Thursday, February 21, 2008

Americans Against Horse Slaughter: Final Cut

aahs

 

Press Release

For immediate release: February 21, 2008

For more information contact:                                  
Julie Caramante     
Americans Against Horse Slaughter
Email: jcaramante@gmail.com

Horse Owners and Advocates to Converge on Congress

Proponents of federal legislation to ban horse slaughter in the United States are gathering in Washington, D.C. on March 4th and 5th to lobby for the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR.503/S.311).

Calling the event “Americans Against Horse Slaughter Week,” hundreds of people from all parts of the country will press for passage of pending legislation that would place a federal ban on the transport and slaughter of horses for human consumption.

In 2007, the last three foreign-owned horse slaughter plants operating in the U.S. were closed by state laws.  However, horse slaughter plants could open in other states where such laws do not exist.  The closure of the American plants has also resulted in the increased transport of American horses for slaughter to Mexico and Canada.  Recent investigations into the slaughter practices in Mexico have alarmed many.

“Texas and Illinois took action to shut down the plants,” pointed out one of the event organizers, Julie Caramante, “but as a consequence of the failure to pass a federal bill, there has been an increase in horses going to Mexico where slaughter cruelty is much worse.”

The barbarity faced by horses inside Mexican slaughter plants has been documented by a report in the Houston Chronicle and by an undercover video released by the Humane Society of the United States. Horses are repeatedly stabbed in the neck until their spinal cords are severed leaving them quadriplegic. They are then slaughtered while fully conscious.

“It is urgent that we get the federal legislation enacted into law,” said Caramante.  “Every week Congress delays, a thousand more horses face this horrible fate in Mexico and Canada.”

A similar bill, introduced in the Republican controlled 109th Congress, was almost passed in 2006 when the House voted for passage by a wide bipartisan margin of 263-146.  However, the session ended without a Senate vote.

The 110th Congress voted unanimously to let the bill out of committee in the Senate, but it is currently being blocked by Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. Craig was recently admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee for improperly using $213,000 of his campaign funds to pay legal expenses related to his arrest for soliciting an undercover officer in a Minneapolis airport
men’s restroom.

Recent actions by the Texas, Illinois and South Dakota legislatures blocked horse slaughter in those states.  “In every case, they heard from tens of thousands of Americans,” said Caramante. She went on to cite a Public Opinion Strategies poll, funded by billionaire philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, which showed that a large majority of Americans want horse slaughter banned.

“Americans don’t want horse slaughter,” Caramante summed up. “Our numbers are growing and more people are joining each day. And those who can’t go to Washington will be calling Congress to finish what the states started. We are not going away.”

For more information on Americans Against Horse Slaughter, please visit:

Kaufman Zoning.net

alexbrownracing.com/wiki/

Watch the HSUS Video: Warning- Disturbing Images

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Jo for bringing this issue to attention. also for all of the time you took to put into such an alarming 'reality'. I myself 'thought' that we didn't have to worry about our horses anymore. It breaks my heart to know that there are actually people out there who thrive on abusing horses! They suffer at the auction houses,and on their way to the slaughter houses. God Bless my 'friends' as they wait to be slaughtered in such a way that these people aren't even human beings anymore! We have an auction house not far from us. There was just a huge article in the paper. 11,000 horses went to Mexico last year. This year it was 40,000! They tell the people at the aution house and at the border they purchased these horses as riding horses. These people are EATTING our HORSES YA'LL! And the riding horses are being killed and go unprotected once in Mexico. Please care! Please take the time to voice your opinion. I will have my husband watch the video. I know it has to be heart wrenching. Thanks for putting it out there (as hard as it had to be for you Jo) as people really need to see the reality of what the 'no slaughter houses in America' has turned into! God Bless this site for all it has to share. From pet tips to laughter, happy and sad tears. It is nice to have a site for the animal lovers in this world.

Anonymous said...

This horse slaughter video brings home exactly how critical this issue is and how bad it needs to be stopped. Every one in this country who can contact your local auction houses, please do so and express your displeasure about the sale of these horses to these savage people. Also contact your local congressman and representatives and express your thoughts to them. Also pray that our own people who are selling or abandoning their horses should have a change of heart as to where these animals end up. (You can't hardly blame the killers in the strictest sense of the word, but the people who are providing these animals are mostly to blame)

Anonymous said...

Speechless here! How could anyone with a heart engage in such brutality? This ranks right there with loading cats and dogs into gas chambers at local animal shelters. Do the people on the receiving end know where their dinner is coming from? Would they eat it if they knew?

Skylark

lj hearn said...

Thanks a bunch Jo for all the hard work and your endless dedication in making all the horses safe for all time to come!! It's a selfless thing you do and nothing you're ever going to regret either. You have my undying gratitude for helping to make this world a better place!! One horse, dog, cat, and critter at a time!!! With much love and smiles to you!! lj

lj hearn said...

Don't forget your hitz,....keep puttin' 'em in your Blitz!!

Anonymous said...

I DIDN'T GET THIS UNTIL VERY LATE SO I'LL TRY AND MAKE THIS SHORT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR DETAILED EXPLANATION ABOUT HS AND WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON!! WE'VE COME SO VERY FAR, BUT THERE'S STILL A LONG WAY TO GO, WORK TO DO, FEDERAL BILLS TO PASS ETC....

I DIDN'T SIGN ONLINE TODAY, THEN I STARTED WATCHING THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW AROUND 11PM AND ABOUT FELL OFF THE BED WHEN SHE STARTED "CHATTING" WITH WILLIE NELSON ABOUT HORSE SLAUGHTER!! GO ELLEN & WILLIE NELSON!! :>)

GREAT ARTICLE & THANKS FOR THE VIDEO TOO!!!

Libby said...

Thank you for posting this. I hope the bill passes into law.

Libby
Horse Rescue Ramblings
www.dealwithitdaily.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Dear Jo,

Thanks so much for all you do to bring the attention and focus to this critical issue in America and other countries...This brutality and barbaric actions against our horses is beyond comprehension!!!

One of your posters wrote it right, these people aren't even human beings anymore, this is just plan evil! I will never understand.

There is something we can ALL do, PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS AND LET THEM KNOW HOW WRONG THIS IS AND WE NEED THE BILLS HR503 AND S311 TO PASS NOW!

Thank you for reading and please do your part, it DOES matter!

Michelle