----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 3:07 PM
Subject: RE: Dallas Crown
Ms Welch:
I will try
to explain one more time. In Texas, cases are referred to the office of
the Criminal District Attorney by law enforcement agencies of the State, the
County, or the City and, occasionally, the Federal Government. A case is
initiated in the office by the receipt of an arrest report from a law
enforcement agency which sets forth the facts giving rise to the complaint,
the witnesses and evidence to the complaint, and the violation of the law
which the agency believes needs to be redressed. Once that information
is received, the prosecuting attorney then evaluates the case and then either
asks the agency for additional information or files an information
(for misdemeanors) or presents an indictment to the grand jury (for felonies).
No
prosecutor's office in this State has the necessary manpower to examine crime
scenes, interview witnesses, gather information and otherwise investigate
criminal offenses. In this County, alone, we have over fifteen law
enforcement agencies actively pursuing these efforts. It would be
foolish and inefficient for the prosecutor's office to attempt to duplicate
these efforts.
This is
the system that is mandated by the Code of Criminal Procedure as enacted by
the State of TEXAS by the legislature of the State of TEXAS as elected by the
citizens of the State of TEXAS. Hopefully, if a citizen of the State of
TEXAS were making an inquiry of an official in the State of Michigan, they
would extend every courtesy to that official by either treating them with
dignity and respect or, at least, determining what the appropriate law and
procedures were before making sarcastic and unwarranted criticisms of that
official.
No further
response will be forthcoming.
Dear
Mr. Walton:
Thank you so much for the information. I had assumed, apparently
wrongly, that if a Texas Agricultural Code was not being adhered to, this
would be pursued by the state of Texas versus private citizens. Thank
you for clarifying.
Sincerely,
Lynda C. Welch
Any citizen can file a criminal complaint with the appropriate law
enforcement agency if they believe a criminal offense has occurred.
To
date, no criminal complaint has been filed by any person or entity regarding
any of the activities of Dallas Crown occurring in Kaufman County.
-----Original
Message-----
From: BaileysFjords@aol.com [mailto:BaileysFjords@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, June 02, 2003 12:27 PM
To: EdWalton@kaufmancounty.net
Subject: Dallas Crown
Ed
Walton, Kaufman County District Attorney
Kaufman County Courthouse
100 W. Mulberry Street
Kaufman, Texas 75142
Dear Mr. Walton:
I am emailing you to request that you prosecute Dallas Crown, the horse
slaughter facility located in Kaufman County, Texas, for their illegal
operation as
per Texas Agricultural Code 149 and 148.
While I realize that many might believe this to be solely an issue effecting
only your county and the state of Texas, this is inaccurate. Statistics
provided by the only two horse slaughter facilities left in the United States
show
that 90% of their horses come from outside the state of Texas.
These horses come from all of the lower 48 states, including my home state,
Michigan. Weekly auctions are held, kill buyers arrive, bid on the
healthiest
animals they can, transport them over 1000 miles, all so these horses can be
inhumanely slaughtered and served for dinner overseas.
The saddest part of this business is very few people even realize the horse
they bring to auction could end up in the slaughter facility located in your
county. Most people in my area do not even realize horses are
slaughtered in
Texas, much less in the States. They do not know their well loved horse
is not
going to a good home, but within a few days will be hitched up by its back
leg, with its head submersed in a pool of blood.
Not only is Dallas Crown, located in your county operating illegally, this
foreign owned company does not abide by pharmaceutical standards placed on all
food animals raised in the United States. Simply put, as equines are not
raised for food in our magnificent country, withdrawal periods for
pharmaceuticals
have not been established, nor are sellers required to provide a medical
history to the kill buyers, nor are the kill buyers required to provide a
medical
history to the slaughter facility, as is the practice for all food animals
slaughtered in the States. All equine pharmaceuticals are clearly marked
to not
be given to horses intended for food.
The worst atrocity the Dallas Crown facility perpetuates is the myth of
slaughtering only the "unwanted" horses; the crippled, aged, and
starved. There
are countless pieces of evidence denying this, even from Dallas Crown, itself.
They do not pay for these animals, in fact, they require to be paid themselves
to dispose of these animals. It is a known fact the healthiest of
horses, in
the primes of their lives, are the most desired. It is also a known fact
that countless stolen horses are slaughtered, before the owners even have time
to
coordinate the massive effort it requires to locate a stolen horse.
I will be more than happy to share all of my documentation with you. All
I
ask is that you please persecute this illegally operating slaughter facility,
not only on the behalf of your county, or even your state, but on behalf of
all
of us throughout the United States who no longer want to see our beloved
equine companions become a steak on someone's dinner table.
The Texas Senate received over 1,000,000 calls, emails, and faxes from all
over the world concerning the horse slaughter bill. The Senate did not
pass it.
Therefore, horse slaughter in the state of Texas IS illegal. Will you
listen to their voice? Will you listen to our voice?
We are here to support you. Please let me know if you wish to see any of
the
documentation pertaining to this horse slaughter facility in Kaufman County.
Sincerely,
Lynda C. Welch
Bailey's Norwegian Fjord Horse Farm
White Cloud, MI
231-689-9902