NATIONAL HORSE PROTECTION COALITION
THANKS BREEDERS’ CUP, RACING INDUSTRY
FOR OPPOSITION TO HORSE SLAUGHTER

For Immediate Release

Grand Prairie, TX – (October 29, 2004) – This year’s Breeders’ Cup is proving to be more than the usual showcase of stunning athleticism and beauty.  Ironically, the event is taking place just miles away from two of the country’s three horse slaughter plants, and horse slaughter is in the spotlight, too.  With the Thoroughbred racing industry opposed to the practice, the National Horse Protection Coalition is seizing the opportunity to publicly thank the industry for its stand.

“The Breeders’ Cup and others in the industry oppose horse slaughter, a position that is reflective of public opinion.  Americans don’t eat horses and we don’t raise them for human consumption.  Kudos to the racing industry for its stand on this issue,” said Liz Ross, spokeswoman for the National Horse Protection Coalition.

Just hours before the biggest racing event of the year kicks off, D.G. van Clief, President of the Breeders’ Cup and National Thoroughbred Racing Association Commissioner, will speak against horse slaughter at a National Horse Protection Coalition press conference at Lone Star Park.  He will be joined by other industry notables including Lone Star Park President Corey Johnsen and two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Nick Zito (Birdstone’s trainer). 

“The Thoroughbred world should be congratulated for its position on horse slaughter. The industry has taken real action to curb the number of Thoroughbreds going to slaughter, and industry groups have been some of the strongest supporters of my bill to ban the practice,” said U.S. Representative John E. Sweeney (R-NY), sponsor of the hugely popular American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 857).  The bill would prohibit the domestic slaughter of horses for human consumption and their export for slaughter elsewhere.

The National Horse Protection Coalition, which is sponsoring the press event, is comprised of organizations and individuals from the horse industry, veterinary field and humane community.  Its primary goal is to end the slaughter of America’s horses for human consumption via passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, and it has worked closely with sponsors of the federal bill.

For further info, contact:

Jerry Mullins, 202-261-4037
Meredith Levine 202-261-4036