NOTICE OF INTENT TO OBJECT TO
PROCEEDING -- (Senate - December 05, 2007) - Larry Craig
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NOTICE OF INTENT TO
OBJECT TO PROCEEDING -- (Senate - December 05, 2007)
[Page: S14802] _ GPO's PDF_
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Mr. CRAIG . Mr. President, I wish to notify the Senate of my intent to
object
to proceeding to S. 311, a bill to
[Page: S14803] _ GPO's PDF_
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amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping,
transporting,
moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of
horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other
purposes.
The bill would prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering,
receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other
equines
to be slaughtered for human consumption. In short, it would further limit the
already limited options for disposal of unwanted horses .
An unwanted horse is one that has reached the useful end of its
economic or
recreational life. There are numerous reasons for the existence of unwanted
horses , not the least of which are economic reasons such as loss of job, price
of feed or stabling, relocation, poor health of the horse or its owner.
It must be recognized that no one has adequately addressed the fate of the
estimated 90,000 unwanted horses that were formerly slaughtered on an annual
basis. Animal welfare groups and rescue organizations can only do so much to
shoulder the load of aiding the adoption or care of these horses
. They are
currently stretched to capacity, and we expect an increase in need. As a
result, we
are witnessing a significant increase in abandonment and neglect of horses in
this country. Particularly in the West, growing numbers of unwanted horses are
being dumped on public or private rangelands.
I believe that we should take the time to examine this growing issue of the
unwanted horse before passing legislation that ties the hands
of horse owners,
public and private land managers, and others.