JAMES TUCKER
Editor:
In Mr. Zahm's letter on Tues-day, we again hear misinformation passed on as
fact. I don't think Mr. Zahm has reviewed any arguments in favor of this
industry except as restated by our opposition because his statements are so
false.
Consumption of horse meat is not illegal in the United States and is
specifically allowed in seven states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New
Jersey, Ohio and Virginia. Many states passed laws severely restricting the sale
of horse meat in the 1950s as a response to false labeling during World War II.
The Illinois law is mostly about labeling of the product.
Mr. Zahm's description of the horses we purchase also shows he does not know
what he is talking about. If he had talked to large- animal veterinarians and
most horse owners, he would recognize that these animals are not "otherwise
viable." Horses are beautiful creatures, but they are often not docile and
can be untrainable and dangerous. This is not just our opinion, but the expert
opinion of well-respected veterinarians and veterinarian teachers. Horses also
can have maladies that an experienced horseman knows are terminal.
The idea that there are facilities that are
willing to adopt 100,000 marginal animals per year is absurd. It costs $300 to
$400 per month to maintain a horse if it is in good health. Costs of medical
care, farriers, etc. can drive this cost up dramatically. I don't think this is
realistic. On the other hand, if someone were willing to spend $400 per month to
keep an unusable horse, you would think they would also spend $400 at an auction
buying up a horse otherwise purchased by a plant.
Mr. Zahm also referred to "high-powered lobbying" by those in favor of
the plant. I almost laughed at this, comparing the small amount of funds we have
available for this effort against the hundreds of thousands available to the
opposition. We have been helped in our lobbying effort by groups that are
concerned about the legislation. This in-cludes the DeKalb and Illinois farm
bureaus, which are concerned about limitations on livestock owners, Illinois
Association of Meat Processors, Horsemen's Council of Illinois and others, but
this is hardly "high-powered." Legislators who have an agricultural
constituency are opposed to the bill. It is the legislators who don't have an
agricultural constituency but are fed the kind of misinformation that Mr. Zahm
peddles who are the ones who support the bill. The sponsors of the bills
limiting slaughter have successfully kept the bills out of the agricultural
committees of the Illinois House and Senate where they can be debated
rationally. Instead they have been routed to the executive committees where they
seem to be the basis of some political deal. The worst effect of all this is
that this drains resources from a company that has operated in DeKalb for 17
years in an industry that has existed in the United States for hundreds of
years.
Mr. Zahm's letter also includes the usual and misleading description of the
plant's operations. Again, he should have talked to a large-animal veterinarian.
In-stead, he insulted our workers and all other workers in meatpacking who
provide us with food every day.
JAMES TUCKER
Cavel International Inc.