Alert to fellow horse lovers

From: Pat Dickey
830-693-8253
Pat@tonkawood.com
Fax: 830-693-6177

I am alerting you to a potential “can of worms”  

Many of you are aware of my involvement in trying to stop the slaughter of horses here in Texas . As this ongoing effort progressed, it was discovered that it is illegal in our state to slaughter horses for “human consumption”. See Sections 149.002, 149.003 and 149.005 of the Texas Agricultural Code.

 Section 149.002.  Sale or Possession of Horsemeat  

      A person commits an offense if:  

(1)                           the person sells, offers for sale, or exhibits for sale horsemeat as food for human consumption; or

(2)                           the person possesses horsemeat with the intent to sell the horsemeat as food for human consumption.

Section 149.003.  Transfer of Horsemeat

A person commits an offense if the person:  

(1)               transfers horsemeat to a person who intends to sell the horsemeat, offer or exhibit it for sale, or possess it for sale as food for human consumption; and

(2)               knows or in the exercise of reasonable discretion should know that the person receiving the horsemeat intends to sell the horsemeat, offer or exhibit it for sale, or possess it for sale as food for human consumption.

 Section 149.005. Penalty

 (a)     An offense under this chapter is punishable by:

  (1)               a fine of not more than $1,000;

(2)               confinement in jail for not less than 30 days nor more than two years; or

(3)               both the fine and confinement.

 (b)        A second or subsequent offense under this chapter is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for not less than two years nor more than five years.

 ·        Last year a group of concerned Texans  sought to find out why this Texas state law was being ignored and unenforced.  They sought to find out what agency was in charge, and why two horse slaughter plants, one in Tarrant County and one in Kaufman County, were being allowed to operate in open violation of this state law.  These two plants, Beltex and Dallas Crown, are owned by a Belgium company, and are shipping the horsemeat from our slaughtered horses to Belgium, France and Japan for human consumption.   

·        These two plants are the only horse slaughter plants left in the United States .  All others have been shut down either by public pressure or voter initiatives.

·        These two plants slaughter around 45,000 horses a year from all over the U.S. and have annual sales in Europe and Asia exceeding $40,000.000.  No direct taxes or benefit is gained by the state of Texas in revenue, except for one item.  The Department of Agriculture collects $5.00 a head, with $3.00 going to the federal government to cover the cost of USDA meat inspectors.

·        Horses are being purchased by registered “killer buyers” at auction and in some cases privately.  Many are held in feedlot operations to fatten for the kill much like cattle. Theses “killer buyers” operate on a quota basis.  A full load is the recommended delivery for these buyers.  They are paid by the pound for the horses.  The horses are shipped in deplorable conditions and unloaded into crowded holding pens where they await the killer.  The killing process is that the horses are loaded into chutes, shot through the head with a “stun” gun, hooked onto with meat forks, hung alive to bleed out, and then quartered and processed. The horse must be alive in order for the heart to pump the blood out of its body.

·        Last year, interested parties, myself included, ask the Texas Agricultural Department about the legality of these plants.  The answer given by the Department was that they had no jurisdiction over the enforcement of this law. Getting nowhere with the Department of Agriculture, we asked Rep. Tony Goolsby (R-Dallas) to ask for a Texas Attorney General Opinion as to whether the law was being broken.  The Attorney General at this time was John Cornyn, our new United States Senator from Texas .  Attorney General Cornyn’s answer came in a letter dated Aug. 7, 2002 which reads in part as follows:   

“Dear Representative Goolsby:  

Under section 149.002 of the Agricultural Code, a person who sells horse-meat as food for human consumption or who possesses horse-meat intending to sell it as food for human consumption commits a criminal offense.  Similarly, under section 149.003, a person who transfers horse-meat to a person who intends to sell it as food for human consumption or who knows or reasonably should know that the person receiving the horse-meat intends to sell it as food for human consumption commits a criminal offense.  You ask whether these sections and other portions of chapter 149 apply to horse slaughter plants in Texas that process, possess, sell and transport horse-meat to foreign countries as food for human consumption in those countries.  Assuming that the plant operators have the requisite intent or knowledge, we conclude that the sections apply.”  (Emphasis added.)

 The letter further states that the local District Attorney from each respective county has the duty to enforce these sections.

 ·        When this opinion came out, the District Attorneys in Tarrant and Kaufman county set about to shut the plants down per Texas law.  The immediate response from the Belgium owners was to seek an injunction from a federal judge stating that our Attorney General, John Cornyn, was wrong.  They hired expensive lawyers from Fort Worth and sued the DA’s of both counties stating that they were exempted from Texas law.  Their lead lawyer, John Linebarger, said, “a state can’t pass a law regulating interstate and foreign commerce.”  That is their case!  Mike Ramsey, a professor of constitutional law at the University of San Diego , says states are perfectly within their rights to ban certain products.”  US News and World Report.  This case is still pending in a Fort Worth federal court.

·        In the meantime, the Belgium companies have very quietly hired expensive lobbyists to work on a second front.  Rep. Betty Brown (R-Kaufman) has filed a bill (HB 1324) to amend the existing law prohibiting horse slaughter which, if passed, will permit these slaughter plants to continue to operate as long as the horsemeat is exported outside the United States.  (Ms. Brown claims that two veterinarians from her county encouraged her to do this but, when asked Ms. Brown and her staff refused to release the names of these two vets.)   Ms. Brown’s bill (HB 1324) can be viewed in its entirety at www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/legislation/bill_status.htm.

·        NO OTHER TEXAS STATUTE SPECIFICALLY PROTECTS A FOREIGN COMPANY’S RIGHT TO PRODUCE A PRODUCT IN THIS STATE, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR CITIZENS OF THIS STATE TO PURCHASE THAT PRODUCT.  HOW CAN THIS POSSIBILITY BE JUSTIFIED ONLY FOR HORSEMEAT?

·        Also, click on kaufmanzoning.net/horsemeat and view pictures of the fat, slick horses in the killer pens waiting for death and the crowded conditions they are being held in. These pictures were taken by a horse owner and dispels the myth that the horses are old, sick crippled and ready to die. You can also read the article in the 2/24/03 American Statesman about Rep. Brown and the questionable funding of her campaign and much other good factual and informative information.

·        Where are we now?

o       We now have a huge group of concerned citizens and horse owners and lovers looking into this matter.

o       Dan Rather did an expose April 30, 2001 about this deplorable slaughter plant situation with a hidden camera in Texas .  It was aired on cbs news.  He is being contacted again! It is available for review at: http.//www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/04/26/eveningnews/main288001.shtml  You can log on and view the video.

o       Protests are being formed, emails are flying  throughout the United States, money is being raised to fund media ads and disseminate information, and the mess is starting to be exposed for want it is – corporate welfare and special interest groups getting rich at the expense of us and our horses.

·        What do horse lovers want?

o       We want the bill killed in committee, to go away.  We see no need for the bill in the first place, as the slaughter plants do not benefit the horse industry, the horses, the state, or us!

o       We do not want a foreign national company telling us our attorney general’s ruling is not valid, and that they can engage in a business from which we are prohibited in our own state!

o       If the bill dies, it is over.  The horses win and the right of the state of Texas to make it’s own laws and decisions is upheld if the federal judge rules in our favor and most indications are that it will be upheld.

o       The foreign nationals, who are against us in our war on terrorism, who are criticizing our President, and who are causing travel alerts to avoid France, WILL NO LONGER BE GRANTED THE PRIVILEGE OF EATING OUR HORSES!

  ·        Please help by doing the following:  

1)                  Call Betty Brown at 512/463-0458 and tell her not to pursue this bill anymore.  

2)                  Call the Agriculture and Livestock Committee Members and ask them to VOTE NO ON HB  1324 – THE HORSE SLAUGHTER BILL.  

Rick Hardcastle –Chair (512/463-0526)
Sid Miller –Vice Chair (512/463-0628)
Lon Burnam (512/463-0740)
Delwin Jones (512/463-0542)
Pete Laney (512/463-0604)
David Swinford (512/463-0470)  

Use the talking points set out in this memo and make sure they realize this is bad for our great state!