February 3, 2012 – Chicago (EWA) – A poll conducted in January by Lake Research Partners for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) found that 80% of Americans are strongly opposed to horse slaughter. The highly respected research group based its survey on 1,008 voters giving the results a 3% margin of error. The poll found opposition was consistent across all sectors, including horse owners.

The findings are all the more remarkable given the huge media effort that was mounted by the horse slaughter lobby following the closing of U.S. based horse slaughter plants in 2007.

While the effort appeared to have worked on Congress, causing them to restore funding for horse slaughter inspections, it had the opposite effect on voter opinion. A similar poll performed a decade earlier indicates that opposition to horse slaughter has increased by almost 10%.

The slaughter lobby, supported by some of the most powerful agriculture groups in the country including the Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the Pork Producers Council (PPC), the American Veterinary Medicine Association and the American Quarter Horse Association, has engaged some of the top lobbying and PR firms in Washington in a concerted effort to push back against what they saw as a victory for “animal rights” supporters.

EWA’s John Holland explains, “The horse slaughter issue has unfortunately become part of a much larger battle between big agriculture and animal welfare advocates. Big agriculture has decided to protect itself with an aggressive in-your-face strategy designed to preemptively crush its opponents, real and imagined.”

The promotion of horse slaughter is just one of the proxy battles being waged by the Ag giants. In July of 2011, the NCBA and the PPC opposed a plan already agreed to by the United Egg Producers (UEP) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to replace existing battery cages with equally efficient environments that create better living conditions for laying hens. The move showed a willingness to attack even other animal agriculture associations who appeared to be bending toward better humane standards.

Perhaps the most bizarre example of this aggressive strategy is SB 610 introduced into the Virginia Legislature this year by State Senator Dick Black. The bill called for working dogs to be reclassified as livestock, effectively removing their humane protection as companion animals. Following an avalanche of criticism, Black announced he was pulling the bill and admitting that he had introduced it “to aid the agriculture and farming community at their request.” He went on to mention the Farm Bureau and the Agribusiness Council by name.

“This newest poll should serve as a warning to politicians who have yielded to big Ag bullying,” says EWA’s Vick Tobin. “Voters are not with you on the horse slaughter issue.”

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 220 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide in 18 countries. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

January 16, 2012 – Chicago (EWA) – The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) children’s letter writing campaign to end horse slaughter, first announced on January 5th, has now received the support of The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Humane Education Committee.

The Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) was contacted by the committee to offer their support and to obtain additional information on the campaign. The committee enclosed a letter from one of their teachers with an email voicing support from Senator Joe Lieberman.

The EWA will provide information to help support, update and expand lesson plans developed by the committee. The plans can be found on the EWA’s new Children’s Page, along with fun and educational videos about famous horses.

The UFT Humane Education Committee’s lessons already provided children with sound basic information about horses, their functions in our society, and the issue of horse slaughter. The UFT Humane Education Committee is involved in many such projects with the goal of enhancing student skills in science and literacy through humane education.

Support for the campaign has been overwhelming from both the U.S. and around the world. “Children aren’t given enough credit for their intuitive understanding of right and wrong, especially when it pertains to humane treatment of animals,” said EWA’s Vicki Tobin. “We have received letters, poems, videos and pictures from children as young as 4 years old. We were amazed at the unique ways they made their points.”

“In our opinion,” explained EWA’s John Holland, “it is vital to our society that children grow up with a healthy attitude toward all animals and their welfare.  Such empathy for the plight of defenseless creatures will bring forth a healthier attitude toward their fellow humans later in life, and the legacy of young people who abuse animals has well documented and frightening consequences.”

Jo-Claire Corcoran of EWA’s research team started the campaign and is thrilled with the response she has received in support of America’s horses. “Horses have played such a significant role in our country’s history. Not only do horses continue to protect our citizens in law enforcement, they provide entertainment and serve as loyal companions,” added Jo-Claire.

EWA is calling on children and adults to demand President Obama and our Congress pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 and afford America’s horses the protection they so richly deserve. The time is now.

Press requests for letters or video presentations by children should be made to: jo-claire@equinewelfarealliance.org.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 210 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Jo-Claire Corcoran
276.970.5607
jo-claire@equinewelfarealliance.org

January 6, 2012 – Chicago (EWA) – Jo-Claire Corcoran of the Equine Welfare Alliance’s Research Team has launched a children’s letter writing campaign to end the slaughter of American horses. Canadian partners have launched a parallel campaign aimed at stopping horse slaughter in Canada.

A similar campaign forty years ago resulted in the passage of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act that was passed on a unanimous vote in both houses. Jo-Claire commented, “As Wild Horse Annie proved in 1971 congress listened to the children of this country. Sometimes we do not give our children credit for their ability to comprehend. Children growing up on farms which raise animals for food are aware those animals are going to slaughter to become food; they understand those animals were raised for that purpose.” She added, “My grandson understands the difference between animals raised for food and animals that are not raised for food.”

Horse owners and advocates were outraged at the back-room sub-committee meeting that removed language that defunded federal horse inspections without a full house and senate debate. “It is deplorable”, commented EWA’s Vicki Tobin, “that three legislators were allowed to ignore the voice of the people and decide the fate of horses across our nation.”

The concept came to her when Jo-Claire’s six year old grandson heard a newscast stating the President had signed the appropriations bill and could mean that horse slaughter would resume in the U.S. He innocently asked his Grandmother, “Why is the President letting them kill horses?” He is also aware that their horse had been saved from slaughter.

EWA is getting a tremendous, positive response from parents, schools and teachers in both countries.

“This is a civics lesson for children of all ages”, explained EWA’s John Holland. “Our governments, both the United States of America and Canada, provide the right for their citizens to petition their government to bring about positive change when something is wrong. Children need to know that as citizens in these countries, they have the right to have a voice and a right to be heard.”

With parental consent, EWA plans to offer sample letters for publication in the local papers of the children.

To learn more about the campaign in Canada and the U.S., please visit http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/How_You_Can_Help.html.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 210 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Jo-Claire Corcoran
276.970.5607
jo-claire@equinewelfarealliance.org

January 1, 2012 – Chicago (EWA) – Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) launched a major campaign on December 30 to expose the underhanded move by Rep. Jack Kingston (GA) and Sens. Kohl (WI) and Blunt (MO) that reinstated horse inspections and opened the way for horse slaughter to return to US soil.

On a must pass bill, the three legislators in a tiny committee quietly removed the language that prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to fund horse inspections. The action effectively legalized horse slaughter in the US without a debate in the full house and senate, where a straight vote would have failed.

The ad campaign was launched in major theaters running the War Horse film in the legislator’s districts and also reached out to Montana and Wyoming to cover Sen. Baucus and state Rep. Sue Wallis who has become the face of horse slaughter as well as Wallis’ Representative Cynthia Lummis of WY.

Featured in the ad is a remarkable Korean War hero, an equine named Reckless. The ad uses this one remarkable equine and her war time heroism to make the point that horses are our animal partners and not just “livestock”, explains EWA Vice President Vicki Tobin.

Sgt. Reckless hauled supplies to Marines, carried wounded off the battle field, was wounded twice, and performed many of her duties without a handler. Staff Sergeant Reckless was a beloved legend of the Marine Corps. She was promoted to sergeant in 1957 and then to staff sergeant in 1959 by the Commandant of the Marines. She was retired in 1960 to Camp Pendleton and when she died in 1968, she was buried at Camp Pendleton with full military honors.

Rep. Jack Kingston excused his action saying horses were “just like cows”.

If the funding move was designed to deal a death blow to the anti-slaughter movement it appears to have had the opposite effect. “We were able to raise the funding for the campaign and produce it in just two weeks,” explained Tobin.

The move has not been popular with Congress either. With an all-time low approval rating, members did not need such a blatant example of pandering to special interests. Over 50 Congressmen and Senators signed on as co-sponsors of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 2966 / S. 1176) after the language was removed.

John Holland, president of EWA, stated, “This is not the end. We want to send a message that if you betray our horses we will haunt you to the ends of the earth. We will continue to attack these individuals as long as we have resources and they are in office.” When asked why the EWA was attacking Senator Kohl, given that he has announced he will not run for reelection, Holland said, “We want his successor to have an example.”

The funding action is seen by the EWA as just one more example of how special interests are running our country and through the ad campaign, the EWA is joining the growing chorus shouting “enough is enough”. Legislation should be enacted because of its merits, not the deep pockets of Big Agriculture or any other special interest group. Our horses belong in the horse industry, not a foreign meat business.

EWA and equine advocates across the country are calling on President Obama to stand up against special interests as he promised and issue an immediate executive order to ban the slaughter and transport to slaughter of America’s domestic and wild horses.

Link to the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlv7P6xWekE

Link to ad referral site: www.realwarhorse.com

Link to EWA site: http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/Real_War_Horse.html

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 210 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Chicago (EWA) – A six month investigation by the EWA and other animal investigation organizations has finally determined the predominant source of abandoned horses in the Southwestern US. The findings show that most or all of more than 5,000 horses a year are being abandoned after being rejected for slaughter at the Mexican border.

The investigation explains the source and reason for abandonments, most of which have been reported in the vast stretches of isolated land north of the Mexican border since 2009. Most of these horses could clearly be identified as domestic stock from such indications as nail holes in their hooves (where shoes had recently been removed) but no other clues to their source were found.

Until now articles about their discovery have speculated that they were abandoned by individual owners because they could no longer afford to feed them. The horse slaughter lobby has further suggested that this was made worse because individuals “no longer had a slaughter option”.

Equine advocates countered this hypothesis by pointing out that there had been no decrease in slaughter to force such actions, and that the areas where they were being found did not have significant domestic horse populations.

Moreover, it made no sense that someone who could not afford to euthanize and bury a horse would elect instead to pay for hauling it hundreds or thousands of miles only to turn it loose. In fact, many horse advocates had good reason to suspect the reports were bogus.

Following the closure of US horse slaughter plants in 2007, there were a large number of stories published claiming horses were being abandoned because of a lack of slaughter. These reports ranged from reclaimed strip mines in Kentucky to the Florida Everglades and Oregon ranches. For a year each of these was investigated and found to be false or hugely distorted.

But in the past two years there have been an increasing number of authenticated reports of abandoned horses, mostly in the remote stretches of the southwest Border States. A few of these horses actually had hide removed, apparently to obscure a brand.

In August, the first piece of the puzzle fell into place when approximately 300 horses were spotted from the air starving and dead in a remote feedlot near the port-of-entry town of Presidio, Texas. The fact that living horses were found in different stages of starvation and the dead horses were in various stages of decomposition, indicated they had been dumped there at different times.

The situation became all the more puzzling when it was revealed that the feedlot was operated by the C4 Cattle Company and Intermeat Inc./Dallas Crown the Belgian meat company that had formerly operated the Dallas Crown horse slaughter plant in Kaufman, Texas. The company buys horses for slaughter in Mexico. It was also discovered that about 40 of the horses came from kill buyer Trenton Saulters.

The question was of course why they had left the horses to perish only a few miles from the border crossing where they could have been sold to the slaughter plants in Mexico.

An answer came in the European Union’s (EU’s) report (DG(SANCO) 2010-8524 – MR) from the 2010 audit of their horse slaughter plants in Mexico. In section 5.2.1.2, the report divulged that Mexico had rejected 5,336 slaughter horses out of 62,560 presented at six OISAs (Border Crossing Offices) during the audit period between January and October 2010.

The horses were rejected under a new system of controls implemented in December, 2009. Reasons for rejection included health problems, advanced pregnancy and injuries.

The final piece of the puzzle came from an investigation by EWA on how the USDA’s APHIS (Animal and Plant Inspection Service) tracks horses bound for slaughter. EWA’s Valerie James-Patton was researching the Owner/Shipper certificate system which is supposed to allow APHIS to assure humane regulations are being followed. When asked what happens to horses rejected at the Mexican border, she was told simply “they fall out of the system.”

Normally kill buyers who haul slaughter horses to Mexico try to fill their trailers with cattle and other animals on the return journey. So clearly they need to dispose of the rejected horses, and the most economical way to do so is to simply abandon them on a deserted stretch of road or in an isolated lot.

Ironically, while the horse slaughter lobby has been claiming abandonment was a result of a lack of slaughter, it now appears it is in large part a result of the practice.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 210 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Vicki Tobins
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

November 6, 2011 – Preferring to deal in facts, we prefer not to editorialize about personalities. However, sometimes a public figure will say something so revealing about their motives and ethical beliefs that it suddenly shines a light into motives that had never seen light.

We are, of course, referring to the heretofore enigma that was Sue Wallis, WY state representative and self-appointed scientist, veterinarian, medical doctor and omnipotent master of all aspects of horses and their welfare.

In recent years, Sue Wallis has effectively galvanized the pro-horse slaughter movement and become its undisputed leader. As she has accomplished this, she has become ever more vitriolic in her attacks against those she sees as “animal rights extremists”, blaming them for all manner problems facing the horse industry, and immediately proclaiming that any evidence emerging to the contrary is a lie.

The enigma was not that someone with no pertinent knowledge or experience could, through bluff and bluster, be able to rise to a position of leadership. Indeed, history is replete with examples of this phenomenon, and it was all the easier because no one of reputation in the horse industry wanted to publicly accept the crown of entrails.

No, the enigma was why a mother of seven children with no equine experience should be motivated to take up this grizzly crusade. Wallis portrays herself as representing the horse industry although she doesn’t own a horse. Clearly Wallis is trying to turn the horse industry into a meat industry, but how would that benefit her?

Wallis, a rural state legislator, spends her days and nights lobbying. She does this with a 501(c)(3), a charitable designation that only permits a small percentage of time to lobbying. The lobbying is done under the guise of “educating” so as not to arouse IRS suspicions. There are two things wrong with this picture. First, one must have facts to educate, and second, virtually every communication from Wallis is aimed at influencing Congress.

Her organization started as United Organizations of the Horse (UOH), a mutual benefit corporation that doesn’t allow tax deductible donations. To get around that, the donate button bounced over to the 501(c)(3) organization of her sidekick,  quarter horse breeder Dave Duquette, titled United Horsemen’s Front. Possibly realizing that name portrayed too much, it was changed to United Horsemen (UH).

Earlier this year, UOH faded into the sunset as have numerous other websites of Wallis’ and then Dave Duquette disappeared. Currently, Wallis is sending all her “educational” materials from UH that was supposed to be moved to WY earlier this year.

Until now, nothing has raised an eyebrow among her devoted flock. Not when she sold them lotto tickets for a truck and then faked its presentation with a loaner from a dealership; not when she announced unregistered investment opportunities in a slaughter house in Wyoming that was never built; not when she came out in support of the indefensible abuse that is horse tripping; not when she claimed videos of abuse in horse slaughter facilities were faked only to have government agencies authenticate them; no, nothing shook their faith. Nothing that is, until now.

Over the past week, a young Oregonian woman and her boyfriend killed their horse, disemboweled it, and took a series of photos of the woman peering out of the abdomen of the horse as well as standing nude while apparently eating its raw heart.

The images were posted to YouTube and soon went viral. The story was so disturbing that we hesitated to even acknowledge it. But Sue Wallis felt otherwise.

Sue thought this was fun. Her exact blog quote was: “Wonder what the AR nutjobs will make of this? People humanely kill an old horse, butcher it to use the good meat, and decide to have some fun with it, and take pictures.”

She went on to ask her followers to support the couple who she felt were being unfairly criticized!  This was finally too much for her minions. While they had no problem at all with killing or eating the horse, they were horrified that her statements showed her deeper motivation, and their fear was justified.

Suddenly Sue Wallis is a known entity, as exposed and disturbed as that young woman standing nude bathed in the blood of her horse. Whether it was the incident in England a decade ago when her refusal to mount a horse for a photo opportunity ruined her tour as a traveling “cowgirl poet”, or whether it was being kicked as a child, the disrespect in which she holds horses is now clear to all the world. She can no longer claim to care about their welfare.

Slowly at first, her supporters began to realize their leader had made a fatal blunder and to speak out. Across cyberspace her words were going viral and being irretrievably secreted away in a thousand caches.

Yet even after her supporters called her on the devastating admission and how it would reflect on slaughter supporters, she retorted with, “[name], if you had lived in my shoes over these last few years you would know that it doesn’t matter what I say or don’t say, “they” will make something up. It is all a Saul Alinsky style campaign to make it a personal attack on a single individual instead of a broader problem affecting every horse owning family and business in the U.S. I ignore it. It is irrelevant. Once you understand that simple concept, it is pretty easy to figure out what is going on.”

Meanwhile, Europeans continue to eat our horses, apparently oblivious to the fact that the meat is often contaminated with drug residues. We wonder if those who have been consuming Wallis’ “information” will now realize what a poisoned well they have been drinking from.

Contact Information: John Holland | 540.268.2693 | john@equinewelfarealliance.org

www.equinewelfarealliance.org

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 200 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

November 2, 2011 – Chicago (EWA) – During his 2008 campaign, President Obama promised his unequivocal support for a ban on horse slaughter. “Now is the time for you to keep that promise, Mr. President,” says John Holland, president of Equine Welfare Alliance.

Calling it “paramount to public health”, the Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and Animal Law Coalition sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to support a ban on equine slaughter for human consumption.  The groups also presented the president with more than 6,000 signatures on a White House petition calling for an end to equine slaughter for human consumption.

At the time the petition was created, the White House indicated the administration would consider any issue with at least 5,000 signatures. The equine slaughter ban petition easily gathered more signatures, more quickly than a petition created to reinstate equine slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. The opposition petition was lacking 2,750 signatures when the petition to ban horse slaughter reached 5,000.

Realizing they didn’t have the support, slaughter supporters solicited the help of the American Quarter Horse Association to attempt to reach the required number of signatures. As the deadline approached, the pro-slaughter petition was still well below the required 5,000 signatures. Almost 1,000 then appeared overnight to reach the required minimum, but many of the last minute entries consisted of nothing more than first and last initials. If that wasn’t suspicious enough, this came after a call from the opposition to obtain a list of friends and family that “didn’t have computers” to register and sign for them.

Sadly, the White House petition site lacks security precautions to prevent such apparent abuse and to assure one vote per individual. POPVOX, a site which has better security against fraud, has consistently registered support for anti-slaughter legislation at a rate of 3 to 1.

While the argument over horse slaughter is hot and contentious, the fact remains that American horses were not raised for human consumption. “The disregard for food safety of European consumers is unconscionable,” stated EWA’s Vicki Tobin. “If they tried to sell the meat from our horses In the U.S., they would be in violation of government food safety regulations.”

Horse slaughter has not ended or slowed down since the US slaughter plants were closed in 2007. The same number of horses is being slaughtered as when the domestic plants were open. It should be obvious that slaughter does not prevent neglect nor does it control the population. It is absurd to suggest that killing horses is going to restore an industry that makes its billions from live horses, especially when slaughter provides only 3 cents of every $100 of revenue.

On behalf of our members, the EWA and ALC call on the President to close this ugly chapter in American history.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 200 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

The Animal Law Coalition is a coalition of pet owners and rescuers, advocates, attorneys, law students, veterinarians, shelter workers, decision makers, and other citizens, that advocates for the rights of animals to live and live free of cruelty and neglect. www.animallawcoalition.com

Contacts:

John Holland, Equine Welfare Alliance
540.268.5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition and Equine Welfare Alliance, general counsel
425.419.7301
lauraallen@animallawcoalition.com

October 4, 2011 – Chicago (EWA) – In a press release today titled “Equine Scientists Debunk Horsemeat Health Risk Claims”, United Horsemen (UH), an extremist pro horse slaughter group, cited a letter from four equine instructors ostensibly written to the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology complaining about the accuracy of the landmark study that found that the meat derived from horses administered the carcinogen phenylbutazone (PBZ/bute) is being shipped to the European Union for human consumption.

In an embarrassing attempt to discredit the peer reviewed paper, Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk, the instructors cherry picked facts to make their case, but merely succeeded in demonstrating the risk of offering a professional opinion outside of one’s area of expertise.

None of the authors of the UH letter are medical doctors and they provided no information that is contrary to the mandate by the EU and FDA banning Phenylbutazone in all food producing animals, including horses.

The letter begins by stating the paper’s authors did not cite the levels of Phenylbutazone (PZB, bute) in the study horses. But there are no acceptable levels. One only needs to prove the administration of bute at any time in the horse’s life to make the horse ineligible for human consumption. The paper by Drs. Marini (PhD/MD neurology), Dodman (PhD/DVM) and Blondeau (PhD in neuroscience), did exactly that. The study proved without doubt, through tracing race track drug records, that horses given bute are making their way into the food supply.

In the letter, the equine scientists/instructors pasted revelations, such as the rapid rate at which bute disappears from the blood stream, ignoring the fact that the same information was presented in the study paper, and omitting details like the fact that phenylbutazone metabolizes into oxyphenylbutazone (also linked to blood dyscrasias such as aplastic anemia) which persists much longer, or that phenylbutazone is taken up in injured tissue were it may later be released back into the bloodstream.

The letter concludes by casting McCarthyisms on all who were mentioned in the paper, incorrectly stating, for example, that EWA’s John Holland (who provided historical data on the slaughter industry) was “linked to PETA”.

If these equine instructors intend to put a plug into the growing wellspring of revelations about the dangers of US horse meat, they will have their work cut out for them. A recent paper issued by Irish Veterinarians further cement the dangers of bute and the disciplinary action to veterinarians for sending an animal to slaughter that has been administered bute.

The paper states “The difficulty with phenylbutazone is that it, or its metabolite, can cause aplastic anemia in children. If a child were to consume an animal-based product containing even the minutest amount of bute or its metabolite [oxyphenylbutazone] then the child may develop aplastic anemia.”

In addition, the paper warns, “It is a statement of fact that if the European Commission on its audit of this country find evidence of bute use in animals not excluded from the food chain, then the product will immediately lose its license Europe-wide. If samples prove positive for phenylbutazone or its metabolite in equine meat of Irish origin, it will be traced back, and the prescribing veterinary practitioner will be in the firing line of prosecution.”

Only a week ago Food Production Daily exposed the risk of tainted horse meat in an article titled Tainted US horse meat puts world consumers at risk.

“US horses are not raised as meat animals,” said EWA spokesperson Vicki Tobin, “It is just that simple. If we want to keep sending our horses to slaughter, we will have to give up most of the effective medications we currently enjoy.”

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 200 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:
John Holland | 540.268.5693 | john@equinewelfarealliance.org
Vicki Tobin | 630.961.9292 | vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Madeleine Pickens, the Founder of Saving America’s Mustangs, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Equine Welfare Conference in Alexandria, VA on September 28th, 2011.

Other distinguished speakers include: Congressman Jim Moran, Senator Landrieu’s Aide, State Senator Dave Wanzenried, Congressman Burton’s Aide, Paula Bacon the former mayor of Kaufman, TX, Ann Marini, Ph.D., M.D., Ginger Kathrens of The Cloud Foundation, Michael Blowen of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Facility, Keith Dane with The Humane Society of the U.S., Lonita Stewart with Canadian Horse Defence Coalition, Katie Fite with Western Watersheds Project, and authors Deanne Stillman and Alex Brown.

A complete list of the presenters can be viewed here.

Event Location:
Marriott Residence Inn
1456 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

CONFERENCE AGENDA
Registration Fees:
All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $150
Individual Day $75
Student: All 3 days, includes Tuesday night banquet $75
Student: Individual
Day $40

note: banquet is only included with 3 day registration

Registration is now closed, but you can receive more information by contacting: iec@equinewelfarealliance.org.

website: www.equinewelfarealliance.org

September 19, 2011 – Chicago (EWA) – As Senator Max Baucus and the horse slaughter lobby make a concentrated effort to persuade Congress to reverse the 2007 defunding of USDA horse slaughter inspections, evidence is growing that the main consumers of US horse meat are not likely to welcome the move.

An Irish Veterinary Journal white paper, released in December of 2010, has recently come to light. The paper gives an inside account of the EU (European Union) deliberations that are leading to tough new restrictions on drug residues in animals, including horses, intended for human consumption. The new EU regulations clearly define food animals and the risk to humans, particularly children, of ingesting horse meat containing banned substances.

Focusing on one such banned substance, phenylbutazone, the paper outlines the extreme dangers to children and warns veterinarians, “It is a statement of fact that if the European Commission on its audit of this country find evidence of bute use in animals not excluded from the food chain, then the product will immediately lose its license Europe-wide. If samples prove positive for phenylbutazone or its metabolite in equine meat of Irish origin, it will be traced back, and the prescribing veterinary practitioner will be in the firing line of prosecution.”

The paper states “The difficulty with phenylbutazone is that it, or its metabolite, can cause aplastic anemia in children. If a child were to consume an animal-based product containing even the minutest amount of bute or its metabolite then the child may develop aplastic anemia.”

Horses have always been shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. The closing of the plants didn’t save U.S. horses from slaughter as the industry began shipping all horses across the borders. Moreover, phenylbutazone is one of the most popular and effective drugs used in equine practice in the U.S.

In a 2010 paper in the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology, doctors Marini, Dodman and Blondeau found that all 18 of the race horses that the study tracked to slaughter had been given phenylbutazone. The study further explains that the drug can take up in injured tissues and be released back into the blood stream later as the tissue heals, and that there is no acceptable washout period for the drug.

Ignoring food safety laws, outspoken slaughter proponent Sue Wallis has declared on several occasions that she wants to feed US horse meat to children and prisoners in Wyoming, as well as the starving children in Africa. Wallis went so far as to sponsor a Wyoming law, HB0122, which would provide that seized animals be slaughtered for use in such state institutions.

European Regulations [(EU Comm Reg No 504/2008] require all horses in Europe to have a passport [tracking system]. All passports issued to horses over six months of age will automatically be excluded from the food chain as will horses with duplicate passports. By 2013, the EU has announced that all third countries, including the US, will have to meet the same traceability standards.

Both Canada and Mexico are instituting tracking programs based on RFID tagging technology in order to meet the new requirements. However, after years of resistance from ranchers and horse owners, the U.S. scrapped a similar program called NAIS (National Animal Identification System) in 2010.

It is a well-known fact that horses in the US are not raised or regulated as food animals. The US has no mechanism to remove animals from the food chain that have received substances banned in food animals or any way to trace horses back to the owner(s) or veterinarians that allowed the animal to enter the food chain.

Congress must start taking food safety seriously and realize the risk to the U.S. for knowingly allowing unsafe food into the foreign markets. Horse slaughter in this country is not used for food production but as a dumping ground for owners that no longer want to be held accountable for their animals and breeders that continually produce excess horses that far exceed the demand for horses. These animals should never enter the food chain.

Equine Welfare Alliance calls on Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 [S 1176] to protect US horses and foreign consumers.

The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4 umbrella organization with 195 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

Contacts:

John Holland
540.268.5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org