Posts Tagged ‘Cruelty to animals’

Breaking News: TN Gov to Veto Ag Gag Bill

Posted: May 13, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News
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Source: TN Newsroom

“I am going to veto the legislation”

Gov Bill HaslamNASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam released the following statement regarding HB 1191/SB 1248:

“Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Tennessee.  Farmers play a vital role in our state’s economy, heritage and history.  I understand their concerns about large scale attacks on their livelihoods.  I also appreciate that the types of recordings this bill targets may be obtained at times under false pretenses, which I think is wrong,” Haslam said.

“Our office has spent a great deal of time considering this legislation.  We’ve had a lot of input from people on all sides of the issue.  After careful consideration, I am going to veto the legislation.  Some vetoes are made solely on policy grounds.  Other vetoes may be the result of wanting the General Assembly to reconsider the legislation for a number of reasons.  My veto here is more along the lines of the latter.  I have a number of concerns.

“First, the Attorney General says the law is constitutionally suspect.  Second, it appears to repeal parts of Tennessee’s Shield Law without saying so.  If that is the case, it should say so.  Third, there are concerns from some district attorneys that the act actually makes it more difficult to prosecute animal cruelty cases, which would be an unintended consequence.

“For these reasons, I am vetoing HB1191/SB1248, and I respectfully encourage the General Assembly to reconsider this issue.”

BLM Offers Free Wild Horse Manure to Public, Really

Posted: May 11, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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It’s Da Real Thing!

horse-manureThe Bureau of Land Management has been verbally dishing mega-tons of wild horse and burro manure to the American taxpayers for decades but now they are actually putting our money where their mouths are, literally.  Now the U.S. Public can actually lay their hands on the real thing from the equines that should not be captive but free on their rightful range.  That BLM is so very, very clever!

Horse Manure

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Thirty Horses Burned Alive in Slaughter Tractor Trailer Fire

Posted: May 8, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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Source: Equine Welfare Alliance

The horses were reportedly destined for the Viande Richelieu Meat, Inc.

EWA (Chicago) – An estimated 30 horses died in a truck fire on I-81 in Lisle, NY, Monday night. According to police the truck was driven by Clarence Phelps of Watertown, but the owner of the horses was kill buyer Bruce Rotz. When contacted about the accident by Equine Welfare Alliance, Rotz indicated he would have no comment, saying only “if it burned it burned.”

Local reports say the truck caught fire and the driver stopped but neither he nor first responders were able to extinguish the flames. No reason was given for keeping the horses trapped in the trailer as it burned. The truck was pulled over in New York on March 13, 2013 and ordered out of service until repairs and maintenance could be performed. Nine violations were noted in 2011, one of which was a discharged or unsecured fire extinguisher.

The horses were reportedly destined for the Viande Richelieu Meat, Inc. slaughterhouse in Massueville, Quebec.  Local reports misidentified the destination as a “rendering plant”, an operation that recycles dead animals and animal products into protein based compounds. Richelieu is not a renderer but a plant that slaughters horses for their meat.

Rotz routinely buys horses from the weekly New Holland, PA horse auction and other sources and delivers them to Canada for slaughter for human consumption. For its part, the Richelieu plant has been involved in multiple scandals.

In February of 2010, the Richelieu plant was embroiled in controversy when an undercover video was released showing horses being shot multiple times with a 22 caliber, bolt action rifle. The images of the horses struggling after improperly placed shots, while the shooter casually walked back and forth to a table to reload his rifle, were seen around the world.

More recently, Canadian slaughter houses, which depend on the US for an estimated 60% of the horses they slaughter, came under scrutiny when testing showed horses carcasses contained the banned substance phenylbutazone.

The meat from Canadian horse slaughter houses is sold mostly in the EU, where horse meat has been found in a wide variety of products marked as “beef” since January.

Over 59,000 US horses were slaughtered in Canada in 2012 according to the USDA. Federal legislation is pending that would ensure our food supply and exports to foreign countries remain safe by banning the “sale or transport of equines or equine parts” in interstate or foreign commerce for human consumption.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has stated on several occasions the need for Congress to find an alternative to slaughtering horses.

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Equine Advocates Meet in NY to Take Stupidity and Horse Slaughter to Task

Posted: April 29, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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Source: Albany‘s News Center 10~ABC

“We shouldn’t be killing our horses”

CHATHAM, N.Y. — Speakers at the  Equine Advocates’ 2013 American Equine Summit are voicing concerns and begging for government leaders to take action against horse slaughtering in the U.S.

The nonprofit organization Equine Advocates rescues, protects and prevents the abuse of equines and is currently working to ban the slaughter of American horses for food sold outside the country.

“The average person, if you were to stop them in the shopping mall and ask them do you know what horse slaughter is, they would not be aware of it,” said JoAnne Normile of Normile Racehorse Protection.

Normile, now an advocate for race horses says something must be done to keep the athletes from slaughter houses.

“We have to start protecting our race horses,” said Normile.

In 2007, congress shut down the remaining horse slaughter houses in the U.S., but in 2011 it lifted a ban on funding horse processing inspections. Now horses can be butchered and their meat sold for consumption in the U.S., something Normile says is cruel and dangerous to people’s health.

“They’re not classified as a food animal so the drugs that are given are not overseen,” said Normile.

Now those using their voices to protect the horses are concerned that slaughter houses will once again open in the United States.

“The battle is whether or not one of these new plants that wants to come back online will be able to,” said John Holland, President of the Equine Welfare Alliance. “This is stupid. We shouldn’t be killing our horses. Everybody knows it.”

According to the government accountability office, since slaughter houses were closed in the U.S. there was an increase in horses from the U.S. being shipped for slaughter to Canada and Mexico.

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It’s Not Cool To Be Cruel

Posted: April 14, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Rescue, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Source: Children 4 Horses ~ Declan Gregg

“I decided to start a new project and I need your help!”
**Pictured is Declan with his favorite horse up for adoption at the NHSPCA, Scarlet**

**Pictured is Declan with his favorite horse up for adoption at the NHSPCA, Scarlet**

“I have been thinking about how people think that if guys like animals that it makes them “uncool” or “whimpy”. The message out there seems to be that is ok to be cruel to animals if you’re a guy. I don’t think this is right at all and I know that that is not the truth. It is VERY COOL to like and help animals, even if you’re a guy!

I decided to start a new project and I need your help! I went to the New Hampshire SPCA today to talk with guys I met there to see what they thought about it. I also brought a sign I made that says “REAL MEN are kind to animals” and asked if I could take their picture. Everyone was impressed with my idea and they were happy to help and let my professional photographer (my mom), take their picture! My idea is to use the pictures for a special project and here is where YOU can help! You can do the same thing I did, make a sign and talk to guys about how they feel about animals and ask them if you can take their picture. I bet you will be surprised by the answers you hear and it will be great to spread the word, that “IT’S NOT COOL TO BE CRUEL”. Women can help me too! Hold up your sign and let everyone know that you think *REAL* Men Are Kind To Animals too! Please post your pictures and stories here on Children 4 Horses, so I can use them for my project :-) I have set up a special album on my page for all the pictures titled “IT’S NOT COOL TO BE CRUEL” and I can’t wait to add yours!

Please join me in my “IT’S NOT COOL TO BE CRUEL” campaign and help me raise awareness all over the world, that guys can love animals too! And have fun!!” ~Declan

"Moose" and his trusty human, R.T. Fitch

“Moose” and his trusty human, R.T. Fitch

Video: Stop the Slaughter of American Horses, Now

Posted: April 8, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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Video supplied by Simone Netherlands of Respect 4 Horses

How YOU can Help!

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Montana Wild Horse Bill Fails in Committee

Posted: April 3, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Source: By Francis Davis of The Montana Standard

Wild Horses take heat even after capture and gelding…
Yet ANOTHER two bit state politician that knows NOTHING about Wild Horse and Burro issues

Yet ANOTHER two-bit state politician that knows NOTHING about Wild Horse and Burro issues

A bill that would have required the state to develop a management plan for wild horses imported into Montana was voted down in committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 402, sponsored by Sen. Kendall Van Dyk, D-Billings, was defeated 6-5 by the agriculture, livestock, and irrigation committee.

Besides a management plan, the Montana Department of Livestock would also have charged a fee of $100 on each imported horse or burro.

Van Dyk had worked with two Republicans in crafting the bill, Sen. Taylor Brown, of Huntley, and Sen. Eric Moore of Miles City.

“We talked about how this might happen,” Van Dyk told The Montana Standard on Tuesday evening after the vote. “We introduced this at a late date, but we elevated the issue and it’s far from over. Hopefully, we can pick it up at the next session. These things take time.”

The Bureau of Land Management completed the transfer of 700 wild horses last month to the Spanish Q Ranch outside of Ennis. The Spanish Q is the first long-term holding facility for wild horses in Montana, but it was delayed for a number of years in no small part because of resistance of neighboring ranch owners about the horses’ effect on irrigation, livestock, and wild life.

The bill attempted to address some of those concerns, but it was up against a tight timeline. If the bill had passed the Senate committee, it would have had to pass through the full Senate and make it to the House by Friday. As day 71 of the current legislative session, Friday is the deadline for a revenue bill to be presented at both the Senate and the House.

Some committee members expressed concern about the $100 import fee, even though the bill was stripped of a retroactive clause that would have covered the 700 horses already at the Spanish Q.

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