Alert: Horse Slaughter Bill 

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 U.S. Representative John Sweeney (R-NY), Chairman of the Congressional Horse Caucus, and U.S. Representative John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC) have reintroduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act which will ban the trade in horsemeat and live horses for human consumption. Nearly 55,000 American horses are slaughtered by foreign-owned slaughterhouses each year -- more than three million in the last two decades -- and sent to Europe and Asia to supply the demand for horsemeat. Please ask your U.S. Representative to cosponsor this important bill. 

Help Stop the Slaughter of Horses in Texas House Bill 1324 would make horse slaughter legal in Texas. Please contact your State Representative immediately to oppose this bill. Below is a sample letter for you to use or adapt into your own words. Letters written in your own words are much more effective. Editing Tips April 4, 2003 Your state representative Dear Representative, Please contact members of the Calendars Committee and tell them that you oppose HB 1324 and do not want HB 1324 to go to the floor for a House vote. This horrible bill would allow the slaughter of horses in Texas. The Texas Attorney General has ruled that the sale of horsemeat for human consumption is a criminal offense. The only two horse slaughter plants in this country are here in Texas and they are operating illegally. One is owned by a Belgian company, the other by a French company. ALL profits from horse slaughter in Texas go to those foreign companies. All horsemeat produced at these slaughter plants is sent to France, Belgium, Germany, and Japan. Last year these plants slaughtered approximately 43,000 American horses, and their sales of horsemeat to foreigners exceeded $40,000,000. Simply put, they are killing our horses to feed the French, Belgians, Germans, and Japanese and the French and Belgians are making millions doing it while at the same time they are violating our law! The majority of horses slaughtered in these plants are not old, sick, or lame, but instead, are young, healthy American horses bought by killer buyers who attend horse auctions where they compete with families and horse brokers looking for good, sound horses. The transportation of these horses is cruel and inhumane. Horses are often transported in double deck cattle trailers, which prevent them from standing upright and causes severe head, back, and neck injuries. Horses are trucked for days with no food, water, or rest. Fighting is a major cause of injuries during transport, because no consideration is given to mixing stallions with geldings, mares and foals. The slaughter methods used to kill these horses are anything BUT humane. The 2000 Report of the American Veterinary Medical Association Panel on Euthanasia states "adequate restraint is important to ensure proper placement of the penetrating captive bolt" when used for euthanasia of horses. Proper head restraint on a fractious, frightened horse in a slaughter plant killing 160 horses a day is virtually impossible. These horses often endure repeated stuns or blows, and remain conscious during their own slaughter, including throat slitting. Last but not least, let's address the economic aspect of closing these two slaughter houses. The 6 million horses currently in the U.S. have a direct impact on the U.S. Gross Domestic Product of $25.3 billion, or over $4,200 per horse. Slaughter bound horses represent less than 1 percent of the total number of horses in the U.S. If these horses are absorbed into the current horse population, it would mean adding almost a quarter of a billion dollars to the economy each year. The economic impact of closing the slaughterhouses would be the temporary loss of 130 minimum wage, high-turnover jobs in two counties in Texas. Please oppose HB 1324 and ask the members of the Calendars Committee to do the same. Thank you. Sincerely, Your signature will be added from the information you provide below. Already a member? All you need to enter is your email address and send the letter. If not, all fields are required.