I have been watching to see if your stated position on horse slaughter
would change since there was a recent article that said the HCI was
"neutral" on the issue. I am sure you are aware that Cavel is rebuilding
in DeKalb. We are planning a peaceful protest in Hopkins Park in DeKalb
on Saturday from 3 to 9 with several organizations bringing information
to share. I hope you all will come.
I would like to take this oppurtunity to address some of your points in
your stated position on horses slaughter as something to think about.
First  your statement on "humanely operated";
 - three seperate bills were introduced to congress because of an
article in the Washington Post entitled "They Die Piece by Piece" that
had eyewitness accounts of animals slaughtered alive and video footage
of cruelty that is to gruesome to describe. A bill was passed and
incoporated into the farm bill last year "To Enforce the Humane
Slaughter Bill" of 1958 - that is 40 some years after the original bill.
If they have not been able to regulate the slaughter industry to be
humane in over 40 years do you really think it will ever happen? We
can't legislate people to care. We will never be able to legislate the
slaughter system to be humane. I have a copy of the Humane Farming Horse
Slaughter video for anyone that would like to see it. When a  horse is
frightened and smells blood and senses fear, they don't stand still,
especially when they are standing on a bloody floor. The bolt is may be
applied to the shoulder to put the horse in shock and make it stand
still from pain so they can hit the target spot on the head. For those
of you that have horses - you know what it is like to try to give a
horse wormer that doesn't want it - they don't stand still for the
perfect shot. Many are hit repetitively.
Second - Federally Inspected: Do you know how many are actually
inspected and what they are inspected for?  The last time I looked when
horse slaughter numbers were higher, they had inspected a little over
1000 horses and what do they inspect them for? Has there ever been any
reports of cruelty at a horse slaughter facility? Who is paying these
inspectors? Do you really think they are going to cause trouble for the
ones responsible for their paychecks?
Third - Needed to Dispose of the Unwanted: We as horse owners need to
stand up for what is best for our horses, not turn a blind eye to the
cruelty some choose to send their horses to for the sake of a few
dollars. We pay to have our garbage halued away, we pay to have junk
vehicles hauled away, don't you think that our horses deserve a humane
death?  The majority of horse owners are responsible and will do what is
legal. There is an estimated 6.9 million horses in the states with an
estimated 10% seeing the end of their lives every year and only approx.
43,000 were slaughtered in the U.S. last year. That is a very small
percent. The majority of horse owners are responsible. Some of the
racing industries  have estimated that 6,000/7,000 race horses find
their way into the slaughter system and have stated their position
against slaughter and are using some of the monies collected to fund
rehabilitation and retraining programs to give their horses the new life
they deserve after serving in the industry.
Those severe abuse and neglect owners don't send their horses to auction
- even now with slaughter legal. The slaugher issue has NO effect on
abusive/neglectful owners. They simply don't care.

With Cavel rebuilding in Illinois, we will be home again to unscrupolous
horse traders and thieves looking to fill their quota for their loads.
Did you know that California has an estimated 30% drop in in horse theft
since horse slaughter was made illegal? And you are aware that slaughter
bound horses do not have to have coggins tests which means that carriers
can be transported into our state. We will undoubtably see more feed lot
situations where horses are fed inappropriately to get them to gain
weight quickly for slaughter. You did see the article on the Montana
feedlot horrors? And I would hope you are aware that there is pending
litigation on the two horse slaughter facilities in Texas. They are
currently operating under an injunction from prosecution. If the Texas
law stands, the only other two horse slaughter facilites will close and
Cavel/DeKalb will be the horse slaughter capital of the country - right
here in our state. If they overturn the Texas Law, they will have to
abolish California's law and it would have to be determined that no
state can make it's own laws.

You, as the board of directors of the Horsemans Council of Illinois,
need to address what is happening in Illinois.
I cannot support any organization that puts dollars ahead of the welfare
of the horses they claim to be promoting. I am writing this in hopes
that you will openly discuss the issue and make decisions based on what
is best for our horses. Should you decide to change the HCI position on
slaughter, we would welcome you to come and set up at the vigil in
Dekalb and pass out information with us - horseowners trying to protect
our horses. I hope you will join us.

Vicky Johnson
Cary, IL
horses@joltmail.com