Press Release from the NJ Assembly Republicans
BILL WOULD PROHIBIT SLAUGHTER OR SALE OF HORSE MEAT IN NEW JERSEY MONTHS AFTER FEDERAL BAN LIFTED
Sending a strong message that New Jersey does not eat horse meat, the General Assembly approved bipartisan legislation that would ban the slaughter or sale of horses for human consumption.
Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, R-Ocean, Burlington , Middlesex and Mercer, introduced the measure, A-2023, after a federal ban was lifted last fall that reverses a 2006 decision by Congress to withdraw funding to inspect plants that butchered horses – effectively banning horse consumption.
“New Jersey does not eat horse meat and our horses will not be taken from the stable to a table,” Dancer said. “The horse is New Jersey’s state animal and we appreciate these magnificent animals for their grace and beauty. We do not want them butchered or sold to slaughterhouses in our communities for human consumption.”
The bill would prohibit anyone from knowingly slaughtering or selling a horse for human consumption. Violators would be guilty of a disorderly persons offense with penalties up to $100 and 30 days imprisonment plus civil fines between $500 and $1,000 for each horse slaughtered or each carcass or meat product sold. The penalties and fines are consistent with the current state law in effect that bans the slaughter of man’s best friend, the dog, for human consumption of dog meat.
Although there is strong bipartisan support in Congress to resume the federal ban through the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, Dancer pointed to New Mexico where a slaughterhouse is trying to open and has an application pending before the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“New Jersey is taking the lead on this issue to make sure horses aren’t taken from the pasture to the plate,” Dancer said. “There are several organizations that provide adoption homes for horses, rather than sending them to slaughterhouses for their meat.”
It has bipartisan support from Assemblymen Gilbert “Whip” Wilson and Nelson Albano.
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Thank god someone has the balls to stand up and say “No!”
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Well Done New Jersey! High Time another state added their name to the list.
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Thank you New Jersey! Assemblyman Dancer, kudos to you and all of the legislators that supported this legislation.
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God bless you Mr Dancer! Thank you New Jersey for setting an example for the rest of the USA stating loud and clear “We do NOT want our equines slaughtered!” I’m going to tell my herd the good news….
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So many thanks to you, Mr. Dancer, for being a compassionate, caring, sensible individual. The horses, also thank you, Hopes that other legislators will follow your actions,
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Thank you NJ! Now Christie has to sign it — he will.
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Wow!! That’s great news. Good for you to take a stand and lead the way.
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Congratulations decent humans, citizens and politcos alike.
Now……do you have the intestinal fortitude and cash to enforce it?
I pray you do, because California doesn’t.
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BTW…CBS This Morning featured a snippet about eating horsemeat re: US v. the horse eaters.(I love Gail and Charlie Rose!). Anyone catch it?
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GOOD GRAVY!!! Bill Whittaker (the reporter for CBS) makes Santos look like a “santos” (SAINT)!
The reporter left out that owners can euth humanely (AND THEIR FREAKING JOB!!!!!) and that the meat is UNQUALIFIED MEAT FOR HUMANS to eat. Gail got it though….equines can’t be slaughtered humanely!…..you go, girl!
Why does this keep being left out of the debate????????????
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Denise, I saw this from start to finish. I was about to walk out the door when Gayle came on before a break to about 20 commercials. So I waited. I think each of the hosts gets it. Erica Hill was a more upbeat than Charlie Rose or Gayle King, but she has always had upbeat energy. She loved to torment Anderson Cooper when she was at CNN, but she she did say she could not get her mind around the idea of eating your friends.
I will go to R. T.’s column on the story to comment further, but this looked to me like a canned “producer” piece to me. What I mean by this is that it looked to me like someone probably paid to get this story done exactly this way, or favors were traded with someone, or perhaps CBS uses the same lobbyists/law/PR firm that employs someone working with the meat industry, cattlemen’s associations, or perhaps a former government employee who is working as a lobbyist.
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Well CA has a law that has a HUGE gaping hole in it. There are simple workarounds. Disgusting. I hope NJ can plug the holes that we can’t seem to here. Or don’t wat to. And there is NO enforcement of the law.
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Margaret…there are holes in the NJ law and even if there were not……NO MONEY FOR ENFORCEMENT!
But thanks for the nod NJ.
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Let’s get it put into law. We don’t know how NJ handles animal cruelty charges. This article says it’s modeled on the law they already banning the slaughter of dogs. They may already fund animal control officers for its counties. The HSUS will investigate transport issues if they receive a report from a citizen that they have seen a possible violation. Perhaps the NJ Department of Agriculture has a system in place. When I think of New Jersey, I usually think of the metropolitan areas outside of NYC. However, there are beautiful farms and lovely rolling country side in the western part of the state.
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Thank you NJ my home state born and raised.
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wonderful news mr. fitch! thank you so much~you’re the bomb dude~~!
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Thats the clincher is they will find ways out of the law. By buying horses from people that have them listed for sale on Craigslist, auctions, etc. and saying they are taking them to their new homes in another state, when they are actually headed for a slaughter feed lot. Whos to know what to believe? Thats why this anti slaughter bill has to be passed that encompasses the whole country and export to other countries! Otherwise, NJ has taken some big steps towards trying to stop it and i applaud them for it! More states need to follow suit!
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Thank you, Ronald S. Dancer!! Thank you, New Jersey! Now, get all the rest of our United States on board with you. Maybe our president will have a change of heart, & maybe even pass the ban on equine slaughter once & for all! Wishful, hopeful thinking, with a lot of prayers thrown in too!
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Perhaps if there is a new President of the Senate, sooner rather than later, we will some movement on this. For anyone serving in Congress who knows the story of the Burns Amendment which could be more or less than we think, there has to be some level of understanding that any anti-horse slaughter bill has about a less than 0 chance of making it to the Senate floor while the current President of the Senate is presiding. There are two ways to change who is President of the Senate—either elect a Republican majority or have the Democratic caucus fire him and hire someone who is actually interested in getting legislation passed.
Remember this is the same Congress that hasn’t seen fit to pass a budget in three years. The President of the Senate is blocking anything that might cause the President of the U.S. difficulty, and in return, the President of the U. S. is not interfering with any of the bills that the Senate President wants to bury get buried. And the two of the them think they need someone like Ken Salazar who demonstrated with the report on the Deepwater Horizon Disaster review by 15 scientists that he was willing to move parts of the report around, so that the scientists appeared to agree with the President’s decision to declare a moratorium on a ban on oil drilling by U. S. drillers in the Gulf—of course the President gave U. S. aid companies in South America who would drill just outside U. S. waters.
It is frustrating as heck to watch this shenanigans going on and knowing how many of these people are able to refuse to do the public’s business while being paid handsomely now and in the future with the public’s dollar. When you are too old or disabled to mow your yard and don’t have money to pay anyone else to do it, these folks will be dining at fine restaurants in part because their generous pensions and excellent health care plans.
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