Post by diamondindykin on Jan 25, 2006 18:24:09 GMT -5
Don't let horse-meat industry circumvent Congress
By MICHAEL MARKARIAN
Special to the Star-Telegram
It's no surprise that two Texas horse slaughter plants have quietly petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a horse inspection scheme to circumvent a new federal law that de-funds government inspections at horse slaughter plants.
In 2005, the House and the Senate, in an attempt to ban the slaughter of horses for food exports, passed the funding limitation amendments to an agriculture spending bill. The three remaining horse slaughter operations in the United States -- BelTex Corp. in Fort Worth, Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill. -- want the USDA to establish a "fee-for-service" inspection system for horse slaughter in lieu of federally funded inspections.
The plants, which are all foreign-owned, have asked that the USDA implement this change without notifying the public or following normal rule-making procedures, claiming that it is in the "public's interest" to keep this maneuver secret.
We expected the horse slaughter industry to try to subvert Congress' action and to conceal its maneuvers from the public. What's shocking is that the USDA recently informed members of Congress that it is seriously considering this plan.
The fee-for-service proposal, however, would thwart an unambiguous congressional directive and violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act's requirement that the USDA, not private facilities, fund horse slaughter inspection.
It would be not only a violation of federal law but also a deviation from American values.
Horses are many things to Americans: They helped us settle this country. They have served us faithfully in battle. They have entertained us in racing and competition. For 400 years, they were a primary means of transport for Americans. And they are beloved companions to millions today.
But for Americans, there's one thing horses are not: food.
That's why last year the Senate voted 69-28 and the House 269-158 to stop the slaughter of American horses. The successful amendment to the agriculture spending bill prohibits the use of tax dollars to promote horse slaughter during fiscal 2006, and the law is scheduled to take effect March 10.
With landslide votes in both chambers, Congress sent a clear command that no tax dollars be used to promote the merciless slaughter of American horses to satisfy the demand for horse meat in other countries.
Most Americans would be surprised to learn that nearly 100,000 horses each year face a grim and painful end. "Killer buyers" (middlemen for slaughterhouses) deliberately purchase horses from well-intentioned families who believe that their horse is going to a good home and frequently have no idea that their beloved companion is slated for slaughter.
These animals are loaded into tight quarters on trucks and shipped, sometimes 1,000 miles or more, to one of the horse slaughterhouses. Once there, they are prodded onto the slaughterhouse floor, where they are hoisted up by a rear leg and then bled out with a sharp cut to the throat. The flesh is then frozen, packed and exported to countries such as Belgium, France, Italy or Japan, where horse meat remains popular.
Some would claim that horse slaughter is a "humane" end for an old or sick animal. But it costs an average of $50 to $250 to have a horse humanely euthanized and disposed of, and that is a cost that every owner of a horse must be willing to bear if he or she has accepted the responsibility of keeping a horse. That is, after all, only a fraction of what it costs to keep a horse as a companion or a work animal.
All of the groups backing the effort to end horse slaughter -- including the Humane Society of the United States, National Show Horse Registry, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Steeplechase Association and Churchill Downs -- recognize that horses deserve better.
Local residents and public officials where horse slaughterhouses are present recognize that these facilities are noxious, polluting blights. Kaufman Mayor Paula Bacon wrote members of Congress in September, saying: "Long-established neighbors living adjacent to the plant cannot open their windows or run their air conditioners without enduring the most horrific stench. Children playing in their yards do so with the noise of horses being sent to their deaths in the background. Landowners have difficulty securing loans to develop their property."
"I can assure you the economic development return to our community is negative," the mayor concluded. "The foreign-owned companies profit at our expense. It is time for them to go."
It is indeed time for them to go, and the USDA must deny the horse slaughter plants' petition and implement Congress' clear mandate to halt the slaughter of horses for human consumption. By even entertaining this 11th-hour bid by the slaughterhouses to rewrite the law, the USDA substitutes the judgment of foreign gourmands for that of our elected lawmakers.
By MICHAEL MARKARIAN
Special to the Star-Telegram
It's no surprise that two Texas horse slaughter plants have quietly petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a horse inspection scheme to circumvent a new federal law that de-funds government inspections at horse slaughter plants.
In 2005, the House and the Senate, in an attempt to ban the slaughter of horses for food exports, passed the funding limitation amendments to an agriculture spending bill. The three remaining horse slaughter operations in the United States -- BelTex Corp. in Fort Worth, Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill. -- want the USDA to establish a "fee-for-service" inspection system for horse slaughter in lieu of federally funded inspections.
The plants, which are all foreign-owned, have asked that the USDA implement this change without notifying the public or following normal rule-making procedures, claiming that it is in the "public's interest" to keep this maneuver secret.
We expected the horse slaughter industry to try to subvert Congress' action and to conceal its maneuvers from the public. What's shocking is that the USDA recently informed members of Congress that it is seriously considering this plan.
The fee-for-service proposal, however, would thwart an unambiguous congressional directive and violate the Federal Meat Inspection Act's requirement that the USDA, not private facilities, fund horse slaughter inspection.
It would be not only a violation of federal law but also a deviation from American values.
Horses are many things to Americans: They helped us settle this country. They have served us faithfully in battle. They have entertained us in racing and competition. For 400 years, they were a primary means of transport for Americans. And they are beloved companions to millions today.
But for Americans, there's one thing horses are not: food.
That's why last year the Senate voted 69-28 and the House 269-158 to stop the slaughter of American horses. The successful amendment to the agriculture spending bill prohibits the use of tax dollars to promote horse slaughter during fiscal 2006, and the law is scheduled to take effect March 10.
With landslide votes in both chambers, Congress sent a clear command that no tax dollars be used to promote the merciless slaughter of American horses to satisfy the demand for horse meat in other countries.
Most Americans would be surprised to learn that nearly 100,000 horses each year face a grim and painful end. "Killer buyers" (middlemen for slaughterhouses) deliberately purchase horses from well-intentioned families who believe that their horse is going to a good home and frequently have no idea that their beloved companion is slated for slaughter.
These animals are loaded into tight quarters on trucks and shipped, sometimes 1,000 miles or more, to one of the horse slaughterhouses. Once there, they are prodded onto the slaughterhouse floor, where they are hoisted up by a rear leg and then bled out with a sharp cut to the throat. The flesh is then frozen, packed and exported to countries such as Belgium, France, Italy or Japan, where horse meat remains popular.
Some would claim that horse slaughter is a "humane" end for an old or sick animal. But it costs an average of $50 to $250 to have a horse humanely euthanized and disposed of, and that is a cost that every owner of a horse must be willing to bear if he or she has accepted the responsibility of keeping a horse. That is, after all, only a fraction of what it costs to keep a horse as a companion or a work animal.
All of the groups backing the effort to end horse slaughter -- including the Humane Society of the United States, National Show Horse Registry, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Steeplechase Association and Churchill Downs -- recognize that horses deserve better.
Local residents and public officials where horse slaughterhouses are present recognize that these facilities are noxious, polluting blights. Kaufman Mayor Paula Bacon wrote members of Congress in September, saying: "Long-established neighbors living adjacent to the plant cannot open their windows or run their air conditioners without enduring the most horrific stench. Children playing in their yards do so with the noise of horses being sent to their deaths in the background. Landowners have difficulty securing loans to develop their property."
"I can assure you the economic development return to our community is negative," the mayor concluded. "The foreign-owned companies profit at our expense. It is time for them to go."
It is indeed time for them to go, and the USDA must deny the horse slaughter plants' petition and implement Congress' clear mandate to halt the slaughter of horses for human consumption. By even entertaining this 11th-hour bid by the slaughterhouses to rewrite the law, the USDA substitutes the judgment of foreign gourmands for that of our elected lawmakers.