Update from Vicki Tobin ~ VP of the Equine Welfare Alliance
Moran’s amendment passes!
Congressman Moran’s amendment passed 24 to 21 so the language remains to defund inspections for horses. After the vote, they said the Nays had it but then one of the reps asked for a roll call.While it was a close vote, the House Appropriations committee is always difficult so this was a most welcome victory. We now need to ensure the language stays intact for the full house vote.Thank you all for your support and hard work on this important legislation. We’ll have more details but wanted you to hear the good news.
Related articles
- Calls Needed TODAY to Save American Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- De-Funding of Horse Slaughter Inspections in Jeopardy (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- EWA Prez Wins One for the Horses in Slaughter Debate (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Wyoming Horse Slaughter Politician Sued for Alleged Assualt and Battery (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Interview: Reporter Scoops Story on Wyoming Horse Slaughter Politician (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Wow…that was close….GOOD JOB, Annie’s Army!
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I called all Texans on the Committee, and emailed all of them. Now I would like a report of the vote..the yeas and the nays, and the congresspersons name that called for the roll call. I plan to reward the Yeas.. and remember the Nays, in case I can influence the vote on them in 2012. That is the way politics works, and we need to get better at it. Let’s brag on and support the ones that vote our way. It seems like we may need them there every year with the likes of Sue Willis etc influencing politics.
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WTG Exactly the way to do it.
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Everyone is absolutely right on! This was really really close – almost too close
to call. Some people say that their vote or voice does not count – This is how the
one vote theory works…Paula you are so on target about rewarding those who
voted Yea..sometimes the neas need some reminding that they represent the WILL
OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE and not that of the special interest groups waiting
in the wings to make their BLOOD MONEY! All the emails sent last provided
some necessary information which I plan to share with all my horse friends. Its
really sad that our horses (both Wild & Domestic) to some are only seen as a way to that almighty dollar. What scum bags! I will NEVER FORGET THE DAY THAT
CAVEL INTERNATIONAL CLOSED THEIR DOORS IN ILLINOIS. Our group laid
flowers in the front of the place to honor all those who could not be saved. A
Legislator in Illinois was not happy when the doors closed at Cavel. This company
tried everything including taking their law suit to the Supreme court where it was
again denied. They would not hear the case—Thank God! We must never STOP
FIGHTING…Each day I see my horse, I am reminded that he was one day away
from being one of the statistics…and sometimes I think he knows that.
.
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It most certainly was a mixed bag today when calling…. some Representative’s offices knew that they were supporting the Amendment while others were very distant and did not seem to understand the reason I was calling and could not repeat back to me the message that I was leaving. This led to an explanation of what would happen if the language defunding horse slaughter plant inspections were to be left out of the bill and a repeat of my request asking for them to vote for the Amendment…
The reception by some offices, being that I was not a constituent, was not affirming.
However, I informed them that the Representatives that were members of the Appropriations Committee are representing ALL of American citizens, not JUST their own constituency. Some aides agreed with me, while others were silent.
Representative Price of NC who is a member of the Committee, had a very Hispanic sounding young man answering his phone when I called and saw by caller id that I was not from his district and told me that my time would be better spent calling Rep. Shuller’s office… I know without a shadow of a doubt that that is a wasted call, for he supports horse slaughter and by the response I received by the rest of this conversation, Price is right there with him…. 50 cents says that Rep. Price voted Nay.
What a difference in the offices that were knowingly FOR the Amendment and the quality of communication and professionalism that was presented!
I agree with Paula that it will be good to see a report on this vote and who the member is that called for the roll call…. it’s sad to doubt validity among your own peers and need verification! But, this is our government, sad as it may be…
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I know one of the congress person’s office I spoke to asked me some questions about this bill. I thought at the time I didn’t speak very eloquently but honest I tried to speak up for the horses.
Today was a good day for the horses. This stupid bill was defeated and while many new that Zenyatta was in foal today we got the official word that she is 60 days along.
Please keep sending me those emails when something like this comes up. If you help me with the wording I can and will speak up for the horses.
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WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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YIPPEE-EYE-AYE!!!! All our calls and faxes paid off 😉
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Yes, they most certainly did…a very valuable lesson to and for all of us!!!
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Thanks to all.
Is there any way to identify the “Nays”? I would love a blog published roll call.
To those behind the scenes in our advocacy and those in Congress that kept their “horse sense”…a very special thank you.
Keep the faith. Keep the equine welfare fires burning. Don’t give up…….NEVER give up!…evil is always on the prowl.
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I am going to look into it…better yet I will simply monitor Sue Walrus’s website for an big thank you note that I am certain is in production!!!
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A close victory keep up the great work horse advocates, our wild mustangs deserve protection along with the wild burros!!!
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Proud that my VA rep, Moran, introduced the amendment to reinstate the “defund” language. He is a strong supporter of animal rights. Read his statement here and find a politician who is also a real HORSE HERO !! http://moran.house.gov/apps/list/press/va08_moran/HorseSlaughterAmdmnt.shtml
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Jim Moran, friend of animals. Truly one of the good guys. If you live in Virginia, do whatever you can to keep this man in office.
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Yes !!! he is , he should remain in office a long time !! People take notice in Virginia…………….Thank you to everyone who faxed and called yesterday i know i called all 16 committee members in Ohio, and was very well received by all of them…………….We won if only by a small margin (WHEW)>>>>>>>>>> The important thing is we WON !!!!! We need the Victories to keep mounting up !!!!!!!!!!!
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Here Sue Wallis response (sorry Sue stick with what you know ) This is from her site thought all real horse advocates would like to read this
Ag Appropriations Report and our Initial Response
Last night the Ag Appropriations Committee voted 24-21 to adopt Rep. Moran, Virginia, amendment to reinstate the prohibition on inspection of horse meat. This in spite of Rep. Lummis’ knowledgeable and articulate testimony and over the objection of Subcommittee Chairman Kingston.
This is just the opening round, however, and we still have multiple opportunities to fix the bill before the 2012 appropriations process is complete. Our next chance will be when the committee bill comes to a full vote of the House on June 15th. Then it will go to the Senate and goes through the complete process over there. Needless to say we are circling the wagons with our coalition partners and will do our best to keep you apprised as we move along. We will be asking for your help throughout, and really appreciate your willingness to step up on behalf of our industry.
Moran is well known for his support of HSUS causes, so that it is not surprising that he would bring forward the amendment-what was disappointing to so many of us is that the Committee did not honor our request to not inflict any more damage on the horse industry until after they have had a chance to review the findings of the GAO Report on the welfare of horses and the effect on the equine economy of the plants closing.
That long anticipated report is done. It was delivered to USDA last Friday, and is due to Congress within two weeks of that date.
Our message remains the same. There is no disagreement in that we all expect horses to be well cared for and not abused from birth to death. The only disagreement boils down to a private property rights issue. The veterinarians agree that there are three humane ways to end a horse’s life, by bullet, by captive bolt, by lethal drug. Bullets and captive bolts provide instantaneous insensibility. Lethal drugs can cause many long minutes of suffering before the animal finally succumbs, which many of us have witnessed with our own eyes, and results in a large, expensive, toxic drug ridden carcass that cannot be buried for fear of leaching into water tables, cannot be left above ground for fear of other animals feeding on the carcass and dying, cannot even be rendered where that is available because the drugs survive the rendering process-basically results in a thousand pounds of toxic waste.
On the other hand, a horse in a processing plant dies instantaneously with a minimum of pain or stress and their meat is welcomed by a thriving worldwide market providing the horse owner who chooses to receive some return on their investment a decent price. From a humanitarian viewpoint the result is the same, the horse has been dealt with in the best possible way. The only difference is whether the carcass is used or disposed of-for some that means a burial for an old friend, for others it is a bit of income that can be reinvested in better or more useful animals to support their livelihood. No one should have the right to dictate to someone else whether or not they respect their horse’s life by making sure it is not wasted, or dictate how that carcass should be disposed of-only the owner of the horse should determine that.
Secondly there is the issue of Congress once again issuing edicts that prevent states from developing their own economies. Strongly worded resolutions from the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, the National Congress of American Indians and other such organizations reflect the position of state, local, and tribal governments and have called on Congress not to pass such measures.
The fact is that the well developed projects in Wyoming, North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, Missouri and elsewhere would create over a Thousand good paying jobs almost overnight with the ability to access the export market. It is ironic that the Ag Appropriations process funds millions of dollars of government inspected beef, pork, lamb, and chicken FOR EXPORT, but one of Rep. Moran’s main arguments was that the USDA shouldn’t inspect meat only meant for export!
Instead our excess, unusable, unwanted horses must endure the sorry choice of being killed, albeit humanely, but totally wasted; or trucked for thousands of miles to other countries to be processed where we have no control over how that is done (not to mention their economy gets enhanced, not ours, we’re now importing millions of tons of horse meat for zoo diet and ethnic markets); or being abandoned to fend for themselves where they inevitably die an agonizing death of starvation where they all too often become the victim of predators and have their guts and their butts eaten by wolves or coyotes while they are still alive (google the recent wolf kill of a prized horse in Darby, Montana to see what wolves do to horses). Look up A Million Horses.com – 400% increase in reports of abandoned, neglected horses every year since the plants closed. That is abuse!
Many aspects of Rep. Moran’s testimony were disturbing, misleading, and false. The fact is that allowing horse plants to pay for their own processing fees would add zero cost, and require zero appropriation, not the $5 million that he claimed.
To say that the only benefactors of horse processing are foreign countries is almost beyond belief when the secondary market for an entire sector of animal agriculture is eliminated-a 30% to 80% drop in value of horses nationwide with the commensurate loss of income and assets to our U.S. horse owners.
To say that Americans do not use horse meat is crazy when three quarters of the world does, and we have a long and honorable history in this country of using and enjoying a meat that is so healthy and nutritious-twice the protein, half the fat, high in iron and other beneficial nutrients with, for instance, eighteen times the omega three fatty acids.
To say that all horses are full of toxic drugs is an exaggeration so outrageous as to be beyond belief-number one, the vast majority of horses who are not performance or sport horses ever receive any kind of veterinary medicine in their entire lives, those that are can be held for an appropriate withdrawal period before processing depending on the drug, and there are tests for both live animals before processing and for carcasses afterwards that can detect any drug residue down to the parts per trillion-combine that with the fact that EU has NEVER found any significant drug residue in any carcass in any horse plant in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, EVER. It strikes us as a bit ingenuous that people so opposed to eating horse meat are raising food safety issues as their argument against it.
The brutal truth is that the entire United States equine industry is in the process of liquidating and downsizing. Until we see the GAO Report no one has any accurate accounting of how many jobs and livelihoods have already been lost. It is no exaggeration to note that without a responsible and regulated option for processing to deal with excess otherwise unusable and unwanted horses that we will inevitable lose another 200,000 to 300,000 jobs. Without a secondary outlet, the whole market has plummeted, breeding has essentially stopped.
Fewer horses means fewer jobs means fewer horse shows, fewer rodeos, fewer horse trailers, fewer training dollars, fewer veterinary needs, fewer saddles, bridles, less need for feed-that all amounts to a devastating economic contraction that is destroying our prized American horseback culture.
Our efforts to restore the private property rights of horse owners, to rejuvenate an entire sector of animal agriculture, to create jobs and opportunity, and to preserve our cultures and livelihoods will continue.
sue’s sig
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We need your financial help more than ever to continue our grass roots advocacy to preserve our horseback culture and economy.
Please go to our website at http://united-horsemen.org to contribute online, or print out a form to mail in.
Thanks for all you do, we love hearing from you…
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Hooray!! Round one goes in favor of America’s horses!:) But, such a close call. We’re all going to have to keep on our toes, to make sure nothing slips past. Thank you, Congressman Moran!:) And, to all who helped America’s horses. We have to stay vigilant because the sickos are still out there plotting against horses.
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Good first round but like Sue states there is still a long road ahead. Must make certain this language remains intact. Sword’s drawn and dialing finger limbered up.
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