BO DEREK JOINS NATIONAL EFFORT TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER
March 16, 2004
For Immediate Release
“AMERICANS DON’T RAISE HORSES FOR FOOD AND WE DON’T EAT THEM,” BO DEREK
TELLS LEGISLATORS AS PART OF NATIONAL EFFORT TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER
March 16, 2004 - (Washington, D.C.) - Movie Star Bo Derek of “10” fame was
on Capitol Hill today to voice her support for the National Horse Protection
Coalition’s campaign to end the slaughter of American horses for human
consumption.
“Americans don’t raise horses for food and we don’t eat them,” she
stated in support of the National Horse Protection Coalition, a group that
includes leaders from the horse industry and animal protection community. The
Coalition supports passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R.
857), a bill currently before the United States Congress that would ban the
practice.
Derek told legislators and government workers, “Tens of thousands of horses
are cruelly slaughtered in this country every year, just so someone in Europe
can have a fancy dinner. It’s just plain wrong. Americans don’t raise horses
for food, and we don’t eat them. I want to help end this horrid practice.”
Derek, an able horsewoman who keeps five Iberians at her home in California,
traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet and discuss the issue with Members of
Congress.
More than 49,000 horses were slaughtered in the U.S. last year at two foreign
owned slaughterhouses and those horses became dinner in Europe and Asia – a
16% increase on the previous year’s figure. Tens of thousands more of
America’
s horses were exported and slaughtered abroad.
Derek is not alone in wanting to end horse slaughter. In addition to public
opinion polls indicating that the American public strongly opposes horse
slaughter (recent polls from Kentucky, Texas and Utah respectively show that
82%, 72% and 69% of those questioned oppose the practice), Derek is working with
world famous Thoroughbred trainer, Nick Zito, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner
(Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin in 1994). Zito, who serves as the
National Horse Protection Coalition’s National Spokesman, says of Derek’s
support, “ We are thrilled that Bo has joined us and countless other horse
lovers in calling for an end to the slaughter of America’s horses for human
consumption in Asia and Europe.”
The National Horse Protection Coalition was established in 2003 to ensure swift
passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 857). Introduced by
U.S. Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-NY), Co-Chair of the Congressional Horse
Caucus, and U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), and championed by Rep. Edward
Whitfield (R-KY), the bill has more than 180 cosponsors in the U.S. House of
Representatives. It is supported by the National Thoroughbred Racing
Association,
Churchill Downs Incorporated, the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, the
Doris Day Animal League, The Humane Society of the United States, and the
Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. A companion Senate bill is expected shortly.