Horses are not "food-producing" animals in the U.S. so contrary to statements made otherwise, the horse slaughter industry is actually loosely regulated, particularly in regards to drugs. The same rules do not apply to food-producing animals. Every day horses are given a variety of drugs labeled "Not for use in horses intended for food." No horse in the U.S. is intended for food. One of the most commonly given drugs is the anti-inflammatory Phenylbutazone, it is the aspirin of the horse industry.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association:

"For animals, phenylbutazone is currently approved only for oral and injectable use in dogs and horses. It is not approved for use in any food-producing animal, and its labeled use in horses is limited to horses not intended for food."

Who distinguishes which U.S. horses are intended for food and which are not? The fact is none are intended for food and no horses are restricted from being given a variety of drugs labeled "Not for use in horses intended for food" including other drugs such as Penicillin and the dewormer Ivermectin (in many cases given on a monthly basis as regular maintenance). All carry the warning label. No vet has ever hesitated to prescribe Phenylbutazone due to food related concerns and yet the American Veterinary Medical Association has taken the side of the foreign-owned slaughterhouses.

An example of what happens when a food-producing animal has been given the drug: A steer was found to have Phenylbutazone residues after it had been processed at the packers and mixed with other processed meat for that day resulting in the FDA's condemning 30,000 pounds of beef. Drug residue testing is not done on U.S. horsemeat as horses are not food-producing animals. U.S. horsemeat would never pass FDA drug residue testing for U.S. consumers, it would be found to be adulterated and unsanitary under Section 402(a)(4) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - as are food-producing animals when illegal drug residues are found.

And a drug residue test on a single horse cannot be representative of any other horse(s) because independent slaughter buyers purchase horses a few at time at various auctions around the country, their medication histories completely unknown, unlike a herd of cattle from a specified ranch who's vet is required to keep drug records for 2 years, so every horse slaughtered would require drug residue testing to ensure the safety of the consumer.

We are not members of Peta out to get the meat industry, we are horseowners and American citizens who are working to rid our country of these 3 remaining little foreign-owned companies so to end the inhumane butchering of American horses to satisfy the tastes of the French and Belgians. To continue to allow this is an American disgrace and we will not rest until we've accomplished our goal.

U.S. horsemeat is in violation of our own FDA food safety laws and if the EU were to run it's own drug residue testing it would be found in violation of EU food safety laws as well. These companies are shipping and marketing adulterated meat to an unsuspecting European public - under the false security that the meat is USDA inspected.

As far as horses being "sent" to slaughter....... men known as "killer buyers" comb horse auctions and answer classified ads. One killer buyer in Texas admitted to the Dallas Observer of telling a child he was buying her horse for a summer camp riding program. He also stated his business plan is elementary: "I'll buy any horse that will make me money. Simple as that." He doesn't miss any of the weekly horse auctions within a 200 mile radius, he starts the bidding on every horse, and says he has plenty of competition. Killer buyers competitively bid against regular horse buyers as well as against each other, they may only make $50 per horse over what they paid when they get to the slaughterhouse but for a load of 40 or so horses this equals a $2000 profit. And killer buyers do whatever it takes to fill their trucks. This is the reality of how horses get "sent" to slaughter.

Another reality the horse slaughter industry denies, the horses they slaughter are not horses in need of euthanasia. In a country with a horse population of approximately 6.9 million, untold numbers of horses die or are put down each day and they are disposed of in whatever options are available to the area, not sent to slaughter. Horses bought for slaughter are mostly young to prime age in good health and flesh.

I also know of no one who's had to pay the exaggerated costs of carcass disposal touted by the slaughter industry and I've kept horses for 30 years. Do they think if they repeat something enough times it becomes fact? It costs no more than one month's boarding fee to euthanize and dispose of a horse. The slaughter industry distorts the facts to defend their business.

It was only about 10 years ago that we had 14 horse slaughterhouses operating in this country. We now have only 2 with 1 other now rebuilding from a fire. For the last two years only 2 slaughterhouses have been in operation. With these reductions what is the explanation given by the slaughter industry as to what we've done with "all of the horses" that no longer went to slaughter? Were thousands of horses found abandoned wandering the streets or left to starve in pastures? The answer is there is no explanation because horse slaughter is not a service business of disposing of old, lame, and unwanted horses. It's a competitive business of acquiring horses on the open market to slaughter for meat, and all horses are fair game.

So why is it some of our elected representatives choose to ignore the ever growing public opinion that dictates horse slaughter for human consumption be banned? Why do some elected representatives continue to protect 3 little foreign-owned companies against the will of thousands upon thousands of Americans? As elected representatives isn't it their job to represent Americans and American culture? Maybe a few American companies would like to set up slaughterhouses in India and slaughter their cattle and ship beef back to the United States. Think anyone would object? Or would America be more respectful of India's culture? Currently we're not even respectful of our own culture as far as slaughtering horses go.

In the United States we slaughtered just under 40 million cows in 2002. Compare that to the slaughter of 42 thousand horses in the same year. This shows the insignificance of this industry. Does the federal government make anything off of those slaughtered horses? No. In fact the government loses money. Prior to their slaughter those horses added to our economy by way of owners supporting horse related industries including boarding stables, saddle, bridle, halter - tack manufacturers and retailers, feed growers and retailers, vet services and medications, farriers and manufacturers of related tools such as horseshoes, the list goes on. Had the killer buyer not out-bid the regular horse buyer these services and products would be caring for that horse and the federal government would be collecting tax revenues as a result.

Yet we still have to keep badgering our own elected representatives to send these 3 little foreign-owned companies packing back to Belgium and France because they choose to believe the distorted information put out by these companies over the truth and the people they represent. To say the least it's quite frustrating.

Terry Watt
Lake Havasu City, Arizona