TODAY'S
COLUMNIST
By Christopher J. Heyde
April 7, 2006
Unlike the mythical tale of the
Trojan horse, horse slaughter in the United States is a cold, brutal and
senseless act played out daily in the three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in
Texas and Illinois.
The debate over whether horses should be slaughtered in
this country for human consumption abroad is one that deserves the
dissemination of accurate information, unlike what lobbyist Charlie Stenholm
recently put forth in the recent commentary "Meat plant ban a Trojan
Horse."
Mr. Stenholm would like the public to believe that
horse slaughter is a common option used by horse owners, when, in fact, less
than 1 percent of all horses in this country end up at slaughterhouses. The
overwhelming majority of horses are brought in by middlemen known as
"killer buyers" working for the plants who do not reveal their true
business when buying horses from unsuspecting sellers.
An estimated 900,000 horses in this country die
naturally or are humanely euthanized and disposed of properly each year. It is
illogical to conclude that by ending horse slaughter, we would be overwhelmed
with bodies or even live horses. As one person noted, "it is a wild assumption
that every horse will die the same day, week, month or even year."
Sadly, wild assumptions are what the pro-slaughter
folks want the public and legislators to base their decisions on, because they
have no evidence to support their position that horse slaughter in America is
necessary.
Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of American horse
owners realize that horse slaughter is not euthanasia by any definition. They
do what is right by having a veterinarian humanely euthanize their horses when
the time comes, an expense which is less than one month's board for the average
horse owner.
I can understand why Mr. Stenholm is so uninformed
about the mistreatment of horses, since he has only recently been hired by the
slaughterhouses. I suggest he read the various outstanding editorials in The
Washington Times exposing the cruelty of this unwanted industry. There is also
ample evidence from the Department of Agriculture that slaughterhouse cruelty
is an ongoing problem. Documents recently obtained from the USDA through the
Freedom of Information Act reveal numerous citations of federal law pertaining
to the treatment of horses in these plants over an incredibly short period of
time.
I am one of the few people who have witnessed horse
slaughter firsthand without being expressly brought in by the industry to show
how "wonderful" it is. I was accompanied by a licensed veterinarian
who sought out a USDA inspector when we were no longer able to tolerate the
abuse we witnessed. Unfortunately, she was unable to find the inspector in the
facility. In the mere 45 minutes we were there, we witnessed several acts of
cruelty. I can assure you from my own experience that the video, photographs
and USDA documents depicting slaughterhouse cruelty are brutally accurate. (To
learn more about horse slaughter and to see a video of this cruel practice,
please visit www.saplonline.org/horses.htm
.)
The effort to ban horse slaughter in this country has
brought together one of the largest and most diverse coalitions ever assembled
to promote a single animal-protection cause -- more than 200 horse industry,
rescue and humane organizations have joined together in solidarity (most of the
pro-slaughter organizations are not even horse-related).
Support has also been garnered from every living owner
of a Kentucky Derby winning horse, horse-industry leaders, Hall of Fame
trainers, veterinarians and horse-owning celebrities such as Willie Nelson, Bo
Derek and William Shatner. This unequalled collection of horse enthusiasts and
experts looked at the facts and came to one unified opinion: Horse slaughter is
cruel and must come to an end.
It is time to stop the rhetoric and ban horse slaughter
once and for all. Those working to end horse slaughter have had to divert
much-needed resources because a few individuals continue to misrepresent the
issue. If we could swiftly end slaughter, those diverted resources currently
being spent by the anti-slaughter movement could be returned to the goal of
helping horses in need.
Congress heard the facts, saw the documents and
listened to the American people when it overwhelmingly passed an amendment
banning horse slaughter for a year. It is now time for Congress to once again
respect the will of the public and swiftly enact the American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 1915).
Christopher J. Heyde, a former Republican Senate
staffer and Army veteran, is currently with the Society for Animal Protective
Legislation.
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060406-085826-4366r.htm