Press Release from The Equine Welfare Alliance
CHICAGO, (EWA) – The recent appointment of Dr. Douglas Corey to the top spot of the Washington lobby group, The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC), has made their loudly proclaimed stance of being neutral on the contentious issue of horse slaughter difficult to swallow.
Corey follows Dr. Tom Lenz, former head of American Association of Equine Practitioners, (AAEP). Both Lenz and Corey pull no punches on their enthusiastic support of horse slaughter. The two veterinarians with close ties to animal agriculture refer to horse slaughter as an end-of-life option that is needed. Regrettably, with the UHC parent group, The American Horse Council, this front for unscrupulous breeders and the meat industry, often has the ear of Congress and is considered a respected and respectable humanitarian organization.
The daring hypocrisy of both organizations is stunning and Corey’s own words prove it. Few equine rescue organizations are members of the UHC, shunning the prohibitive cost of membership to join. Rescue groups, dependent upon donations, would prefer to spend their funds on feed and hay.
The Unwanted Horse Coalition is controlled by breed associations who happily send their culls to slaughter, the horse racing industry which happily disposes of tens of thousands of healthy races horses after their career is over and the livestock industry whose sole purpose is selling meat on the hoof.
During his testimony in 2008 before the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security for the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008, Cory said, “Because of the large population of unwanted horses in the U.S., the AAEP believes that the processing of unwanted horses is currently a necessary end-of-life option and provides a humane alternative to allowing a horse to continue a life of discomfort and pain or endure inadequate care or abandonment.”
To the AHC and UHC the word, “processing” is a benign mask for the horror of a horse’s final hours in a slaughter house.
Corey further insulted prospective horse owners by stating “many of the individuals that adopt horses are not financially secure enough to adopt and provide proper care and feeding for a horse.” Corey didn’t offer an explanation as to why owners and breeders that are financially secure choose to send their horses to slaughter rather than provide proper care.
Both Corey and Lenz are well aware of the labeling on horse medications; “not intended for use in food animals.” They are also well aware that animals given those medications cannot be slaughtered for human consumption and yet, they continue to support horse slaughter.
The European Union recently placed tight controls on the import of American horses because of the wholesale use of dangerous drugs in their everyday lives.
During his testimony on behalf of AAEP, Corey blithely claimed the closure of the US horse slaughter plants resulted in “increased equine cruelty in the form of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.”
That is a ludicrous statement. If there are increases in abuse, neglect and abandonment, it is has nothing to do with the closure of the plants. Closing the plants did not stop or slow down the number of horses slaughtered. In fact, 2008, the year Corey testified, had the second highest number of horses slaughtered since 1995.
The same number of horses laden with FDA and European Union banned drugs are flowing across our borders to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico. All the while, Corey and Lenz still blame the closure of the plants instead of those that are causing the overpopulation of horses.
Actions speak louder than words and consistently appointing outspoken slaughter proponents to head a “neutral” organization speaks volumes.
The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues free, umbrella organization with over 110 member organizations. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org
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Categories: Horse News, The Force of the Horse
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I dispise dishonesty in any form. For any organization that proclaims itself “slaughter neutral” while loading its top level members with those that promote slaughter is outrageous. How many people will unknowingly contribute to this org thinking it is a good righteous organization while really they are supporting slaughter, the very thing they would be against? It’s fraud no matter how you read it.
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“Slaughter Neutral” insures weathy breeders and others who make up the vast majority of the UHC membership will continue to support them. The UHC knows their entire organization (and SALARIES!) would disappear if they took an anti-slaughter stance. And their latest “guidelines” are nothing but high-sounding, hollow words masking their real agenda.
Our Rescue is NOT a member and we consider their efforts an insidious masquerade. And yes, we chose to put donations where they do the most good – rescuing and rehabilitating abused horses and burros.
BTW, UHC hasn’t EVER contacted us to participate in their biased “surveys”, although we consider ourselves to be stakeholders and are virtually “right down the street” in northwest NM. Maybe they know they’d get an “earful” from the opposition!
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With extremely limited funds, its hard to decide which to donate to. The ones dedicated to changing the laws (Cloud Foundation) or those that rescue the horses at sales (Front Range E.R.) Right now I donate to both, but I will soon have to decide.
Just to day I received an e-mail requesting donations to buy horses from a QH breeder that was going out of business. He was going to sell 300 mares, foals and stallions to the kill buyer. Luckily he decided to send them to some auctions to see if he could get more money. But there should be a way to stop some hard hearted person (who made his living from the horses,) from doing this!!!
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anyone who says they are neutral means they are PRO=SLAUGHTER.
neutral just helps pro-slaughter and hurts horses!
horse killers and horse eaters have hidden their deeds from the public eyes for so very long…they think their lies will fly on the modern internet?
No, in public its easy for the non-ignorant to see these Vets are deceptive and should be ashamed of themselves..horse killers with the name DVM. shame on them!!
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While I do not agree that horse slaughter is the solution, I do agree with the UHC’s stated mission of increasing education and responsible horse ownership. Whether or not this is their ‘true’ mission, or just a conspiracy, it remains that the equine industry could use a lot more education and knowledge than it has now. If we remain at odds and constantly fighting, mud-slinging, and generally wasting energy on blame, we will never solve the myriad of welfare problems that plague the horse world.
Please try and remember that while we may all disagree, we are in this together for the horses. I wanted to ask those who read this blog to respond with their ideas of possible solutions to the mustang issue, to the unwanted horse issue (that is if you believe there are an overpopulation of horses), and to the industry members who encourage overbreeding (such as the racing industry). I am curious to see what you will come up with, as I am currently writing a thesis on the topic and want to represent all sides fairly and logically. Do you all have logical solutions to address horse overpopulation? Do you agree with birth control for the wild horse herds rather than roundups?
Please keep your comments civil and factually supported.
Thank you,
A fellow horse lover, mustang owner, and hopeful problem solver
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Thank you for the informative article. As a Walla Walla native who takes my horses to his clinic, I have had several interactions with Dr. Corey as a vet and I seriously question his compassion toward any equine.
I agree that there needs to be education and changes made, but if these organizations really wanted to make changes, they would slap a HEFTY fee onto registrations to help fund rescue projects and humane euthanasia clinics, etc. They won’t discourage breeding because that is where their bread and butter comes from, but that is the real problem. Can you see the AQHA telling their members to stop breeding???
Don’t breed, buy a rescue! That should be the mantra!
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