Guest OpEd by Vicki Tobin ~ VP of the Equine Welfare Alliance
…if the voices of horse owners and advocates are heard
“Slaughterhouse” $ue Wallis
As expected, Wallis has issued another of her manifestos. Of note is her wise decision to go with a cartoon as a logo because her ramblings get more and more comical with each new email. As usual, the issue of drug residue traceability in horses is completely ignored.
As with all of Wallis’ incoherent emails, you must read between the lines. So let’s dissect the nonsensical paragraphs…
The amendment accepted by the House Appropriations Committee isn’t much of a surprise, it’s just a bump in the road to reestablishing humane, government-regulated equine processing in the United States. The Senate has wisely refused to include such language in its Ag spending bill, or the Farm Bill, so we’ll do what we did a year ago: remove the short-sighted language in conference committee should it come to that. Bottom Line – We are confident wiser heads will ultimately prevail.
What she is saying is that she knows her efforts will never succeed. So to make certain she gets her way, she will have it done behind closed doors where no one can debate the issue and where horse owners and horse advocates cannot have their voices heard.
This is akin to what they do with the Horse Slaughter Prevention legislation. They know they will lose if the bills go to the floor for a vote so they stall, block and place secret holds on the legislation.
The Moran amendment does NOT deal with the real issues of starving horses, or the demise of the horse as a valued domestic animal as indicated by the more than 70% drop in numbers of horses available for pleasure, sport, and work, nor does it deal with all of the problems that have happened to the horse world as a direct result of HSUS action since 2007.
This is perhaps one of the most irrational things Wallis has ever penned. She appears to be saying that we do not have enough horses left because we have not killed enough of them. This statement makes no sense on either side of the looking glass. Horse slaughter does not deal with the real issues of starving horses because they are not the horses going to slaughter—not to mention that they were not raised as food animals and therefore, should not go to slaughter.
The Moran amendment would, in fact, increase and exacerbate these problems by rendering literally worthless hundreds of thousands of valuable horses as completely unmarketable…undoubtedly increasing the burden on local agencies and taxpayers to deal with them…a loss and a cost, including thousands of equine jobs, that would far exceed the potential revenue to every level of government generated by normal commerce and a free market.
This makes no sense. Why would she want to kill hundreds of thousands of valuable horses? Why should local taxpayers have to deal with them? Isn’t that the owner’s responsibility? What a great lesson to teach your children on the responsibilities of owning an animal. Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t equine services (other than renderers) need live horses to work with. I’ve never heard of farriers working on dead horses or feed and tack providers selling to dead horses. Perhaps Wallis is planning on hiring farriers to trim hooves before they’re butchered. Or maybe she is planning a “last supper” for all of them and then buying new trailers to haul them to the plant.
It is sad that opponents of equine processing contend it’s okay to euthanize an unwanted horse, but it’s not okay to use exactly the same methods to do so under a USDA-regulated, modern and humane system that allows the horse to provide economic value to the farmer/owner and high grade protein to the ultimate purchaser of horse meat, whether here or abroad.
An entire paragraph that is one sentence! What is sad is that anyone would believe this horse manure. Sue, there is a difference between having regulations and enforcing them. Is this going to be the same type of modern plant like the Grandin plant in Canada that was shut down by the government or the same type of plant that had to bolt a horse 11 times? Perhaps it will be like the plant that shoots both eyes out and still must shoot a third time to drop the horse. Yes, we all know the type of regulated plants she will open. We had them here in the US and both states shut them down (not HSUS as she claims). We have the FOIAs and GAO report from the US plants that were USDA regulated. It is shame she continues to ignore the facts and keeps repeating her mantra; humane and regulated. There is no evidence there is such a thing as humane and regulated from any horse slaughter plant that has slaughtered US horses.
Also note, there is no mention of where she is going to get millions to fix the non-existent transport program, inspections, start a national passport system, pay for wastewater clean-up, litigation to get the plants to pay their fines, law enforcement, etc. It’s okay to shove that down the throats of taxpayers so she can kill horses but perish the thought of using taxpayer dollars for a program that would actually help horses.
Would you like a side of Clenbuterol with your bute burger to go along with all that protein? Perhaps a dash of Ivermectin?
Jim Moran of Virginia is an “inside the beltway congressman” doing the bidding of the largest, most aggressive political animal rights organization-yet another Washington D.C. special interest group raising money by vilifying the hard-working, honest, taxpaying agricultural people of America. While it is clear that Jim Moran, HSUS, and a few urban members do not understand the welfare of horses or the economics of rural America, we are confident that the Senate will stand firm for horse owners.
Jim Moran does not do “bidding” for anyone. How dare she, a state representative that does the bidding for a foreign meat industry [not the horse industry] make such an absurd, false statement about a highly respected member of Congress, He does what he does because it is the right thing to do. Whether you are for or against horse slaughter, human food safety should be a top priority with everyone. Our meat industry can ill afford another black eye and that is exactly the unintended consequence of horse slaughter. The callous disregard for food safety in horses and trying to find any possible way to get around food safety laws has everyone questioning the safety of our own food supply. The budget for inspectors was slashed and she wants to add to the workload that will take away from our own food inspections. Please take note that not one legislator that supports horse slaughter addresses this issue or the safety of horse meat. Sue has them trained well.
Already there are plans in 18 states and 12 tribal nations to build modern processing plants; USDA has already received applications for slaughter certification and more are in the pipeline.
Archive this statement! When it doesn’t happen, you can rest assured, she’ll say she was misquoted. Case in point, Mountain Grove, MO. She was run out on a rail and then, instead of admitting defeat, she states she had already ruled out that location. If you did, Sue, then please tell everyone why you would schedule a meeting to try to sell the plant that nobody wanted only to be shot down, yet again, AFTER you had ruled out the location?
Is that like losing the amendment vote and then telling everyone what a great job they did? Or lying to your supporters by telling them the calls were three to one against the amendment when know it was the exact opposite? Sooner or later, your minions will wake up and start questioning you. And we all look forward to what you will tell them.
And be sure to share that drug paper one of your supporters is working on. It is sure to be masterpiece when they still don’t know the difference between race day drug testing and food safety testing. Before the document is released, you might to advise them to read the recent EU report and the white paper from Ireland that you keep ignoring instead of the 2008 report you keep quoting that references protocols, not results.
Oh, and BTW, a voice vote carries as much weight as a roll call.
Related articles
- Moran Amendment to Ban Horse Slaughter Passes Appropriations Committee (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Update: California Equipment Rental Company Bought Oregon Land for Horse Slaughter Plant (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Moran Calls for Ban on Horse Slaughter (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Breaking News: FRER Discovers Documented Efforts to Begin Horse Slaughter in Missouri (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Spread the Word: Members Push for Passage of American Horse Slaughter Act (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Media Update: Horse Slaughter Debate Comes to PBS/NPR Radio on Friday (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
That woman make me want to throw up. Vile personified.
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How do we know that the senate will not do exactly what they did last time? They don’t work for us they work for the corporations.
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Tom, we can all email,write and call our Senators to emphasize the importance of this amendment and this bill.
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Hi Kathryn In the 10 years I have been fighting horse slaughter I have written every congressman and senator many times and wore out 3 fax machines. The only response my senators give now is that the GAO report states we need to revisit the funding of horse slaughter and as a further insult to intelligence they don’t even mention the economy once as having anything to do with neglected and abused horses. Yes we can and will call them again and the corporations that they work for will pay them for their votes as they always do.
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My NY Congressman’s reply. Please help me understand what the heck he is saying:
Dear Miss M:
Thank you for expressing your support for protecting America’s horses. It is important for me to have the benefit of your views, and I appreciate you taking the time to contact me.
I strongly share your support for ending the terrible and inhumane practice of slaughtering horses in the United States to be shipped abroad for consumption. Many of these horses are bought at auctions or stolen, and then forced to endure terrible conditions in slaughterhouses before suffering a painful, brutal death.
I voted for the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act in previous sessions of Congress to amend the Horse Protection Act, which prohibits the shipping and transporting of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption. I am also a cosponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.
Recently, I voted for the FY2012 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, or “Megabus,” that contained three annual appropriations measures including the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill; the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill and the Agriculture Appropriations bill. Among other things, this measure funded all federal law enforcement activities, the National Science Foundation, food safety inspectors, and our nation’s federal investment in highway and bridge infrastructure.
Not contained in the appropriations measure was an annual funding ban on the production of horse meat in U.S. slaughterhouses. This follows a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report stating that conditions for horses had actually decreased under the ban due to the transfer of horses to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses. The GAO report raises important questions that Congress should explore and I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address these matters.
I remain committed to ensuring that horses are treated humanely and will continue support congressional efforts to prevent horse slaughter, but after weighing both the positives and negatives of the “Megabus” legislation, I concluded the positives heavily outweighed the negatives. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind if legislation addressing horse slaughter is considered further by the full House of Representatives.
Thank you again for sharing your views. I encourage you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/timbishop for more information and to find out about other important issues that I am working on in Congress. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Tim Bishop
Member of Congress
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Love your video ending!
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Slaughterhouse Sue sure is a wacko! She must hate all animals! We can stop her! We all have to get hold of our senaters!Tell them how we feel! I can’t believe the United States would allow the sale of horse meat in stores! Much less horse slaughter again! There is other things that the senate should be working on instead of wasting their time on trying to pass a horse slaughter bill!!!!
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She did it again , made me toss my cookies !!!!! But loved the ending on the video !!!!!
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Another great factual piece from Vicki! This is one more article to send to your Reps. and Senators. It breaks down all the pro-slaughter arguments, or ignorance thereof, in easy terms for all to understand. I sure hope that the poor horse killer’s followers will take note. Theresa, Daphane, do you need any further explanation of the sick and misleading words of the woman you are following? It’s time to think of other solutions to saving the sick, starving, abandoned horses other than slaughter.
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Roger that…
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Well I have called my boy Hurt again to express my will.
Everybody lets not forget to thank Congressman Moran for his amendment.
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The second quoted paragraph “the Moran amendment does not deal with” blah,blah, blah I had to read twice as the first time I went “HUH!” Would have read it again but its hard to read while retching.
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Friends close and your enemies closer please. Let’s us not feel comfortable. This woman will not stop and use every power she has accumulated to do her bidding. I pray that those who have an actual vote will not allow a back room deal this time around. I do not rest easy and we know of 3 that do have a vote and are on her side.
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Bravo Vicki, bravo!
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She should be tied to ” Cloud” & drug to her death….sorry people,but thats the only good that she’ll ever do for anybody!
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Could somebody please explain to me why this woman, who apparently does not own a single horse, knows a single thing about the real horse industry or the challenges we face? I am offended that she dares to count herself as part of the horse industry or speak on behalf of the real `industry’.
As for her drug paper: It should be noted that the `research’ consisted of one of her minions asking on her UH facebook page if anybody knew anything about it. She ended up with the racehorse study because she thought it would prop up their side. The fact is, that race testing is NOT testing for food safety. There is acceptable levels allowed in a racehorse’s system of certain drugs, but being one of them. She may as well used a study on pesticides in fruit crops for all the relevance it had. That same supporter was earlier quoted on facebook as saying this , “To be honest with you, I have no idea what is fact or fiction with regard to anything Sue Wallis or Unified Equine has to say….” What does that tell us about Slaughterhouse Sue’s blind followers??
http://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/
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The safe level for race horses has to do with the horse’s safety, not with food safety. I listened to “I’ll Have Another’s” trainer in an interview with Bob Costas on NBC addressing the charges of milk shaking against him. He denied that he had ever milk-shaked a horse, but the did admit that the had all of his horses on Lasix at the highest end of “the limit”. There is apparently a maximum you can use that has to do with the health of the horse. He said that all of his horses were treated with Lasix, but after they showed positive by the blood marker tested for milk shaking, he said they cut back and cut some off.
This woman’s lack of education and her inability to grasp the gravity of this situation makes her a menace to the health and well-being not only to horses, but to human beings. Let her keep pushing, and perhaps the whole country will learn just at risk the rest of us are because the FSIS’s whole approach to food safety is not keeping contaminated beef out of the system.
All these comments we thought were so absurd by Wallis’s followers who were ranchers or had grown up around ranchers who insisted these drugs were not hardly were probably telling us what they believed because I have heard from more than one source that people don’t wait for some of these drugs to get out of the system of their cows before sending them to slaughter. I have made it part of my research to talk to people in all the areas that are affected and while I am told that the big feed lots follow regulations closely, there are 100’s of 1000’s of small beef and medium beef producers. If whoever they learned from told them it was Ok to use Ivermectin and that there is no harm done if you don’t wait the full time before you take them to the meat man, that is what they do.
The existence of the National Food Residue program proves that some agencies in government are aware of the threat of chemical residues and their metabolites in beef. We are all eating at our own risk, but the trouble is, we don’t know that. Congress may shrug because they think this horse meat is just going overseas or however it is they they live with themselves, but the truth is that beef is sold to Americans. To be sure, beef is a major export, but this meat much of it raised by hobby farmers or as a second job is no safer that the information the producer has.
Let’s think of all the different disorders and diseases that people get that current science can’t explain. Well, I think a case can be made that science needs to begin historical studies on people with unexplained and little understood illnesses. Science needs to examine someone with a disorder of the central nervous system, and there are several that are not understood, do a study of where people with diagnosis have lived, what their diet consists off, and examine where the dots connect.
Tens of thousands of agriculture workers in Central American dying of kidney disease, and who is looking at where their meat and other food came from. These are middle aged men dying from kidney disease. These men work in the heat all day. it is just as hot, humid and miserable where I live and workers work outside all day in weather so hot it takes my breath away. Why are the men in Central America dying?
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Dear Hoofhugs, great point made , it is about safety and health of and for the Horses……these people need to understand that one one thing to have Thoroughbreds if you really think about it, you must treat them as your money maker, moneymakers need the uptmost care , they are your future and your bread winners, just as your life , they are now a huge part in it, treat them with the respect you want for yourself…………………… Mom once said , If you put your all into what you love , you have already won, !!!!!
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Good comments, Hoofhugs
Always lots of information there & I usually learn something I didnt know.
I agree, whats in our beef, pork, & other meats we consume probably has to do with many of these “odd” symptoms adults & children are coming up with. More & more.
Putting the responsibility of inspecting horsemeat on the USDA’s shoulders really should be out of the question. To me thats common sense BUT the lack of common sense in politics is above & beyond. Watching the Moran amendment being passed & listening to some of the comments was entertaining, but not very heart warming – if you know what I mean.
And I was a bit disappointed in Mr. Hinchey’s comments – seemed to me he could have been much more aggressive! On the other hand, he did listen to us & come down on the right side.
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AudreyM ~ It sounds to me as if your Congressman actually BELIEVES the GAO Report – which doesn’t say a lot for his intelligence – but why don’t you send him the EWA responses that show what nonsense that “fixed” GAO Report was. Also, one of the GAO’s major suggestions was to ban horse slaughter and transport across borders for the purpose of slaughter. It’s right there on the original report. Ask him if he missed that part? Amazing!
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All this from a person who admitedly states that she has never seen a single horse slaughtered and doesn’t own a horse. Everything she says is beyond ‘out there’! I don’t understand how she managed to even get followers to believe the garbage she feeds them. She is obviously in violation of the rules and regs of her seat in office but no one seems to have the guts to remove her from office. Her sanity is in question yet there are no congressional investivations. These people are our elected officials. They work FOR us. If they can’t do what’s right, we need to get them out of office and vote for people who will do their job!
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