For all of you who are wondering what you can do to help the wild horses & burros, Rep. Grisham (D-NM) is introducing a bill to ban horse slaughter (see #2 below) so make some calls!  Also, Sen. Landrieu and Sen. Graham are introducing a bill similar to the Moran Amendment, so make calls to the Senate Appropriations Committee members to ask them to support this!   Debbie Coffey

Today’s news update from Equine Welfare Alliance:

Wow, this is a busy and very critical week for us – especially Thursday. Here is information on The Farm Bill and an update on an amendment that will be introduced in the Senate Appropriations Committee – both on Thursday.

We are in the home stretch and it is extremely important that our legislators know they have the support of 80% of Americans. We need you to light up the phones tomorrow!

Farm Bill

The Farm Bill goes to the full house on Thursday. Of important note is:

1) Representatives Denham (R-CA) and Schrader (D-OR) will be introducing an amendment (Denham-Schrader Amendment) to strip the King Amendment from the Farm Bill. The King Amendment is the amendment that will basically void state laws on animal welfare. First they’re screaming for state rights and now they want to take them away…. This is a very dangerous amendment and must be removed. Here’s a bit of info from Farm Sanctuary on what this amendment would accomplish:

Arizona’s law banning gestation crates, Michigan’s law banning veal crates, California’s law banning battery cages – they’re are all in jeopardy. And it doesn’t stop there: Every state’s factory farm confinement laws, horse slaughter laws, shark finning bans, and puppy mill regulations – along with environmental protection, worker safety, and other important laws – are at risk. If the King amendment passes, these could all could be nullified.

Suggested message: Please oppose the amendment offered by Representative King that would remove state animal protections and support the Denham-Schrader Amendment so that animals continue to have protection from abuse and cruelty.

2) We hear that Representative Grisham (D-NM) will be introducing an amendment to ban horse slaughter. It’s important that your representatives support this effort if the amendment is introduced. The same suggested message for the approps bill (food safety and budget) should be used.

You can locate your representatives at this link http://www.house.gov/representatives/ – there is a link at the top right hand side of the page where you enter your zip code or if you know his/her name, you can click on the letters and search by last name. You can either call direct or go through the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask for him/her.

Senate Appropriations Bill

Senators Landrieu (D-LA) and Graham (R-SC) will be introducing an amendment (similar to the Moran-Young Amendment) to remove funding for horse inspections. Please ask for support of this amendment when calling the committee members. If you’ve already called, call them again!