The federal ban on horse processing





End of session update: The provisions in HB1747 moved thru the legislative process rather quickly. The original bill was killed in the Senate Agriculture Committee by Chairman- Senator Dan Clemens. The language was moved to the Agriculture omnibus bill where it remained until it was stripped out in the conference committee two day's from the end of session. This bill was only one vote from being sent to the Governors desk and signed into law. The Senate and the House acknowledging this issue will not go away, have joined together to study the issue during the summer break. A HSUS spokesperson stated during official testimony that they would open, maintain and pay for the transport of any unwanted horses to a “paradise” rescue sanctuary. Ironically, they opposed that very idea when I filed it as a bill several years ago. Other activists “wailed” and prayed over the horses souls during the hearings. These activists promoted the lives of animals higher than or equal to that of humans all session long. Thousands of e-mails flooded the Capitol from all over the world. And as the session progressed, and it became clear that Missouri might actually reinstate the export of horse products, I received death threats from the extremist animal rights groups for leading this movement. This is further proof that they will stop at nothing until all animal agriculture is halted.

The success’s surrounding HB 1747 was great. Missouri led the way in this discussion, bringing this issue to the forefront on a national scale. I granted 42 national radio interviews and countless newspaper and magazine interviews on this subject. The in-depth research and the solid answers exposed by this legislation have attracted multiple invitations for me to travel around the country to address pro-agriculture conventions and large public speaking venues nationwide. During their respective sessions, 27 states have attempted to address the issue of processing horses this year. Two have passed legislation to permit it.

January 14th, 2010

“We do things to humans we wouldn’t dream of doing to dogs”.

Several years ago, a Radiologist friend of mine, referring to the things we do to humans to cheat death out of every second we can, stated: “We do things to humans we wouldn’t dream of doing to dogs”. His comments are true on so many levels and with talk on the national political scene about “end of life planning”. The comment returned to the forefront of my mind.

A different “end of life” conversation dominated my time this week in the Capitol. The release of my new bill to reinstate the processing of horses triggered a national debate about the equine industry. This is a very necessary debate. Animal rights activists in Washington D.C. several years ago realized they could not pass legislation that would block the processing of horses, an activity they claim is inhumane, so they used a tricky maneuver in the appropriations process to dry up the funds for the inspection process. With no USDA inspectors, the horses could not be certified and without the stamp, the products could not be exported. Thus killing the horse processing industry.

With no place for livestock producers to go with aging and injured animals, and no market value for the animal, the equine industry spiraled into turmoil. What the animal rights activists trump as one of their greatest accomplishments, has had horrible unintended consequences for both the animals and the industry. Before, the owner of a horse that had out lived its usefulness, could choose to sell that animal to a processor that would in turn utilize the animal for things like dog food, protein for zoo’s and for export over sea’s.

The agricultural community has overwhelmingly stepped up to support this issue, the pushback from the animal rights community has been centered around two major themes. First, they claim the act of euthanizing the animals is inhumane, either the process or just the idea of ending an animals life. Or they classify a horse as a family pet and because of that image, they cannot possibly understand ending the life of an animal. Additionally, they think that animals deserve a “proper” burial and in some conversations- “proper respects”.

The USDA and the Missouri Department of Agriculture have very strict guidelines on the euthanizing and handling of animals in processing plants. These guidelines are much stricter than those in other countries like Canada or Mexico. As for the emotional side of this debate, it is my observation, that there is little or no convincing an animal rights activists, that humanely putting an animal down for any reason is a good idea.

There passion for these animals and the destruction of the equine industry has only caused more animals to suffer. With no value, horses are now neglected, released into our national parks or just dropped off at livestock markets. Aging animals who are in pain or suffering from injuries don’t receive the medical care they once did and are left to endure a daily life of neglect.

When rebuked by the animal rights activists on these points they claim the answer is simply calling a veterinarian and having the animal chemically put down. Sounds neat and tidy enough, except the service call is more than the animal is worth. The chemicals used, make the animal meat unusable and you still have to dispose of the carcass. The disposal of the animal is a whole other conversation, in fact if you follow “the letter of the law”, you cannot legally bury a horse in the State of Missouri. Finding a location that meets all of the DNR and Department of Ag requirements would be next to impossible and you still have to pay a back hoe operator to dig the hole.

My proposal, simple provides funding thru the Missouri Department of Agriculture to the USDA. This will reinstate the inspection process. If approved, Missouri will be able to resume processing horses’-revitalizing the equine industry by allowing the export of valuable products to foreign countries.

The debate between the animal rights activists and livestock producers’ rages on. Powerful images of abandoned and neglected animals occupy almost every television commercial break. The advertisements will only increase as the animal rights activists push their agendas into your daily lives. There publicly stated desire to put all animal agriculture out of business is nothing less than their ultimate goal and they are well on their way to achieving that goal.

No one wants to see animals abused or neglected, the business of responsible animal agriculture production needs to be protected. My effort to re-open the horse processing industry is a difficult and emotion filled task. If the horse industry is to survive, we must find a way to put value back into these animals or they are going to continue to suffer from starvation.



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