4/10/12

Front Range Equine Rescue Discovers New Mexico Horse Slaughter Plant

Breaking News

FRONT RANGE EQUINE RESCUE DISCOVERS NEW MEXICO HORSE SLAUGHTER PLANT

April 10, 2012 (Larkspur, Colorado) -- Through its own investigation, Front Range Equine
Rescue (FRER) has discovered that Valley Meats Co., 3845 Cedarvale Rd., in Roswell, NM, has
applied for inspection of horses to be “custom slaughtered” and “processed” for human
consumption. According to the facts uncovered, the facility has been involved in extended
discussions with the Denver office of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The FSIS
inspects animals and meat in American slaughterhouses under the auspices of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.

Horse slaughter for food is a national disgrace, given the iconic nature of American horses and
the especially brutal methods used to kill them. FRER has mounted an extensive legal battle to
keep American horses from being slaughtered for food, in or out of the country, in light of last
November’s Congressional appropriation of funding for horse meat inspections. In the last three
weeks, along with the Humane Society of the United States, FRER has filed two Petitions for
Rule-making [http://frontrangeequinerescue.org/front-range-equine-rescue-horse-slaughter.php],
asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the FSIS to enact rules and regulations
which would prevent American horses from being slaughtered. The Petitions have gotten
significant attention, and FRER intends to continue to amplify its legal strategy for as long as it
takes to eliminate the possibility of horse slaughter in America.

If it is allowed to open, the Roswell plant would be the first U.S. horse slaughterhouse opened
since horse slaughter in the U.S. ended five years ago. A recent poll shows at least 80% of
Americans oppose horse slaughter. Valley Meats and any other horse slaughterhouses must be
stopped, and the USDA and FDA must see the danger and illegality of producing horse meat
from American horses. FRER calls on all concerned citizens and groups, in and out of New
Mexico, to support its efforts by contacting state, local and federal officials and voicing your
strong objection to the resumption of this horrific practice in America. For more information on
how to help, contact info@frontrangeequinerescue.com.

4/9/12

Why The Issue With Bute?

EATING HORSES

Int'l Fund for Horses

EU Drug Regulations, Phenylbutazone and the Disquieting Truth about Toxic Horse Meat

Part 2: Why the Issue with Bute?

“BUTE” is by no means the only drug under scrutiny in the sport horse and racing industry however its metabolic activity and "decay life" in animal tissue is in direct contrast to many other legally permissible medications which are transient in nature and are biologically eliminated from the system over established intervals.

Of particular note however is the fact that “bute” is the most widespread anti-inflammatory in the global horse racing industry today. It is estimated that 98% of NA professional sport and pleasure horses have received phenylbutazone at some point in their lives and is widely used in other horse industry jurisdictions around the globe.

The kinetics and drug activity of phenylbutazone and its metabolites (e.g. oxyphenbutazone) are characteristic of a bi-exponential decay rate (the sum of two single exponential decays) meaning, in theory, that regardless of the elapsed time there will always be residuals present in blood plasma (i.e. the concept of infinite division). [1]

An exponential decay rate can be expressed in terms of "half-life" where one half-life represents the amount of time it takes for the substance undergoing "decay" to decrease by one half of the original concentration. Half-lives remain constant over the decay period and as the concentration approaches zero, the time to eliminate any residuals remaining in the system approaches infinity. In other words, there will always be some residuals present regardless of the passage of time.

Table 1 and Figure 1 together illustrate a simple model of exponential decay.

Of particular note is that regardless of the number of half-lives denoted by "n", the fraction or percentage of the original concentration of the substance under analysis will always be greater than zero.

Table 1: Exponential Decay Concept

Number of Half-Lives Elapsed	Fraction of Original Concentration Remaining	Percentage of Original Concentration Remaining
0	1	100
1	1/2	50
2	1/4	25
3	1/8	12.5
4	1/16	6.25
5	1/32	3.125
...	...	...
n	1/(2ⁿ)	100/(2ⁿ)

Where n = number of half-lives

Figure 1: Exponential Decay Curve Showing Persistence of Residues

Decades ago phenylbutazone, a compound originally used in Europe as a solubilizing agent for various analgesics given by intramuscular injection, was introduced to the drug compendium in the US for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and gout, nonetheless with fateful brevity.
Admitted in 1949, and shortly thereafter banned by the FDA for human use, by the year 2003 the ban extended to animals intended for human consumption given that investigation by FDA and State regulatory counterparts determined that phenylbutazone residues were discovered in culled dairy cattle. [2] [3]

At the time this did not include horses or dogs as in North America neither are considered food animals.

"Phenylbutazone (PBZ) was marketed in the United States for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and gout in 1952. Serious and often fatal adverse effects such as aplastic anemia and agranulocytosis appeared in the literature within three years of its use . . . . . The serious adverse effects of PBZ culminated in its unavailability for human use in the United States."
[4]

Apart from aplastic anemia (bone marrow suppression) and agranulocytosis (reduction in infection fighting white blood cells), phenylbutazone and its principal metabolite oxyphenbutazone have also been implicated in thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), leucopenia (decreased white blood cells), pancytopenia (reduced red and white blood cells and platelets), hemolytic anemia (abnormal breakdown of red blood cells) and can cause hypersensitivity reactions in the liver leading to death. [5] Moreover, phenylbutazone is a carcinogen, as determined by the National Toxicology Program. [6]

Clearly there is apt rationale for banning phenylbutazone for human use as well as animals intended for human consumption both as a function of its toxicity and the causal certainty that residues will always be present to some extent in the blood and hence tissues of animals slaughtered for food. Additionally, what is most disconcerting is that the lethal adverse effects in humans are not always dose-dependent and demonstrate unique outcomes contingent on a particular individual’s susceptibility. In essence what this implies is that even in small quantities phenylbutazone and its metabolites can have deleterious effects on human health. [7]

To this end, the FDA has banned the use of phenylbutazone in horses destined for slaughter.
Moreover, there are no farming associations that raise horses for food in North America (unless the AQHA can be considered eligible). And despite the fact that horse slaughter in the US has been outlawed since 2007, there is no pretense about what happens to more than 100,000 horses sold annually at auction who are shipped to Canada and Mexico. Once butchered, their meat is exported to European and Asian locales where it fetches top dollar and is considered a delicacy.

The fact is that the majority of these horses will be administered phenylbutazone during some point in their lives to relieve musculoskeletal pain and inflammation.
This in itself is not entirely inappropriate as there are valid reasons for its use in the treatment of lameness providing the recommended dosage is abided by, as there are also potential life-threatening side-effects to the horse (e.g. severe gastric ulceration).

Instead, the glaring inconsistency is the unmistakable fact that these horses enter the food chain; perhaps not in North America but elsewhere through export to foreign countries nonetheless. What’s more, since the residues of phenylbutazone and its metabolites reside primarily in the blood plasma of the tissues there is the complicating factor of the inherent differences between slaughtered cattle and horse carcasses.

"As stated above, almost all of the PBZ remains in the bloodstream. . . . To provide a point of comparison, a 1400 lb cow has 60 ml/kg body weight or almost 10 gallons or 0.71 gallons per 100 lbs of cow. The ratio is 1.25/.71 = 1.76:1. Thus, a horse has 1.76 times as much blood per pound of body weight compared to a cow." [8]

Potentially this means that there is a calculated measure of risk of the presence of higher concentrations of toxic residues in horse meat than in beef. In actual fact there is no "risk" of higher concentrations in horse meat in light of the fact that the drug has been banned in other animals, such as cattle for example, intended for human consumption since 2003: the residues are undeniably higher in horse meat. Still the quandary exists.

"The FDA, like the EU and UK, specifically bans the use of PBZ in any horse destined for slaughter for human consumption. Yet, this ban is being circumvented because there is no pre-slaughter mechanism to determine and remove horses that receive PBZ during their lifetime. This is because horses are not regarded as or treated as food-producing animals in the United States and there are no USDA regulations to prevent them from being given banned substances like PBZ." [9]

Horses may not be perceived as food-producing animals in the US, but they are certainly treated as if they are in the same appalling manner.
Continue reading >>

_______________________________

[1] www.beautysequinerescue.org/images/bute_contamination.pdf
[2] http://web.me.com/stevescrutton/Failure_ConMed/Apdx._Banned,_withdrawn_pharmacological_drugs.html
[3] http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm124078.htm
[4] Ibid at 1.

[5] Ibid at 1.
[6] http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+3159
[7] Ibid at 1.
[8] Ibid at 1.
[9] Ibid at 1.

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3/28/12

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

Experts Calling for Slaughter Ban In Wake of United Horsemen Summit Cancellation | Horse Back Magazine

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.

3/15/12

Letter From Cynthia MacPherson To Attorney Dan Erdel

Mountain Grove, Missouri is indeed fortunate to have an attorney like Cynthia MacPherson to represent their best interests. Especially when the question at hand is whether or not to allow Wyoming State Representative and the President of Unified Equine, Sue Wallis and her associates to construct a HSHC (Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption) plant in their town.

After an excellent presentation of the non-existent pros and the many cons, the town decided that there was no way Wallis was going to construct something like that in their town. A great decision, for more reasons than were clear at the time - as the following letter makes crystal clear.

3/13/12

@zebrafinch Glad you enjoyes the pic. Ah, yes! Spring! Indy's a Springer but Ami's not bad either.. :)

via TweetDeck

3/11/12

Sue Wallis Alleges Death Threats to YMCA Director

This is the latest from the Equine Welfare Alliance on Sue Wallis and her ill-fated attempt to force a horse slaughter plant down the throats of the people of Mountain Grove, Missouri. Folks, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

March 10, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

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

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Horse slaughter promoter alleges death threats to YMCA director

Mountain Grove, MO (EWA) – A bizarre chain of events has followed the contentious meeting of the
Mountain Grove City Council on March 6th concerning the Unified Equine proposal to build a horse
slaughter plant near the town.

Unified Equine CEO Sue Wallis claimed that the project would be a 50% partnership with Belgian
company Chevideco, and that they would invest $6 to $7 million in a plant that would be designed
by Dr. Temple Grandin.

But during the meeting city residents became inflamed by a presentation given by attorney Cynthia
MacPherson, cataloging the pollution and crime that Chevideco’s Dallas Crown facility had brought to
the town of Kaufman Texas.

When banker Roger Lindsey rose to defend the project he was shouted down and left the meeting.
The unanticipated public anger touched off a series of events. First, the director of the Mountain
Grove YMCA announced that he would no longer permit Sue Wallis to hold a planned meeting there
on the following Monday.

On her facebook page, Wallis explained this apparent snub by saying “We have not spoken to him
directly, but it is my understanding that the YMCA director received death threats to his family, and
to sponsors of his organization, We have heard directly from other community members that they
have received threatening letters just for publicly expressing their support for the project.”

EWA contacted the Missouri State Police, the Mountain Grove police department and the YMCA
director, Chad Watson. State police captain Duane Isringhausen, told EWA’s John Holland that he
had received no such reports. The Mountain Grove police said they had heard the report and
investigated but that they could find no evidence of threats being made to anyone. YMCA director
Chad Watson said he had received no threats and had moved the meeting when he learned of its
subject. “This place is for the children”, said Watson.

Wallis announced that the meeting had been moved to the Wright County Livestock Auction, and
that while the public was welcome, anyone being “disrespectful” would be evicted. On March 10th
the auction owner, Nathan Kelly, said the meeting would be closed to the press. Kelly said he had
been “lambasted” by people opposed to the project.

MacPherson told EWA that she is encouraging people to stay away from the Wallis meeting; however
postings on the popular Topix blog show some residents plan a peaceful protest outside the auction.

The media ban was not the end of this bizarre episode. In subsequent interviews, Wallis was quoted
contradicting her earlier claims of backing from Chevideco saying that she did not have an
agreement, and that she would likely depend on local investors. This revelation follows the earlier
statement by Grandin that she knew nothing of the project.

EWA’s John Holland summed up the situation saying “It now appears that Wallis, rather than
bringing millions of investment dollars into the area, intends instead to borrow millions from the
people of Missouri to have someone who had not been told of the project build them a horse
slaughter plant that they don’t want! What could go wrong with that?

#

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

2/23/12

Les Viandes De La Petite-Nation Slaughter Plant Temporarily Closed

IMPORTANT UPDATE: LES VIANDES DE LA PETITE-NATION SLAUGHTER PLANT TEMPORARILY CLOSED

Posted on February 22, 2012

Les Viandes de la Petite-Nation Inc. slaughter house in Quebec has been temporarily closed, with inspections and audits being conducted at the plant by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). La Petite-Nation (LPN) was the subject of the December 2011 investigative report by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) entitled “Pasture to Plate: The True Cost of Canada’s Horsemeat Industry”: http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/lpn.html.

The report cites numerous violations underCanada’s Meat Inspection Act, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) animal welfare standards, cruelty violations, as well as reveals a flawed Equine Identification Documents system. LPN is one of two plants operating in Quebec, and one of four plants operating in Canada.

The CFIA’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr. Brian Evans, verifies the temporary closure in this February 16th email:
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012
From: Brian Evans <Brian.Evans@inspection.gc.ca>
To: Sinikka Crosland <sinikka@defendhorsescanada.org>
Sinikka
Thank you for your email inquiry.
With respect to Les Viandes de la Petite-Nation Inc., I am informed by Quebec Operations the enhanced inspection, verification and audit activities on the part of the CFIA continue and it is my understanding that the establishment has indicated its intent to temporarily suspend its operations. With respect to Viandes Richelieu I am advised its status is not changed.
Kind regards
Dr. Brian Evans
(613) 773-5236 / (613) 773-5763
Brian.Evans@inspection.gc.ca

We are seeking further information from Dr. Evans on La Petite Nation’s closure. In January 2012, the CHDC wrote to Dr. Evans to follow up on the Pasture to Plate report, since there had been no acknowledgement or communication of any kind from the CFIA on the violations that are occurring at the plant. Dr. Evans’ reply indicated that he would involve Quebec operations regarding horse slaughter violations and tracking system deficiencies at LPN:
http://canadianhorsedefencecoalition.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/dr-evans-of-the-cfia-responds/.

The CHDC finds it questionable that LPN has closed operations voluntarily, yet the CFIA is conducting inspections and audits there. It is our opinion that findings from the Pasture to Plate report has prompted the CFIA to take measures to somehow try to improve conditions at LPN, but this fourth investigative report on Canadian slaughterhouses proves, once again, that horses cannot be humanely slaughtered in assembly line situations. We continue to ask the CFIA, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Canadian government to close all horse slaughter plants permanently.

Day 2 Horse 8

2/21/12

Unwanted Horse Coalition"It WAS the Economy After All!"

Help for Horse Owners is On the Way

Published: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 11:01 PM Updated: Monday, February 20, 2012, 9:19 AM

By Nancy Jaffer/For The Star-Ledger

"Help! I can't keep this horse anymore."

Sarah Ralston, a Rutgers University associate professor, is all too familiar with that cry of distress during a financially difficult era in which the phrase "unwanted horse" has become an unhappy part of the equestrian lexicon.

"A lot of horse owners have fallen on hard times and can't afford to do the right thing for their horses," she said, but there's more to the unwanted horse problem. Too many people who lack the basics of horsekeeping take on an equine without knowing what it will cost, both in terms of money and work, and have no idea how to deal with a large animal which may be untrained or simply too much for them to handle.

An Unwanted Horse Coalition study that drew more than 27,500 responses showed that indeed, the predominant reason for horses winding up in the unwanted category was because owners could no longer afford them.

But there are other problems, too. They include the horse being too old,injured or unmanageable; the owner's loss of interest, no time to spend with the horse, divorce and children who had ridden the horse moving away from home. Ralston, who is also a veterinarian, noted there is a lot of emotional pressure on the public to rescue horses that otherwise may be headed for slaughter. If the horse turns out to be inappropriate for the new owner, that horse winds up being the last the novice owns, rather than the first of several.

To help find solutions, Ralston is organizing a group promoting responsible horse ownership, which goes beyond the unwanted horse problem. It's called WHOHO (pronounced Whoa-Ho); We're Horse Owners Helping Horse Owners. She sees it as a way "to increase the awareness and utilization of the extensive resources already available through the Rutgers Equine Science Center, The N.J. Agricultural Extension Service and the veterinary community."

Although such resources do a lot aimed at educating the horse owner, Ralston believes there are those, including adopters who get horses from rescue organizations, that are "falling through the cracks." Some may not realize how little they know. Others can be intimidated by experts.

She cited a survey of horse owners that found their most common source of information was other horse owners, not the extension service or expert websites. Unfortunately, some of the information disseminated, whether from a person or a website, may be wrong, or not useful in solving a problem.

Her idea is to turn that around with "a cadre of well-informed volunteers who are aware of the resources available" rather than operating by the seat of their pants. Volunteers would have to be certified, and Ralston envisions an educational program to get them up to speed, though there may be other ways of making sure those involved are qualified.

A core group had its first meeting earlier this month and is getting together again this weekend to continue laying groundwork for the project, which Ralston envisions along the lines of the Master Gardeners program. Karyn Malinowski, the executive director of the Equine Science Center, also suggested that the Environmental Stewards Program or the Woodlands Steward Program that is forming may provide helpful models.

Eventually, Ralston sees the concept going regional, and equestrian experts in neighboring states agree with that concept.

In New York, Karin Bump, a professor of equine business management at Cazenovia College, said a small group has been working for months on the Equine Welfare Assistance Program, a public/private partnership.

"It has some cross-overs to the kinds of things Sarah is talking about," said Bump, the president of the National Association of Equine Affiliated Academics.

"The problems we face with horse welfare and care are national problems, but are going to be best solved by local and regional approaches," she believes.

We clearly need more coordination and communication. There's lots of people doing lots of things, but only in a few instances are there state vehicles by which things get coordinated and communicated so you can put everybody's talents together and see where you're crossing over and where your gaps are."

She noted WHOHO "very much complements the kinds of things we're working on here in New York State. Unwanted horses are a continuing concern, but there's always been an issue of horse welfare and what do horse owners do when they don't have the resources or a horse no longer fits their needs?"

In Pennsylvania, Donna Foulk, Penn State extension educator/equine natural resources, said, "I like this idea, it's pro-active." Foulk recalled that Pennsylvania offered a Crop Master program for farmers, who were supplied with current information that was designed to be passed along to other farmers, and said that was quite successful.

Having the informed farmers help out insured that people got good information, and also had the benefit of letting officials know what concerned the farmers who were being aided, when the volunteers reported back to extension employees.

Regionally, she felt it could work and suggested offering short courses on topics such as hay and nutrition on both sides of the state line.

"I really think we should have stronger ties," said Foulk, who formerly worked at Rutgers.

Malinowski pledged support from Ralston's colleagues in the animal science department and the ESC, while suggesting webinars for some of the programs to make it more convenient and reach out to speakers not based in New Jersey.

Those interested in becoming involved with WHOHO can contact Ralston at ralston@AESOP.Rutgers.edu.

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