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New York Lawmakers Press for Horse Slaughter Ban

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Vickery Eckhoff Vickery Eckhoff, Contributor

Uncovering the underground horse meat trade since 2011.

Eighty percent of Americans overwhelmingly oppose slaughtering horses according to polls conducted by Lake Research Partners for the ASPCA

Bobby II Freedom, a New York City carriage horse rescued from slaughter by Equine Advocates in Chatham, NY

Whether or not to slaughter horses for human consumption has been a frequent topic of debate ever since Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri and two colleagues with close ties to the beef industry surreptitiously altered a 2012 omnibus spending bill banning the practice.

That maneuver, which Senator Blunt also employed to add the “Monsanto Protection Act” language to a more recent spending bill, opened the door for horse slaughter inspections to resume in the U.S. after a long absence. Without federal funding for inspectors, slaughter houses cannot operate.

With the end of New York’s legislative session in sight, lawmakers from across New York are working to ban horses from being slaughtered for human consumption, calling the practice exceptionally cruel and a threat to human health.

On June 4, they came together with hundreds of supporters for the third annual NY State Animal Advocacy Day at the legislative office building in Albany, NY. It was the second rally in support of the ban on slaughter—called “Safe Horse New York”—in two weeks.

That legislation would not only ban slaughtering horses, but transporting them to slaughter according to its sponsors, Democratic Assemblymember Deborah Glick (New York City) and Republican Senator Kathy Marchione (Saratoga County). The sale or purchase of horse meat would also be prohibited.

California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas ban horse slaughter while Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Oregon have all recently acted to open up slaughter facilities. Other states, besides New York, are also considering bans and a federal ban—Safeguard American Food Exports (or SAFE)—is gaining sponsors on Capitol Hill.

Eighty percent of Americans overwhelmingly oppose slaughtering horses according to polls conducted by Lake Research Partners for the ASPCA. A majority of horse owners are opposed, including many in the racing industry, as well as people polled in states seeking to open slaughter houses for horses. Public and Congressional opposition to horse slaughter cuts across party and gender lines.

“People understand the significance of horses, the service they provide,” stated Assemblymember Jim Tedisco, a co-sponsor of Glick’s bill who discussed horses’ contributions, not just to racing and building the U.S., including the Erie Canal, but as therapy animals for disabled children and adults as well as U.S. veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“People don’t realize the drugs the horses are taking are also getting into the food chain,” Tedisco noted…(CONTINUED)

Click (HERE) to read the rest of this in depth report and comment at Forbes
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7 replies »

  1. please support this bill and pass it. you will be doing our equine friends one heck of a service, thank you NY and i hope a thank you to Maine and hopefully many more to follow suit!

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  2. There is another group of outraged citizens who are NOT happy with this congressman:

    http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=10490

    Kill the Monsanto Protection Act: Force Senator Roy Blunt to Resign!

    He’s been labeled “prodigious pork-meister” (Providence Journal), “Senator Earmark” (Wall Street Journal) and “Most Corrupt” (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington). Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican from Monsanto’s home state of Missouri, has also been called a magnet for PAC money from the agribusiness industry, raking in over $243,000 in 2010 alone.

    Bitoech’s investment in Sen. Blunt has paid off handsomely. Teaming up with Monsanto lobbyists, Sen. Blunt helped craft the language for the Farmer Assurance Provision. Aptly renamed the Monsanto Protection Act, it’s a sneaky rider that strips federal courts of their power to stop Monsanto from planting unproven, potentially dangerous crops. Without any hearings, the provision was slipped into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2013, and recently signed into law by President Obama.

    TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition below. Force Senator Roy Blunt to resign so we can kill the Monsanto Protection Act!

    The Monsanto Protection Act places biotech companies above the law, and corporate commercial interests above the interest of the public health, opponents argue.

    “This dangerous provision, the Monsanto Protection Act, strips judges of their constitutional mandate to protect consumer and farmer rights and the environment, while opening up the floodgates for the planting of new untested genetically engineered crops, endangering farmers, citizens and the environment,” the group Food Democracy Now said on its website.

    “These provisions are giveaways, pure and simple, and will be a boon worth millions of dollars to a handful of the biggest corporations in this country,” said Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana who opposed the provision

    Sen. Blunt has actually claimed responsibility for the Monsanto Protection Act, and has admitted that he worked with company lobbyists to draft the language and insert it in the appropriations bill to fund the government through September 30, 2013.

    The good news: Like the spending bill it’s attached to, the Monsanto Protection Act expires on Sept. 30, 2013. The best way to make sure it doesn’t survive is to force Sen. Blunt to resign.

    TAKE ACTION: Sign the petition below. Force Senator Roy Blunt to resign so we can kill the Monsanto Protection Act!

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    • Great info Louie for all of us……….. the Monsanto GMO crops and corruption is out of control everywhere and has to STOP!!!!

      Excellent news!!!….. Stop the Slaughter in this Country permanently!!….Horse’s have never been bred as food source!!..

      Horrible excuse to have slaughter as the end result of “Self Serving” and” Greedy” horse breeder’s………………..

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    • Take a look at the Monsanto pilot project for genetically modified wheat in the Pacific Northwest (and other states) 10 years ago has popped up in fields and now will not be accepted by SKorea and Japan.

      They don’t accept genetically altered agri products.

      This story was featured on CBS This Morning today…..the farmer featured is freaked because now he has stuff that he can’t export and didn’t freakin’ plant it.

      Oh…and this wheat and the bugs normally associated with are resistant to……GUESS WHAT?????? ROUND UP!!!!!!

      Don’t ya’ just love big ag.

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  3. We really need to get our legislative house in order and clean-up and move out the garbage politicians. There can simply be no more excuses or tolerance for this kind of behavior. It’s time for all of us who have been unaware or uninvolved in the governing process in this country to get off our non-pro-active backsides and do something about this. If we don’t, we’ll be condoning more of the same and have no one but ourselves to blame.

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    • You’re so right Susan….people get complacent with what’s happening in our world around them……

      There’s a lot going on from the stores being flooded with garbage GMO Foods to our Wild Horses being stripped off their rightful land and the issues of horse slaughter..

      It’s time for the American People to wake up and get involved!!!!

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  4. I just want to know, why are we exporting animals that are not raised as food animals for humans to eat and medicated like Fluffy and Spot?

    WHY are we still DEBATING THIS????????

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