I am writing to ask for your continued support of the American Horse
Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 857. This bill would ban the slaughter
of horses for human consumption. I am a Texas horse owner, and as one
of your constituents, I wish to vouch for the full support of this
bill by the citizens of Texas. During the state legislative session
that just ended here in Texas, a bill was introduced to decriminalize
horse slaughter in Texas. We, the concerned citizens of Texas,
prevailed in our efforts to defeat the issue.   To accomplish this,
we successfully convinced the state legislators that Texans don't
support horse slaughter for human consumption in Texas or anywhere
else!
 
The grassroots effort by individuals from all over Texas and the rest
of the Nation set an all time record for citizen involvement.
Individuals flooded the Texas State Capitol offices with thousands of
calls, letters and faxes.  Many legislators reported receiving more
calls on the Horse Slaughter issue than all other legislative issues
combined!  Anti-Horse Slaughter rallies were held in major cities
throughout Texas.   National and state horse organizations joined the
effort bringing the total number of people contacting the Texas
legislators to well over a 1,000,000 unique points of contact.  The
movement to legalize horse slaughter for human consumption here in
Texas, as expressed in HB 1324 (authored by Rep. Betty Brown of
Kaufman, Texas) was forced to concede it was against the wishes of
the constituents of this state, and this bill died in the senate
conference committee. As a recent Texas poll showed, the vast
majority of Texas voters (77%) oppose the slaughter of horses for
human consumption.

Not only is the horse a part of American heritage, equines in general
have played a major role in our historical growth and development.
Post industrial revolution, the number of horses has surprisingly
increased contributing significantly to the enjoyment of generations
of recreation enthusiasts in America.

Generations ago, our forefathers designated the horse a "favored"
animal, conferring on them a status that meant to date they are not
bred or raised for food, not eaten in our culture. Horses are
commonly given a name and are taxed differently than traditional food
animals. However over 3 million American recreational horses have
been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets in
the last two decades. Due to this lack of disclosure on the part of
the agents for the foreign owned horsemeat industry, people's horses
can and have been stolen and their pets purchased under false
pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud.

In the United States there are currently only two horse slaughter
plants left in operation, both foreign-owned, both in Texas. Equine
bound for these slaughter plants can be and are hauled several
thousand miles over several days, contrary to existing national and
international conventional standards for water, food and rest for
commercial equine transportation. Horses may also be transported in
trailers designed for cattle and hogs that do not meet existing
commercial equine industry standards. 

The horse slaughter plants use methods of slaughter that predicate
the horse is alive when they are hoisted by their rear leg and bled
out by having their throat slit.  Said methods were not devised, nor
do they take into account the different physiology of the equine and
inherently create suffering because of that fact. Humane euthanasia
by lethal injection administered by a veterinarian is therefore
preferred to slaughter.

As horses in America are not raised for food or fiber, veterinarians
commonly prescribe and treat horses with antibiotics, performance
enhancing drugs, hormones, wormers and other over-the-counter equine
products which the Food and Drug Administration has not tested or
approved for use in animals raised for food and accordingly are
labeled, "NOT TO BE USED ON HORSES INTENDED FOR USE AS FOOD." The
lack of FDA approval creates a potential food safety problem.

Horse slaughter creates a potential economic incentive and conduit
for irresponsible and indiscriminate over breeding, factory farming
of horses, consumer fraud, unlawful killing of federally protected
wild horses and public health and safety issues.

Horses in America deserve the same protection against slaughter as
our other nonfood, pleasure and recreational animals.

The slaughtering of American horses for gourmet export could be
banned tomorrow with no chilling impact on either agriculture or
commerce.

Congress and State Legislatures have recognized and enacted laws to
protect our equines (horses, ponies, burros, donkeys, and mules) that
form the foundation and basis for the logical extension of same that
H.R. 857 provides. They are:

·      In l972, Congress enacted the Wild Horse and Burro Act. This
designated the wild horse and Burro as part of American heritage and
providing protection against those that would cruelly slaughter them
for food.
·      In l985, Congress enacted the Export Administration
Amendments Act to prohibit the export of horses by sea from the
United States for purposes of slaughter.
·      In l998, the State of California enacted the Prohibition on
Slaughter of Horses and Sale of Horsemeat for Human Consumption
Initiative Statute. This Act prohibited the slaughter of California
horses for human consumption and the possession or sale of horsemeat
for human consumption.
·      In l999, Congress enacted HR 4868, which expressly prohibits
the import, export or sale of dog and cat fur. This ban was
incorporated into a miscellaneous trade package. This ban has held up
even under the continued pressure from foreign trade groups that feel
because they do not share our cultural bias we should allow these
sales, imports, and exports of pet dog and cat hides to and from
their countries.
·      In 2002, Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn (now US
Senator), issued a legal opinion stating that Chapter 149 of the
Texas Agriculture Code prohibiting the possession or commercial sale
of horse meat does apply to the two remaining horse slaughter plants
in operation, is not federally pre-empted and is prosecutable through
the Texas District Attorney's Offices. A similar law is on the books
in the State of Illinois.
·      In 2003 Texas citizens stopped the decriminalization of horse
slaughter for human consumption.

Extending the above laws by adopting a federal prohibition on the
slaughter of horses and sale of horseflesh for human consumption is
consistent with the international obligations of the United States as
it applies equally to domestic and foreign producers and is
consistent with agreements that expressly allow to protect the health
and welfare of human beings and of animals and to forbid deceptive
trade practices in international or domestic commerce. (HR 4868
resides under the same logic and to date continues to protect our
dogs and cats from being slaughtered for their hides and meat.)

In conclusion, I am requesting you to help keep America's horses in
the stable and off the table.

Respectfully,


Carol M Chapman