Source: YNN.com by Matt Hunter
“This should be a national legislation but what we should do as the Empire State is set the standard…”
photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
GREENFIELD, N.Y. – For past racing stars like Travers winners Thunder Rumble and Will’s Way, Old Friends at Cabin Creek just might offer the very best of equine retirement.
For countless other horses, however, their golden years end in less glorious fashion, inside foreign slaughter houses, where they’re butchered and sold for human consumption.
“Horses at slaughter houses are treated with cruel indifference and subjected to unimaginable pain and suffering,” State Senator Kathy Marchione said.
On Thursday morning, Marchione and Assemblyman Jim Tedisco were joined by members of the equine industry to introduce a bill to protect New York horses from slaughter.
“Bringing a bill like this forward is going to really give a lot of publicity to kind of the dark side of racing,” said Sackatoga Stable Operating Manager Jack Knowlton, whose horse Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2003.
“This should be a national legislation but what we should do as the Empire State is set the standard in the Northeast,” Tedisco said.
With efforts to ban horse slaughter at the nation level stalled, it remains legal to ship horses across the border to countries like Canada and Mexico where slaughter is a common practice. If passed, this bill would make it illegal to transport those animals through New York State.
“We should not be an artery to which horses are transported on a regular basis into Canada,” Equine Advocates President Susan Wagner. “That’s why if we pass this legislation, it will have such a huge impact.”
According to Equine Advocates president Susan Wagner, in 2010 more than 137,000 horses crossed the border into Canada to be slaughtered. While it’s unknown how many of those animals passed through New York, advocates believe getting a law on the books here will have a nationwide impact.
“I think the public, they see these majestic athletes at places like Saratoga, they wouldn’t want to see these horses go to slaughter,” Knowlton said.
Related Articles
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- Adoption of Horse Slaughter Measure Doesn’t Resolve the Issues (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Horse slaughter trade a dubious bet – HSUS boss (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Sharp drop in US horses going to slaughter in Mexico (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Equine Advocacy Groups Expose Gross Gap in U.S. Border Horse Slaughter Inspections (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
We rescued Thunder Rumble’s 1/2 brother who was likely going to slaughter as a yearling. No one wanted him at the Saratoga sales because of a club foot. He was sent to a overpopulated rescue for X race horses that might have a future. He didn’t. We rescued him with his hip tag still on. He has and for ever will be with us mentoring children, the handicapped and all others that need healing for he has the biggest heart in the barn. Saving that one life has helped so many save a piece of their own.
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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every state on the Canadian and Mexican borders banned transport thru their state? I never thought about it, but that is one way to effectively ban export.
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I am angry and shocked that horses are slaughtered at all!!! They are loving and smart animals! I had horses when I was young, rode racehorses, participated in shows & parades. I had a young filly who played with me like she was a dog, playing tag in the pasture. Slaughtering horses should be ILLEGAL!!!!! Now New Mexico is opening a slaughter house for horses and I wish I could do something to stop it!!
What a cruel cruel world we live in!
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Good! Maybe something good will come out of our wretched state!
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Finally a welcomed injection of sanity from lawmakers who know the difference between right and wrong…OK are you listening?
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Praise God for these two Congressmembers who actually have hearts! We have so many OTTBs here in NY, and it would be heartwarming to know they would never suffer that nightmare. All other border states should follow suit, making it impossible for drivers to get to the slaughterhouses. I am going to send thank you letters of support to these two good people!
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This is a great start, but I am skeptical that it would really stop transport. In the GAO report it says that there are TWO people in charge of the transportation of livestock in all of the U.S. Just like cruelty in the slaughter houses who will monitor and stop, fine and make sure the horses are not just sent on another route. Not saying I am not in favour of it , just that it will not really have that much of an effect if any.
California Proposition 6, also called the Prohibition on Slaughter of Horses and Sale of Horsemeat for Human Consumption Initiative, was on the November 3, 1998 election ballot in California as an initiated state statute, where it was approved.
Proposition 6 prohibited the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the sale of horsemeat for human consumption in California. It also prohibited sending horses out of California for slaughter in other states or countries for human consumption. “Horses” is defined as any horse, pony, burro, or mule.
Proposition 6 also established felony and misdemeanor criminal penalties for violations of its provisions.
Horses are still sold for slaughter at auctions in California as I type this.
We need to stop slaughter altogether and that must start at the breeding barns and the ticket booths where people support events that exploit horses for profit.
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I only pray that NY does a better job at crafting this law than the useless, completely unenforced one California passed.
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Thank goodness some legislators have the guts to do what is right! Although an official or two has come forward in New Mexico to ban horse slaughter, most of them are sitting on their hands! And Roswell is poised and ready
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