Equine Rescue

Transcripts from NM 10/22 Horse Slaughter Hearing Now Online

News from Vicki Tobin ~Vice President Equine Welfare Alliance

“The environmental issues from former horse slaughter plants are now on record…”

John Holland, President of the Equine Welfare Alliance, speaking at the International Equine Convention in Sept. 2013

John Holland, President of the Equine Welfare Alliance, speaking at the International Equine Convention in Sept. 2013 ~ photo by R.T. Fitch

“You can draw your own conclusion after reading the transcripts but we heard from several people that attended the hearing that John Holland really nailed the vet. We couldn’t agree more as he was not able to answer many of John’s questions. Metabolites, what metabolites?

Of greater importance, the environmental issues from the former plants are now on record. Also, their claims on the contamination occurring above the water line were challenged by John and after much back and forth and Dunn trying to stop the questioning, they admitted the water line moves up and down.

Attorney Bruce Wagman did an excellent job as you’ll read throughout the transcripts.

Evidently, the darkside read a different set of transcripts because they are commending Dunn for “whooping their butt”. 

http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/valley_meat_1.PDF

http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/valley_meat_2.PDF

20 replies »

  1. I know the vet, never erased his call backs to me. Both owners of Mine That Bird live across the street from each other, this vet is next to Valley Meat. He Is adamant about horse slaughter (also verified by a friend at KOB) yet he told me on the phone “none of my horses will ever be slaughtered”. Was a sane conversation, as I was not very informed & armed at the time, back in the spring. More to tell but not here. I’m sure he was drunk in court & I have seen his nasty side concerning a “Mine That Bird” sign as people drive into Roswell. He wants that? How about a tour of the block >>> See a Kentucky Derby winner, then let’s go round the corner & see the horses slaughtered that I support!

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    • WOW….MTB is a great horse, but I was fairly certain of the trainer’s mindset on horse’s and how they usually are treated in NM and the industry in general. I do hope I’m wrong, but the activities of many in that state worry me. And no, I don’t believe ALL New Mexicans feel that way.

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  2. Thank You RT. that’s A Lot Of Testimony To Read But I’ll Get Through It eventually mainly Because i Want To Know What Happened To Sway The Judge. I’veDownloaded Both Of The Files. Thanks For All You All Have Done.

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  3. John…thank God you are on the side of justice, truth and our noble servants.

    Thank you for being there;probably at personal expense and hardship. Don’t think Douche and Walrus can say that.

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  4. Folks who are near Mine That Bird need to keep an eye on this gelding. I’m sure KY Horse Park or Old Friends would take him should he become too much of a burden to his current owner(s).

    Also, I do not have time nor inclination to read over 600 pages of testimony. After someone reads them, could they post the extremely relevant info, which pages are necessary to read, etc. I would like the “Cliff Notes” version. Thanks.

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  5. I have to speak to the comment RT made about them complementing Dunne on the Whooping their Ass and they must have read a different transcript. First they have proved they do NOT read…they do not comprehend what is told to them and that drumbeat they follow in their head is way to loud for them to hear over if someone talked s-l-o-w enough. As well for the Veterinarian…..Science and Medical Advances in what actually is happening in these scenario’s has been advancing and obviously they have kept up with Veterinary and Medical and Environmental Terminology and actually read the definitions, and wow! they actually understand the words without Wikipedia on the stand! Veterinarians as well as Physicians are required to keep up with the newest data stream so they can determine what was really happening all these years. That’s what We horse people call-Paying Attention. While they are still batting on the nats above the dead horses does anyone know if this veterinarian has any Financial Stake in this business, we observed the personal connection but what about anything else? I am certain that would be conflict of interest. I mean I am already appalled another Veterinarian condones this at all.

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  6. Got some pertinent information: a guy who works for a cattle slaughter plant called and said he read the comment about the weight of the udders and partsof horse being smaller, less offal, fluids, etc. He stated, the weight of those parts is weight overestimated, specifically udders only on dairy cows or calving cows leaving ophans would be the only ones they are referencing, the udders on other cattle are smaller, narrower, and when dried up for slaughter his scale averaged 9 of 10 this morning total weight 11 lbs, the larger being 11.6. He also stated the udders when full on a dairy cow largest hes had on scale was 27.2 lbs. All are less. He stated that the cows stomachs can ea be weighed and he can supply that later. He stated horses have more fluids than cattle, period, industry facts compared this he insists from the USDA reporting dats from 1984, 1997, and 2005. He says that the stomachs of a horse weigh More by comparison because of the type of feeds the horse consumes in its lifetime, the stomachs of cattle going to slaughter shrink before they are slaughtered which is why some people used drugs to swell them with fluids for additional lbs. He said the actual left overs from horses in compassion to cattle the excess parts piled up leave 2 times the amount of remains than cattle and that the USDA ackowledged this in 1984 and 1997, which increases cost of production. The contradictions in Bute in a horse vs used in cattle was that cattle have 4 stomachs and has a better digestion rate and dessimation of the chemical qualities longivity as opposed to horses where its absorbed by the body where it stays because they only have one stomach to break it down, it has time to be absorbed by the body and stored. So this is from a slaughterplant worker. He also said dairy will have More fluid than Any animals butchered since Santos primarily did dairy there were more fluids due to MILK production. So theres what needs said in court. He is sooutta touch!

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  7. Need someone to verify an unusual conversation that took place a little awhile ago. A man advertised a poa, appy type pony for sale, called to buy it, I smelled proslaughter from the word go. Turns out he says all the mustangs are just costing ta, payers 50000 a month and they should be sent to slaughter, bit my lip, gotta get location to arrange to buy pony, tgen he went on about various things I couldnt take the proslaughter rhetoric and he I said good thing plants are Not open yet, and he said YES they are, I know for a FACT they did a test run this week and killed 20 horses for sure. I said no they havile restraining order, he said, they definitely are open and running, I know for sure how they got there. So, my Q is can we find out from someone there about this week? This guy is some sort of Real

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  8. Sorry phone died….hes some sorta Real Estate Broker or Agent in Illinois, he sounded as pro agenda as they come, but he also sounded like this was personal in the know information. Can we find out anything, dont want to panic anyone, or cry wolf, but you know in Jaws when they were yelling Shark! And he ran to look even though he was wrkng before and there waz a Shark? Well doesnt hurt to check it out. Please let me know.

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  9. Could this be the intended destination for slaughtered American Horses? WHERE is the market?

    http://www.offthegridnews.com/2013/10/28/obama-pushing-asian-trade-deal-that-threatens-food-safety/

    Asian Trade Deal That Threatens Food Safety

    You may never have heard of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, (TPP) but the impact of the trade deal on the safety of America’s food could be significant.
    The potential deal between the United States and Pacific Rim nations has been so closely guarded that Congress has reportedly been able to garner only a few details about the agreement.

    If the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement is approved, Americans may soon be dining on Asian chicken, seafood and beef which do not even come close to achieving United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. The federal agency would reportedly be powerless to ban imports based upon a lack of food safety attributes. That’s because under the trade deal, countries would be bound by the deal’s language instead of their own regulations.

    The Obama administration wants to see the trade deal finalized by the end of the year, even fast-tracked, but there is opposition in Congress from Obama’s own party.

    It would be the biggest trade deal with the 1995 World Trade Organization.
    “Some information has come out, but this is politically charged and there’s been more secrecy around the TPP than in past agreements,” Maria Toyoda, a professor of political science and a trade expert at Villanova University, told CNBC. “Because it’s so consequential and would have such a major impact, many of the parties want to keep the details a secret,” Toyoda said. “People remember the riots in Seattle in 1999 over the WTO and how that deal came under scrutiny afterward. There’s fear something like that could happen again.”
    This summer, the United States and the European Union (EU) launched negotiations on what is called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. That agreement, too, would force the US to abide by the language of the agreement and not by American regulations.
    Americans who who do not believe the USDA, FDA and EPA are adequately protecting Americans from unsafe food surely will not feel comfortable further lowering food safety standards.

    If published details of the two trade deals are accurate, the concept of the lowest common denominator could soon reign supreme in the agriculture industry.

    If the massive impact of the TPP and TTIP on future agricultural policy in the United States was not a big enough problem to worry about, the details of the second half of the agreement will definitely give Americans’ pause. The policies included in the trade agreement may impact economic markets, Internet freedom, health care, and environmental sustainability as well.

    The 12 countries involved in the proposed Pacific deal are the United States, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Canada.

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  10. I read it all. How can people think sending there horses to slaughter is good? Comments from locals… don’t understand it. If I could not get a vet out, I would rather have someone shoot my friend, rather than send it to a KB.
    Can horses that have had certain medications get a small brand or tattoo somewhere that would keep them from the food supply? Might slow down some of the breeders.

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  11. I just slogged through most of this to learn more about how things happen in a hearing.

    First impressions: Los Santos seems to be a bit of a pawn of the USDA, much commentary about helping a poor minority businessman get on his feet etc.

    The vet was either very oily or very confused, he did not make much sense and seemed to be intentionally avoiding answering simple questions. It’s clear he answered the same one with multiple answers, especially about labeling of animal drugs. He also did and didn’t know much about how horses end up in slaughter, proclaimed all horses spend at least 120 days in feedlots before slaughter (!) and though he’s a track vet didn’t think many racehorses ended up there. He also thought this plant would be so small as to not make much of a dent in the amount or horses needing to be killed (this last might have been one of the commissioner’s testimonies, I have lost track just now).

    All the public testimony was in favor of opening the plant, but most seemed to have a vested interest in that happening, a couple of county commissioners and some who seemed they might want the jobs. One of Irish/Native American descent decried how many horses were starving and dying on the reservation and elsewhere, being abandoned by people, but he offered no supporting evidence that I could tell. One eloquent old rancher went on about how much he loved his horses, and how hard it was to shoot an old friend, arguing it was much preferable to send his horse to “humane euthanasia” at a nearby slaughter plant, especially for the ones too old to make the trip to Mexico. Wow, way to treat an old friend. Humane euthanasia is readily available from any large animal veterinarians, and it seems there is one in the plant area well versed with drugs.

    Most disappointing was no public testimony whatsoever on behalf of horses, though there was a sign up sheet and several rounds of asking if anyone wanted to speak.

    The biggest

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  12. Also very curious to the question of the Deed/Title to the property by L. H. Kenneddy. Anyone know anything about that? Nothing seems to come up on google.

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