Source: Multiple
“Ruling complicates recent win to save American horses from slaughter”
ALBUQUERQUE — A federal magistrate on Thursday ordered equine advocacy groups that won a temporary ban on domestic horse slaughter to post a bond of nearly $500,000 as they continue their legal fight to save America’s horses.
U.S. Magistrate Robert Scott settled on the amount after hearing from attorneys who represent two companies that had planned to begin operations this week at slaughterhouses in New Mexico and Iowa.
“The bond requires the plaintiffs to put their money where their mouth is. There are real-life consequences to these actions and we’re appreciative of the judge recognizing that,” said lawyer Pat Rogers, who represents Responsible Transportation, a horse butchering company in the town of Sigourney, Iowa.
The case has sparked an emotional debate about how best to deal with the tens of thousands of wild, unwanted and abandoned horses across the country as drought conditions and the lack of feed in many states continue to exacerbate the problem.
The Humane Society of the United States, Front Range Equine Rescue and others won a temporary restraining order last week that blocked Responsible Transportation and Valley Meat Co. in Roswell from opening their plants. Public praise for the legal effort runs high as a recent survey indicates that over 80% of Americans are against the slaughter of horses for human consumption.
The bond covers the companies’ alleged costs and lost profits for the next 30 days should the animal rights groups lose the case. Within that time, another hearing is planned in federal court to determine the fate of the temporary ban.
Attorneys for the animal rights groups argued Thursday that the losses estimated by the companies were highly speculative and the result of creative accounting.
Attorneys for the slaughterhouses disputed those claims.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in June gave Valley Meat the go-ahead to begin slaughtering horses. USDA officials said they were legally obligated to issue the permit, even though the Obama administration opposes horse slaughter and is seeking to reinstate a congressional ban that was lifted in 2011.
Another permit was approved a few days later for Responsible Transportation.
The animal rights groups argue that the agency failed to do the proper environmental studies before issuing the permits.
Robert Redford, former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, current New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and New Mexico Attorney General Gary King are among those who oppose a return to domestic horse slaughter, citing the horse’s iconic role as a companion animal in the West.
Related Articles
- Previous slaughter breaches helped convince judge (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Temporary court order prevents slaughter plants reopening (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Former governor heads to Washington over horse slaughter (horsetalk.co.nz)
- Update: Federal Judge Postpones Bond Hearing in Horse Slaughter Case (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
At the profit levels the slaughter house projects we all better lock up our horses. Stealing horses may become more lucrative then bank robbery. To sustain that profit would mean killing every horse in America.
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You’re so right Horsedrag….been saying that since I came into knowing and learning
about slaughter… It’s Pathetic that we could slip into the old Barbaric practice here in the US……But were a slipping country these days………….
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This is not about how much money those companies will lose ?????? This is about precious Life of the Horses Mustangs and all wild Life !!!!!!!This is about our Land which is being devastated for what the Sake of a dollar, this is about GREED, there are some things money cannot buy , there are some things that are sacred and treasures and iconic majestic beauty ,that is worth risking everything to save, there are some things that sustain life in all forms , there are some things that define America and for which it stands proud and that there is no price tag for and nothing can replace the horses are ALL of things so perfect in every way , i personally could care less about the monies these greedful, cruel people will lose and are whining like a bunch of spoiled babies,about, the BIG PiCTURE here is the survival of the Most Beautiful gracious and perfect animal ever to Grace this planet !!!!! The HORSE brings so much to the World Table there is no other animal to do what he does so wonderfully !!!!!!! so perfectly !!!!!!! The HORSE STANDS PROUD OF WHO HE IS and I STAND PROUD FOR HIS LIFE !!!!!!! How can anyone who believes in HONOR and RESPECT EVER FORSAKE HIM FOR A LOUSY DOLLAR????????????????? THE HORSE IS FOR REAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and so am I…………………..
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As far as I’m aware the EU hasn’t approved US horse meat for import, the US hasn’t complied with any safety measures to insure against drug tainted meat to be accepted by the EU. If this is still the case, who do these slaughterhouses think they’re going to sell all of this horse meat to?
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People who won’t know what they are eating.
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GIVE to OUR HORSES WHAT THEY GAVE TO US FREEDOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
arleneorlando
• 2 minutes ago
Every Horse that is sold at a Kill Buyer Action in America is nail in the coffin of All that America has ever in its History stood TALL and PROUD FOR OR ever BELIEVED IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! …………….
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Are they saying that their PROFIT (i.e. net profit after expenses and insurance and payroll and attorney’s fees etc) is $1.5 million every month??? And the U.S. Magistrate believed that? Am I misunderstanding?
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Devastating – they got that right !! …..to the American horse, Americas environment, and the American people with horrific real-life consequences
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This madness needs to STOP ,,,,,,,, HORSES SRE NOT FOOD<<<< they will want to start slaughtering humans next , the days of Noah is here , when is ENOUGH <<<ENOUGH
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Amen!!! It is all about money in their pockets!!!!
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“The case has sparked an emotional debate about how best to deal with the tens of thousands of wild, unwanted and abandoned horses across the country as drought conditions and the lack of feed in many states continue to exacerbate the problem.”
This is overboard. The money is absurd. Would they even have profit the first month? I doubt it… maybe not for 6 months? Drop the BOND!
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I like the lightened up area on the story so why not lighten up the area where we write our comments… seems it would help us all read better.
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YES PLEASE lighten up the posting it is SO HARD TO READ IT, WICKED HARD TO SEE IT…???? Notice how Billy Rae Cyrus want a be, DUNN has not mentioned a thing about all those poor starving horses, ALL MONEY he doesn’t even have a clue that this is the way it is coming across to the public, LOST that special caring of the horses, imagine that FOCUS as we all knew anyway, IS THE MONEY, OH YEAH… To me that is a ridiculous amount of money, we go one step forward then we go one step backward, ?? I am so angry that this has gotten so far… Ridiculous, and my faith in our Government’s whole entire entity is GONE>>>>>
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More PUBLIC AWARENESS IS NEEDED!!!!!
We need more Rallies at each State house level……..
In the long run Rallies do educate the public and make a difference.
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I agree that it is hard to read the dark comment section. the lighter posting section is easy to read.
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Heather I want to Thank you again for putting together a fantastic Rally..
I commend you for your desire to help and bring Awareness into the world…
I will be ready for our next Rally…..
Colorado Against Horse Slaughter is cooking up our next Gig… Booth at one of
the Fairs……………
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$1 would be too much in my mind, but $500k is way, way better 1 mill and excellent compared to $15 mill….I thought it was original $10 mill…..Dunn is a hoot!
Until reporters/journalists STOP USING THE INFLAMMATORY PHRASE “ANIMAL RIGHTS”, I won’t consider it or them legitimate journalists serving the reading public; they are public relations trolls for the slaughter and animal abuse people and industries.
Really folks, $500k is an insult to the kill houses and their attorneys.
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Thumbs up Denise…….
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Ridiculous. These ‘companies’ were never up and running, and are only in existence because they exploited a loophole in the law.
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I don’t know how they can even come up with any figure if inspectors are not being funded. I thought that horse meat inspectors were defunded, which would stop the sale of any horse meat. Most zoos don’t even feed it to their animals. Do I have that wrong?
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http://randomslate.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/how-the-aqha-broke-my-heart/
70% of horses sent to slaughter are quarter horses- please read the above and share the information!
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff/2013/08/08/gao-accused-of-fraud-as-horse-slaughter-plants-fight-to-open/
A quote from the report
‘The majority of the slaughter horses are byproducts of the sport horse industry. Racehorses that no longer win races (or produce foals) constitute between 16% and 19% of the slaughter horse population; Quarter Horses account for a whopping 70% of all breeds slaughtered according to the USDA; and rodeo stock is well represented.’
86-89% of all horses sent to slaughter are purposefully bred Quarter horses, and a few Thoroughbreds. The above quote doesn’t include Standardbred harness racers.. All the rest put together – wild, abused, and neglected make up a mere 10%. Point the spot light where it can make a change! Don’t let wild horses take the blame for callous and irresponsible breeders! Call out the AQHA and the others on their breeding practices NOW!
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Thank You !!!AQHA has been doing this horror for years, if a horse doesnt meet their criteria,its the slaughter house OMG !!!!! how freakin wrong is this ??? 100%, they need to be call on this now !!!!!
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Yes, the pro-slaughter AQHA registers 85,000 foals every year- that’s where the problem starts!
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“15 Million in lost revenue in a month” They must be out of their minds. 500,000 is still a crack pot dream of a real profit figure…. they wont realize that kind of bottom line profit in the first year- thankfully it’s just a bond and they must prove if there is any real lost revenue (if they actually win). American horse meat is not approved for human consumption – So where would this US horse meat go, and is it legal? I think the Judge needs to consider this – putting aside that we as horse lovers find this whole situation appalling, he must realize that literally all of the horse meat in the US is tainted with PBZ and should never be approved for any type of consumption or reprocessing. That’s not even taking into consideration the inhumanity of horse slaughter – which apparently some can overlook, or else we would not be in this situation. A study was done on US slaughter bound horses and nearly 100% tested for bute, or some other pain killing drugs,
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I think it might have been one and a half (1.5) million monthly but that can’t be true either with normal business expenses they would be lucky to break even for the first year or two based on other companies that have start-up costs.
BUT I really hate to say this but the pet industry historically was largely involved with horse meat and might be waiting in the wings and supporting these slaughter proposals. Time to send daily emails to all pet food companies and let them know your position? And even those friends and relatives that don’t know about the horse slaughter issue might want or need to know what could soon be in the food they will be feeding their pets?
Take a glance at these BIG dollar numbers: http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp
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A food politics article addresses some of the pet food topic, interesting
http://www.foodpolitics.com/2013/02/the-horsemeat-scandal-an-object-lesson-in-food-politics/
Do we all need to DNA test our pet food now too so at to not inadvertently support horse slaughter.
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Wanna laugh so hard u fall down. Read the correction tribes support horse slaughter but not valley meats. This paints a portrait of pro slaughter like no one can……their all together in court, got your back, then this happens, so the tribes are stepping out of the picture, a few steps away….hey, somebody better call associated press and tell the public we aint with theze guys! Lollolomao…..they realized they better publicly step aside. Then they just stun ya with its against our beliefs to kill horses and tribal lands by euthanasia???? Really good whiskey for that particular fella, cause all the tribal people ive talked to say this is ridiculous!
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Im really tired but i have to add tonight that sue was spouting off her pro slaughter data again as if gao wasnt enough to blow ur minds, an article quoted her saying 70 percent job loss in horse industry. Industry decimated by no slaghter plants in usa. Sue quotes 70 percent less breeding, not true but whoohoo, 70 percent less registries, 70 percent less revenue because of it, 70 percent less veterinarians, ,70 prrcent less horse shoers, and you get the fact that shes at least 70 percent nuts?!
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Keep watching, soon the tribal leader will slowly walk away from her too, thenanother press release will follow and rt can hay a hay day with it!
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