06/08/2008
By Gary Truitt
Imagine elected officials passing legislation based solely on emotion and paid for media hype. That is just what happened in 2006 when Congress banned federal funding for inspection at horse slaughter facilities. Illinois lawmakers compounded the lunacy by passing a law that closed the only remaining horse slaughter facility in the nation in DeKalb, IL. Animal rights activists were beside themselves with joy at having manipulated US public opinion and flexed their political muscle to shut down an entire livestock sector. They based their fact-less argument on the theme that the slaughter of horses was inhumane. Yet, in the year since the last plant closed, the fate of many American horses has been far worse than anything the activists could imagine.
A recent story on CNN.com illustrated what is happening to many horses in the US. They are being abandoned because their owners can no longer afford to care for them. The higher cost of feed, as well as tough economic conditions for their owners, has meant hard times for horses. “Rising grain and gas prices, as well as the closure of American slaughterhouses, have contributed to a virtual stampede of horses being abandoned - some starving - and turned loose into the deserts and plains of the West to die cruel and lonesome deaths.”
Colorado State University animal sciences Professor Temple Grandin, who helped refine standards for humane livestock slaughter, says Americans have an "ick" factor when it comes to the idea of horseflesh, equating it, she says "killing and eating pets." But, Grandin argues, "The problem is, these are 800- to 1,200-pound pets. When they shut down those plants, I said we‘ve got to avoid alternatives worse than slaughter. But we have not, and all my worst nightmares have come true." The problem isn‘t limited to the West. Recently, nearly 120 starving horses were taken from a ranch of a Central Florida woman who had become overwhelmed by the demands of caring for the rescued animals. Jim Santomaso, the operator of a Sterling, CO, market, said that horses are being left at their facilities when they don‘t sell, "because their owners don‘t want them back.”
by sending horses
to good homes. It‘s become a revolving door - They‘re coming in as fast as they are going out to new homes."
The result of this crisis is that truckloads of unwanted horses are being driven across the border to Mexico where “The conditions down there are horrible," according to Grandin. In their shortsighted efforts to ban horse slaughter in the US, the animal rights movements have actually made things worse for the animals they said they wanted to protect.
Yet, despite the horrific consequences of their actions, the HSUSA and others are pushing for Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) which would both end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and prohibit their export for slaughter in other countries. Grandin said the law won‘t be enforceable because Mexican "kill buyers" can circumvent the law by labeling horses as breed stock or for riding purposes. And such a law may not ameliorate the plight of American horses in an economic downturn.
We have seen what happens when good intentions become law without a little forethought and a whole lot of common sense. Instead of compounding its mistake, Congress needs to kill H.R. 503/S. 311 and reinstate regulated and inspected humane horse slaughter. Being duped once by the bunny-hugging crowd, I would hope lawmakers would be a bit smarter the second time around.
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