“It’s ultimately a value question on how we value horses in the United States,” says Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. “Last thing we’re going to do is set up a commercial operation and sell the meat of dogs and cats in other countries. It’s unthinkable.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the release of its final rule requiring uniform mandatory minimum penalties for violations of the federal Horse Protection Act. USDA-certified horse industry organizations operate alongside the USDA to enforce the Horse Protection Act by conducting inspections at Tennessee Walking Horse competitions. The final rule also clarifies that the agency can decertify a horse industry organization for any failure to comply with the regulations.
The abuse of Tennessee walking horses has been in the news since The HSUS released video footage of one of the industry’s top trainers striking a horse in the face with a wooden handle and pouring injurious chemicals onto the feet of a horse. It was four decades ago that Congress passed the Horse Protection Act to prevent and criminalize “soring” and other abuses of horses. Tennessee state representative Janis Sontany wrote in a column in The Tennessean on Sunday: “Soring has been a well-kept dirty secret in this industry and it’s time for this nonsense to end.”
On Tuesday, when I woke up in the morning, I was really anxious to go testify during the press conference at noon. I couldn’t wait to go and practiced my speech a few times in our hotel room. My mom also told me that I had an email from Senator Mary Landrieu’s (GA) office, asking to meet me. I couldn’t believe that a Senator asked to meet me! I went swimming in the hotel pool for a little while and it was all I could think about.
Imagine, if you will, that hypothetically you found yourself in the position of representing a very unpopular cause but you pursued it as it meant great fame, even though it is all negative, and a bunch of money in your pocket and being that you have had a few iffy fiscal woes in the past you embrace the new found income source.
Horse Slaughter for Food “Sound Off with Sasha” On Public Broadcasting Fridays at 12 Noon ET, on WGCU*WMKO 90.1*91.7 FM Hear it Online, Live: http://www.wgcu.org/WGCU-Shows/ (click on Listen Live) Or Archived: http://www.wgcu.org/sasha HOTLINE: 1 877 GCU-TALK Horses are an important part of our history…We built a Nation […]
Sue Wallis, a Wyoming state representative and the most visible booster for horse slaughter in the United States, took it on the chin the other day in Missouri, as local residents strongly opposed her proposal for a horse slaughter plant near the Mountain Grove community of nearly 5,000. There were about 300 angry residents who packed the town council meeting at the Mountain Grove Senior Center and wanted nothing to do with such an enterprise in their town. They knew that profits would be slim, and that they’d also be getting too large a share of pollution problems, reduced property values, and animal cruelty bound up with this industry.
The Obama administration had B-level scores for the first two years of the term, but earned only a C-minus from The Humane Society of the United States for its performance on animal welfare issues in 2011. The Obama administration had a wide range of opportunities to advance a constructive animal welfare agenda for the nation in 2011, but it was responsible for only a few noteworthy beneficial actions for animals. It stalled, weakened, or exhibited indifference to some overdue reforms, and it even took some highly adverse actions against animal protection.
“Horse slaughter supporters are apologists for cruelty and deceptively lay claim to being defenders of animals rights”
In a strongly worded attack on the horse slaughter lobby, Wayne Pacelle, the society’s president and chief executive, says it is an inescapable conclusion that the horse slaughter industry is disreputable and predatory.
WASHINGTON (Sept. 19, 2011) — The Humane Society of the United States applauds U.S. Reps. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., for introducing H.R. 2966, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, a bipartisan measure that will end the export and inhumane killing of American horses for human consumption across our borders. The bill was introduced in the House with 57 original co-sponsors.
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