By Robert Samuels, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
A Horse’s Life is Valued in the Sunshine State
TALLAHASSEE — Without a single legislator voting “nay,” a bill toughening laws against those who butcher horses or sell or purchase their meat is galloping to the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist.
The bill, which cleared the Senate chambers Thursday, had been a legislative priority for the South Florida delegation, where at least 22 pet horses were found slaughtered last year. They are presumably sold for their meat, sometimes even marketed to buyers as beef.
Rep. Luis Garcia, the Miami Democrat who sponsored the measure, said he hoped stiffer penalties would make the crime less likely. If approved by Crist, such acts would become felonies, punishable by a $3,500 fine and a year in jail. Selling horse meat is currently a misdemeanor.
The bill also would criminalize butchering horses for personal use.
“A lot of people are getting hurt, a lot of animals are getting hurt,” Garcia said, referring to testimony from animal rights advocates.
Earlier this session, animal advocates predicted that this would be the year for tougher animal protection laws. Several lawmakers filed bills — dealing with snakes, horses, dogs and cats — that would not cost the state any money but would curry favor from voters back home.
That prediction won’t necessarily pan out. With only a week to go, a bill banning the sale and import of Burmese pythons and anacondas is still pending in both chambers. And a bill allowing local governments to ban certain breeds of dangerous dogs, such as the pit bull, was killed.
Legislators also have passed over, again, a bill that would ban human-animal sex.
The horse slaughter bill is the first major piece of animal protection legislation to be sent to Crist’s desk. But its importance and urgency had to be highlighted for some lawmakers, who were skeptical about why it is necessary.
Rep. Maria Sachs, a Democrat from Delray Beach, spoke of the ”scoundrels” who have broken kids’ hearts by stealing and butchering their pet ponies. And Miami Republican Sen. Alex Villalobos relayed the story of a friend who found her pet horse chopped to bits in a forest.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Has anybody else been having problems with WordPress this morning? It dropped my screen name and email address from the comments sections on all my blogs.
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Never mind. I’m suddenly back.
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Wonderful news that this was passed with no dissenting votes. I hope they prosecute it to the max
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Yes, Florida, you are doing great work towards protecting our horses. Thank you… mar
Linda, If you drop cookies you may need to put your name back in…m
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It’s about time we started protecting our companion animal horses! Now, we need to pass federal legislation to keep our horse slaughter houses closed, and ban the transport of 100,000 healthy American horses (33% of which are stolen by horse thieves to make money) who are shipped every year to Mexico and Canada for slaughter, for the sole purpose of providing horse meat to oversees countries such as France and Japan. (HR-503 and S-727 The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.) These are HEALTHY horses, not sick, dying horses. They are shipped in unsafe double decker trailers, many with no food or water. Many die on the harrowing journey. Many of those that survive have their throats and spines slashed by knives while they are fully conscious. Our horses deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and we need to protect them. Please work to pass The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.
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I am proud of our Florida legislators. The illegal slaughter of horses in SE Florida has been horrific and must be stopped.
A Floridian against horse slaughter any time, any where, by anyone.
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A huge thank you to the State of Florida.
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Great News from the State of Florida. YEAH!!
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Yay Florida!!
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