Showing posts with label cruelty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cruelty. Show all posts

1/26/13

HSI: Horsemeat Isn’t Just a Cruel Trade; It Could Be Bad For Your Health

HSI: Horsemeat Isn’t Just a Cruel Trade; It Could Be Bad For Your Health : Humane Society International | Europe
December 6, 2012

HSI: Horsemeat Isn’t Just a Cruel Trade; It Could Be Bad For Your Health

HSI Poll Shows Consumers in Three EU Countries Support Ban on Horsemeat Imports

Humane Society International/Europe

The EU lies at the heart of the global horsemeat trade. Jennifer Kunz/HSUS



BELGIUM, Brussels—A survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of Humane Society International shows that most European consumers want a ban on imports of horsemeat from countries whose food safety regulations do not meet European Union standards. The majority of people surveyed in Belgium, France and Italy—the biggest EU importers and consumers of horsemeat—support such a ban (84, 73 and 85 percent respectively).

The poll also indicates a lack of consumer awareness about the origins of horsemeat. Most people across the three countries polled mistakenly assumed that horsemeat sold in their country originates either locally or from elsewhere in Europe. In fact, Europe imports a significant proportion of horsemeat sold here from abroad, importing 27,847,700 kg of horsemeat from third countries in 2011 alone. Vast quantities of horsemeat come from non-European countries, including Canada and Mexico, where most of the horses come from the United States. In the US, horses are not raised for human consumption and are therefore commonly given drugs and medications not intended for the food supply.

Most poll respondents said they never or only sometimes eat horsemeat, whilst only a very small percentage of those asked said they eat it frequently (3 percent of Italians, 4 percent of French and 6 percent of Belgians.)

“Killing horses for meat raises serious ethical questions wherever it happens in the world,” said Joanna Swabe Ph.D., HSI Europe’s director. “These sensitive animals can endure extreme distress and suffering during transport and slaughter, and Humane Society International is campaigning for a worldwide end to the trade. Horsemeat imported to Europe from third countries may also pose a risk to human health. Horses in the US are companion, race or work horses routinely given veterinary drugs banned for use in food-producing animals in Europe. Current measures are failing to stop these drugs from entering the food chain. Without assurances that third parties have implemented food safety systems that are equivalent to those provided for by EU legislation when processing horse meat originating from the US, HSI is urging the European Commission to protect EU consumer health by banning the import and sale of meat from these horses. ”

A 2010 EU regulation requires that only meat from horses with a known medicinal treatment history can be exported to the EU. However, there is mounting evidence that measures in Canada and Mexico are so flawed that they will continue to fail to meet EU standards.

The EU lies at the heart of the global horsemeat trade. Each year, hundreds of thousands of kilos of horsemeat are produced domestically within the EU, or shipped to EU Member States from countries such as Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay. However, an investigation conducted by HSI reveals that many EU consumers may be completely unaware of the origin of horsemeat or that they are buying horsemeat at all, due to inadequate labeling.

The full report on the investigation showing the availability of horsemeat in Belgium, France and the Netherlands can be downloaded here [PDF].

ENDS

Media contact: Wendy Higgins, +44 (0)7989 972 423, whiggins@hsi.org

Notes

1. The Ipsos MORI poll was conducted in Belgium: 23—31 July 2012, 1,000 respondents aged 18+; France: 20—24 July 2012, 1,012 respondents aged 18+
 Italy: 24—27 July 2012, 1,000 respondents aged 18+

Results for Italy: 35 percent thought most horsemeat sold in Italy originated from Italy; 20 percent from elsewhere in the EU; 10 percent from another European country; 6 percent from outside Europe; 29 percent said don’t know.

Results for France: 25 percent thought most horsemeat sold in France originated from France; 32 percent from elsewhere in the EU; 5 percent from another European country; 12 percent from outside Europe; 25 percent said don’t know.

Results for Belgium: 23 percent thought most horsemeat sold in Belgium originated from Belgium; 14 percent from elsewhere in the EU; 5 percent from another European country; 15 percent from outside Europe; 43 percent said don’t know.

Results for Italy, France & Belgium respectively:
Have eaten horsemeat at least once: 62 percent; 67 percent; 67 percent
Consume horsemeat often: 3 percent; 4 percent; 6 percent
Consume horsemeat sometimes: 11 percent; 16 percent; 20 percent
Have never and would never eat horsemeat: 34 percent; 28 percent; 28 percent

2. Data on EU27 imports of meat of horses, asses, mules or hinnies, chilled or frozen (020500) from Canada, Mexico, US, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia and New Zealand extracted from Eurostat database , EU27 Trade Since 1995 By HS6. Accessed 13th August 2012.

Humane Society International/Europe and its partner organizations together constitute one of the world's largest animal protection organizations — backed by 11 million people. For nearly 20 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands-on programmes. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide—on the Web at hsieurope.org.
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3/28/12

Experts Calling for Slaughter Ban In Wake of United Horsemen Summit Cancellation


March 27, 2012
CHATHAM, N.Y., (Equine Advocates) — Horse experts from across the country will converge on Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary http://www.equineadvocates.org/ in Chatham, NY for the 2012 American Equine Summit on Saturday, March 31st and Sunday, April 1st with one objective — to reverse the damage done by Congress in Nov. 2011 by mobilizing an effective grassroots movement to end the slaughter of America’s horses in the US and abroad. The attendees will be comprised of press, lawmakers and those involved with equine welfare and the horse industry. Interested parties are encouraged to “like” Equine Advocates on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @EquineAdvocates, and for live updates during the Summit, use the following hash tag: #AES2012.

“It’s just plain wrong when lobbies for the Agriculture and Quarter Horse industries can influence members of Congress to supersede the will of the more than 80% of Americans who want a federal ban on horse slaughter,” said Susan Wagner, President of Equine Advocates. “The ‘eighty percenters’ deserve to be heard. Instead, lawmakers controlled by special interests prevailed and gave horse slaughter proponents exactly what they wanted. It’s not only egregious, it’s downright un-American.”

The Summit will be opened by legendary concert promoter and horse lover, Ron Delsener. Two new speakers have been added – Dr. Caroline Betts, who will discuss the discrepancies in the 2011 GAO report on the closings of horse slaughterhouses in the US, and former US Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY), who was the primary sponsor for the successful passage of H.R. 503, the House version of the 2006 American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

Other speakers include Cathleen Doyle, former head of the California Equine Council and Save the Horses, John Holland, President Equine Welfare Alliance, Dr. Kraig J. Kulikowski, D.V.M., Katia Louise, director of the film, “Saving America’s Horses,” Victoria McCullough who helped pass Florida’s “Equine Protection Act of 2010,” Jo Anne Normile of Saving Baby Equine Charity and founder of CANTER and Paula Bacon, former Mayor of Kaufman, Texas who led the fight to close Dallas Crown, a horse slaughterhouse operating in Kaufman.

Said Bacon, “I believe a horse slaughter plant is among the very least desirable things a community would want.  It ranks with a lead smelter plant and strip clubs, the dead opposite of economic development. A horse slaughter plant creates big, expensive environmental problems for taxpayers and stigmatizes the community as ‘that place where they slaughter horses’ — and good development goes elsewhere.”

States currently trying to revive and reopen horse slaughter plants include Oregon, Missouri and Tennessee.

Founded in 1996, Equine Advocates is a non-profit equine protection organization and Horse Sanctuary based in Chatham, NY.  Its mission is to rescue, protect and prevent the abuse of equines, especially through banning the slaughter of American horses, through education, investigation, rescue operations and public education. Email info@equineadvocates.org or call 518-245-1599 for more information.
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12/4/11

The True Cost of Canada's Horse Meat Industry

Pasture to Plate





The True Cost of Canada's Horsemeat Industry


The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) presents a fourth investigation documenting inhumane horse slaughter at a Canadian slaughterhouse and provides compelling evidence that the much touted Equine Identification Document (EID) program put forward by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) invites fraud.

Despite past reassurances from the CFIA and industry that horse slaughter plant conditions would be improved, this investigation demonstrates that yet a fourth Canadian slaughterhouse is in violation of humane slaughter regulations.The CHDC has once again received undercover footage - this time from Les Viandes de la Petite-Nation, Inc., in St. Andre-Avellin, Qubec.

The footage was captured on July 13th and 14th of 2011 and was sent anonymously to the CHDC.

Those of us who have examined the video have been shocked and sickened by what we've viewed. We consulted Dr. Nicholas Dodman, an expert in animal behaviour and anesthesiology at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Dodman had this to say: "...my final conclusion, after reviewing 150-plus horse slaughters in this series of videos, is that the process was terrifying for most of the horses and, in many cases, horribly inhumane. The inhumane treatment of horses at Les Viandes de la Petite Nation must be stopped immediately."


The evidence is clear: it is impossible, even in well-designed, conscientiously-managed, assembly-line conditions, to humanely slaughter horses. As Dr. Dodman states, "...many head shy or apprehensive horses...presented the operator of the captive bolt gun with a moving target."


Examples of stun box failures noted:

- More than 40% of the horses were not stunned after the 1st shot as required by "humane slaughter" regulations. Captive bolt pistol placement was poor - some horses were shot into their temples, under their ears or at the base of their brain. These horses showed clear signs of ineffective stunning or revival in the form of remaining standing, standing back up, winnying or head-shaking. Up to eleven attempts were made to stun one horse (Horse 33 Day 1) who suffered for almost 4 minutes.

- While we were not able to see into the area where the horses were suspended and butchered, at times the shooter carried a captive bolt pistol out from the area to hose it off as it became too bloody. This captive bolt pistol was a different style and higher calibre than the one normally used in the stun box. Only with excessive bleeding, such as during bleed-out, would the pistol become so blood covered. Blood was not seen or sprayed off the pistol used in the kill line, which raises the question whether horses were shot while being bled out.

- Over 80% of the horses showed signs of fear: their knees trembled and buckled, they lost their footing and repeatedly fell.

- 14% of the horses vocalized (provoked by stress or agitation). Some whinnied even after being shot.
- Government inspectors turned a blind eye to violations of the "humane" slaughter regulations. Over the course of 2 days a government inspector could be seen looking into the stun box (sometimes with no horse present) for a total of just 3 1/2 minutes. One horse revived (Horse 64 Day 1) while the inspector was observing, but while it seems the inspector requested another shot be given, the shooter simply winked at him but delivered no further shots.


In our opinion, the system brought in by the CFIA to meet European standards for food safety and traceability is flawed and incomplete, and appears to invite fraud. Examples of issues include:

- Incomplete owner information

- Incomplete agent information

- Poor identification of horses/erroneous information given, such as age, colour markings, tattoos, primary location, sex of animal etc.

- Information often appeared to be filled out by auction mart not the owner

- Use of a stamp instead of original signature by agent

The EID system, touted by the Canadian government as a document that ensures "a continuous medical history" on each horse presented for slaughter, is far from a guarantee that food safety is being addressed.


"Dirty Little Secret - Canada's slaughter industry under fire", published by the Toronto Star on July 30, 2011, provided a close look at Canada's horse slaughter system. The article took readers from a U.S. auction (Shipshewana, Indiana) to the door of a Canadian slaughterhouse. This investigation shows what lies beyond that door.

Gary Corbett, President of the federal union representing slaughterhouse veterinarians stated the following in the Toronto Star piece in regard to the EID system:

"(Veterinarians) do rely a lot on the records of the horses kept by the owners coming into the country and there are questions about how accurate or up to date they are. It's at the discretion of the owner. There's no regulatory framework to monitor it. It's kind of like an honour system."

The Star also confirmed that: "While there have been investigation of the 4 plants between 2000 and 2011, there have been no prosecutions, said a CFIA spokesperson."

Finally, John Holland, President, Equine Welfare Alliance, summarized the view of many that "Canada has had a very negative turn in the way people view them on animal issues because of this. Canada is seen as an opportunist in the way it has filled its plants with these animals after the U.S. closed its doors to the practice.

Warning: The written report and accompanying videos contain graphic and disturbing content. Discretion is advised.To view the written report please click here.



To view the written report  click here.
For those visitors who have trouble opening this file in their browser, please right click on the link and save to your computer and open from there.


Due to the massive amount of material uncovered in this investigation, we are presenting only a summary of some of the worst killings from the two days. An in-depth report will be released at a later date.

Dr. Nicholas Dodman's report can be viewed here.


Photo Journey





For further inquiries please contact:


Sinikka Crosland

Executive Director

Tel: 250.768.4803

info@defendhorsescanada.org


Twyla Francois
Central Region Director
Tel: 204.296.1375
twyla.1@mts.net


November 2011

Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
150 First Street
P.O. Box 21079
Orangeville, ON L9W 4S7




"Help us lead Canada's horses away from barbarism . . and into the protected pastures of a civilized nation."
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10/17/11

Action Alert! Observations and Opinions of a Horse Killer (Parts 1 & 2)

These videos are interviews of a horse killer, who for decades, bought and shipped horses to slaughter for human consumption. He and his associates also rounded up Wild Horses for slaughter.
After leaving the business, his conclusion was that the entire industry was inhumane, cruel, lacking in transparency and with a profit margin was so small that it could never be regulated to be humane by any standards.That this was a business that was good for neither people nor horses.

In a word, exactly what we have been saying for 30 years. We have enough documentation to sink the Titanic, but somehow that is overlooked in favor the anti-slaughter disinformation - for which there is no documentation - that is parroted by the pro-slaughter horse registries like the AQHA and the Jockey Club and Big Agriculture as if ending horse slaughter for human consumption could somehow affect them.

I personally find it impossible to believe the entire animal/Ag industries can actually believe the scare tactics of the queen of slaughter mouthpieces, Ms. Sue Wallis and the so-called "United Horsemen" when they claim that we all are "animal rights radicals" bent on closing down all animal Ag and are paid by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and PETA. This is just too idiotic for words and I don't believe this "slippery slope" junk is actually taken seriously by Big Ag. However, it's a convenient excuse for whatever it is they are really afraid of - whatever that may be - and, who knows, it might be true, right?

Actually, no, it can't be true - not even close. But - for whatever reason - they seem to be willing to risk not only horrific cruelty to our horses, the health of consumers overseas eating the meat from a non-regulated non-food animal.They even seem to be willing to severely damage the credibility of our food safety regulations, and, in fact, our entire meat industry. If they can champion the continued export of horse meat that is tainted with numerous substances - phenylbutazone (bute) being the most widely known - without blinking an eye, why should we believe they would feel entirely differently about other contaminated meat products? I'm a confirmed beef eater, but anyone would have to wonder. Frankly, I find it shocking.

Even more shocking is the way these Deep Pockets industries can manipulate Congress to the point that they have been able to block any anti-slaughter legislation for years with no reasonable reason. When a small minority of the people in the horse industry can influence the animal/Ag industry to use their might to block the will of the great majority of Americans who consider the continuation of horse slaughter for human consumption - and that's what we're talking about here, human consumption - a disgrace, well, Houston, we have a problem.

Part 1


Part 2



I ask you in the strongest possible terms to send these videos not only to your own Congress people, but also to the leadership of both the House and Senate and the ranking members of the Committees where both S. 1176 in the Senate and H.R. 2966 are now sitting - and where they will stay, blocked like all the bills before them unless we let Congress know that 80% of the American people want horse slaughter for human consumption stopped and stopped now. Contact these people in Congress and continue to contact them about this issue. Our opponents may be a minority, but they are well organized and well funded. For all the info you need go to: POPVOX.com

 We however do have an huge advantage that the horse bleeders will never even understand. They are doing what they are doing for profit. We are doing what we are doing for our horses. And that makes all the difference in the world.
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8/1/11

Undercover Investigation Underscores USDA - Documented Brutality

I doubt anyone is surprised at the outcome of this investigation - not even the pro-slaughter lairs who insist we reopen domestic "regulated" horse slaughter plants for the good of the horses. As I know from personal experience in Texas the US plants were no better than the ones in Canada and the EU certified ones in Mexico.

After mountains of evidence just like this anyone who says they believe horse slaughter is "humane" or "euthanasia" is either in deep denial or is a lying SOB who should be tarred and feathered. This abuse is REAL and UNACCEPTABLE.
Amplify’d from www.prweb.com

Undercover Investigation Underscores USDA - Documented Brutality

30 month long investigation proves worst-case scenario is ongoing
Westminster, MD (PRWEB) August 6, 2009
Slaughter horses in Shelby, MT

Quote startIt takes inhumane treatment to make the economics workQuote end

Westminster, MD (PRWEB) August 6, 2009
A thirty month long investigation into the plight of horses who have been sold for slaughter has revealed the worst levels of inhumane treatment. The abuse and neglect of these horses, sometimes referred to as 'kill horses,' was uncovered during the investigation and is consistent with findings and photographs contained in a 906 page document released by the USDA last year.

The investigation and report by Animals' Angels, a Maryland based animal welfare organization, confirmed that injuries and inhumane treatment documented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture during 2005 continue.

Both USDA and Animals' Angels (AA) documents show horses severely injured, left medically untreated, ill, trampled to death and worse on their way to and at slaughter.

Executive Director of Animals' Angels, Sonja Meadows said their investigations quickly revealed that, "Both government records and our report show that being on U.S. soil was not then and is not now the slightest guarantee of humane treatment."

The slaughter of horses in the U.S., which stopped with plant closures in 2007, continues in Canada and Mexico. Groups advocating the slaughter of American horses have called for the reopening of U.S. horse slaughter plants, saying horses are better protected by U.S. humane laws than by laws in Canada and Mexico. However, during the 30 month long investigation that included repeated visits to auctions, feedlots and slaughter plants, AA investigators concluded abuse and inhumane treatment are inherent to the horse slaughter industry.

"It takes inhumane treatment to make the economics work," said Meadows. "We found the cruelty starts well before horses arrive at the slaughter plant."

The AA report documents available veterinary care withheld from horses severely injured or near death. Undercover investigators were routinely told, 'That horse is going to slaughter anyway,' or the horses were 'just passing through.'

Treatment of horses designated for slaughter ranged from beating horses and jabbing them in the eyes, to using a cable winch to drag downed horses with a wire wrapped around a back leg.

Investigators observed horses being injured or killed after being forced into dangerously crowded pens where they were kicked or trampled. Others were found frozen to the ground after overnight temperatures dropped well below freezing.

Young and small horses, as well as horses injured or weak were trampled to death in trailers crowded with 40 horses. Workers failed to separate stallions, ensuring fierce fighting in close quarters during transport.

Making conditions worse is the issue of stolen horses, according to Debi Metcalfe, founder of Stolen Horse International, Inc., which operates http://www.NetPosse.com, a horse theft recovery network that averages 80,000 unique visitors per month. "We have dealt with cases where horses were stolen," said Metcalf. "We later found out that these innocent pets had been slaughtered."

Investigators also discovered at both Canadian and Mexican slaughter plants horses left in bloody 'kill boxes,' used to restrain horses as they are being killed, during lunch breaks. According to the report, the horses were 'shaking violently as if they might fall down.' Plant management told investigators the horses 'aren't bothered by it.'

AA investigators documented injured and dead horses at every stop along the horse slaughter pipeline. At feedlots and export pens horses had no food and water troughs were empty. An export facility veterinarian informed investigators horses too weak for transport would be left behind to die in the pens.

"The public has been duped into thinking horse slaughter has ended, but it just moved a few hours further down the road," Meadows pointed out. "It hasn't somehow changed into something it is not. It is the same terrible suffering it was in 2005."

"By the time the horse finally stands in the kill box at the slaughter plant, it is often not the worst thing that has happened to it since this dreadful journey began," said Meadows.

For a copy of the investigative report, click here...

The documents including photos released by the USDA can be found here...

About Animals Angels

Animals' Angels is a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization with fulltime investigators in the United States and Canada. We work with law enforcement and government agencies to end animal cruelty and improve conditions for farm animals. We are in the field every week, trailing livestock trucks, visiting markets, collecting stations and slaughter plants. For more information please go to http://www.animals-angels.com



Read more at www.prweb.com
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5/9/11

The Winter of Our Discontent

I know my title is not particularly original, but it's such a perfect fit I had to use it anyway. What are we discontented about you ask. Or, maybe you should not have asked....

By far, the most important problem this winter was Ami. She somehow bruised her feet worse than she ever has which apparently led to her first case of active laminitis since her original episode in 1996. Talk about scary! Given that she's always had thin soles and rotation from that first episode, more rotation was the last thing she needed.

We immediately put in an emergency call to Dr. Conley's new clinic with Dr. Koontz, and it was Dr. Koontz who came out. This was the first meeting for all of us including Dr. K and Ami. She was well behaved for him, and he immediately diagnosed the active laminitis. The first thing he did was tape some large Styrofoam-like pads to both front feet, and she immediately went sound in her deeply bedded stall with a stall mat underneath. Dr. K was very happy with our set-up and recommended keeping her in the stall for a couple of weeks, and of course, try to get some weight off.

HELP! I'm being held captive here!

Dr. Koontz coming back next week to do spring shots and check her out. Looks like all is going to be well, thank goodness!

Another problem with this winter is that it doesn't want to go away. We sprang forward just like we are supposed to .....

Spring Forward! THIS otta do it!

but it didn't seem to help. Temps have stubbornly remained in the 40s and 50s, and even when it's relatively mild, the wind is howling at 25 mph and/or it's pouring rain. I haven't even had a chance to see what riding is going to be like with my new hip and my legs being the same length for the first time in my life. Should be interesting and I'm getting frustrated with this rotten weather.

The most depressing thing during this winter though was learning more than I ever wanted to know about the workings of our government and how utterly corrupt it is. Special interests rule, and it's delusional to believe otherwise. Even small things - relatively speaking - like getting horse slaughter outlawed in the US for good and all and preserving the small remnant that remains of our once magnificent herds of wild horses on public lands in the west - are totally under the control of the special interests and the will of the American people is irrelevant. 

I would have considered the things I have learned this winter inconceivable if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes in pictures and videos of those in the front lines. And I'm not talking about the Obama administration either. This has been going on for probably as long as the Department of the Interior/BLM has been in existence no matter which party was in the White House.

Ever since the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971, the BLM have been loading the dice in favor of the ranchers in the Public Lands Grazing Program until by now there are few acres left for the horses despite the Congressional mandate and even fewer horses grazing on them. The BLM rounds the horses up - at public expense - and warehouses them - at public expense while the ranchers lease their land for almost nothing.

Now something even worse is happening. The horses are literally being purged from their legal lands, but not for the ranchers this time, although those good ole boys haven't figured that our yet. No, this time the DOI is planning to allow extractive interests, many of which are foreign owned, to have pretty much everything they want. More open pit mines, shale oil extraction - known as fracking - tar sands extraction - all of which require millions upon millions of gallons of water which cannot be replaced because it is contaminated during the processing. Ain't that a hoot for states like Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, etc. that have no water now?

Meanwhile, the idiots ranchers are pushing for Nevada legislators to pass a law that screws with the definition of "wildlife," and will deny the wild horses the right to drink the water. No, that's not a typo. They want to cut Nevada's wild horses off from access to water. Well, when the water guzzling fracking and tar sands developing are finished with Nevada's aquifers there won't be any water for their cattle - or them either.

As for the pro-slaughter activists who block every effort to get a national ban on horse slaughter for human consumption, I'm even more contemptuous of them.

The big horse organizations like the Quarter Horse Assn., the Jockey Club and others want slaughter back so they can breed and breed and breed, looking for that "special one" while the culls - hundreds of them every year - are dumped off to be slaughtered. Nice, huh? Also, that horse that doesn't run quite fast enough, doesn't spin fast enough or doesn't have enough "cow" doesn't have a happy retirement, he goes to slaughter. Use 'em up and dump 'em off, that's their motto. Who cares how much they suffer or how many dangerous chemicals are in their meat. Not my problem.

Big Animal Ag seems to think that slaughtering traditional food animals might be threatened by banning the slaughter on a non food animal like horses. It's insanity, I know, but they actually seem to believe the "Vast Vegan Conspiracy" - which exists only in their imaginations - is using banning horse slaughter as a "slippery slope" to ban all animal precessing. I can't believe they think this could really happen, but why take chances, right? The only problems horse slaughter causes is intense suffering for horses and, given that American horses are not raised as food animals and are regularly exposed to substances that are banned from the human food chain, meat adulterated with dangerous chemicals is regularly being exported to unsuspecting consumers abroad. But, this bothers the Big Animal Ag fellas not one whit. After all, if there is the slightest minute microscopic chance that they might be affected, well, who the hell cares about anything else?

Lord, Lord! Excuse me while I go out and watch Indy and Ami having a good time, frolicking without a care in the world. And I plan to keep it that way.

 

Last one to the barn is a rotten apple!


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1/31/11

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP! STOP THE BLM! STOP THE ROUNDUPS!


This is your tax money at work!

Antelope Complex - Day 5       January 27, 2011




The BLM had to search for the few horses left on this HMA. But, they finally found them - population obviously out of control with serious overpopulation on these thousands of acres. If they manage to find any horses at all, they are over the population limit - as set by the BLM - and must be removed at all costs!

In this video, a band of eight horses enters the chute after being chased for a long distance. They run for a distance before an older mare collapses in the snow, her legs buckling beneath her, utterly exhausted from the long, terrifying run. She lays there helplessly as the helicopter hovers over her. She is too exhausted to move. Two wranglers run toward her waving whips with plastic bags tied to the ends, forcing her to struggle to her feet. Incredibly, the helicopter continues the chase. The spent mare tries to escape, breathing hard, puffs of steam billowing from her nostrils. The helicopter comes within feet of her as she summons her last strength to trot and then run to escape it. To those of us watching, the chase of seems to go on forever; we are shocked that BLM allows it to continue. Finally, the helicopter gives up and the mare is left dazed, her sides heaving. She stops for a moment, then walks off, away from the trap where her family is confined, and out onto the range. Alone.
This mare’s ordeal exemplifies the inhumanity of the roundups, which indiscriminately stampede the elderly, the infirm, the crippled and the very young along with the able-bodied, subjecting them to extreme, and sometimes fatal, terror, trauma and exertion. Even a local, pro-BLM rancher observing the roundup remarked on the chase of the elder mare, “that shouldn’t have happened to that old sister.”

NO, it sure as HELL shouldn't have happened to any horse, let alone an older one. But the BLM contractors get paid by the head - dead or alive, preferably dead. Even a person completely unfamiliar with horses would be able to tell this mare is in serious trouble. How could anyone be so chillingly callus as to do something like this to an innocent old horse?

Please share this video with your Senators and Representatives! Not only is this unconscionable cruelty, WE are paying over a MILLION DOLLARS for this roundup alone. Let's stop the BLM before they do this to even one other horse.



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"From my earliest memories, I have loved horses with a longing beyond words." ~ Robert Vavra