food and water.
•Use an owner/shipper certificate.
•Provide adequate floor space.
•Phase out two-tier trailers.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health ... port.shtml