Update by Laura Allen of the Animal Law Coalition
Letters and Calls are Needed TODAY!
Update May 10, 2010: The Senate conferees whose job it will be to reconcile the House and Senate versions of S.B. 795 are:
Sen. Rob Mayer (573) 751-3859
FAX: (573) 526-1384
mailto:Rob.Mayer@senate.mo.gov
Sen. Dan Clemens, (573) 751-4008
FAX: (573) 751-4096
Toll-Free: 866-242-0810
dan_clemens@senate.mo.gov
Sen. Chuck Purgason, (573) 751-1882
FAX: (573) 526-4716
chuck.purgason@senate.mo.gov
Sen. Frank Barnitz, (573) 751-2108
FAX: (573) 526-0573
Frank.Barnitz@senate.mo.gov
Sen. Wes Shoemyer (573) 751-7852
FAX: (573) 751-4011
Wes.Shoemyer@senate.mo.gov
Sen. Gary Nodler, (573) 751-2306
FAX: (573) 751-2894
EMail
WHAT YOU CAN DO
S.B. 795 is currently in a conference committee because the Senate has refused to concur in the House Committee Substitute which passed the House with amendments, including the pro-horse slaughter provisions. If you live in Missouri, contact committee members above and politely with well-reasoned arguments urge them to reject the pro-horse slaughter provisions from H.B. 1747 that are now attached to S.B. 795.
Also, find your Missouri state senator here and urge them to reject the pro-horse slaughter provisions from H.B. 1747 that are now in S.B. 795. Find Missouri Senate leaders here (just click on their names) and a list of all Missouri state senators here.
Contact Missouri’s Governor Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon. Here is more contact info for the governor:
Office of Governor Jay Nixon
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222
Tell them horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and has no place in American culture and urge them to reject the pro-horse slaughter provisions of S.B. 795!
For more on this bill and its history, read Animal Law Coalition’s reports below.
“Horse-Eaters” Hide Slaughter Language
Update May 7, 2010: The pro-horse slaughter provisions from Missouri H.B. 1747, that were sneakily buried in S.B. 795, an unrelated bill, were NOT withdrawn or removed by amendment from S.B. 795 on May 5 as previously reported.
At least 1 anti-slaughter lobbyist at the Capitol that day was given to understand the pro-slaughter provisions had been removed prior to the House vote on the bill. That was not true. Also, last week state Sen. Dan Clemens said there would be no further legislative progress on H.B. 1747, the pro-horse slaughter bill, leading citizens to believe the bill was dead for this session. In the meantime, the pro-horse slaughter provisions were simply quietly buried in S.B. 795.
The Missouri House of Representatives debated the House Committee Substitute version of S.B. 795 this past week amidst a strong public outcry against the horse slaughter provisions buried in the bill. The pro-slaughter provisions were originally in H.B. 1747 introduced by state Rep. James Viebrock. For more on this and how these provisions came to be buried in S.B. 795, read Animal Law Coalition’s reports below.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
S.B. 795 is currently in a conference committee because the Senate has refused to concur in the House Committee Substitute which passed the House with amendments, including the pro-horse slaughter provisions. If you live in Missouri, find your state senator here and urge them to reject the pro-horse slaughter provisions from H.B. 1747 that are buried in S.B. 795. Find Missouri Senate leaders here (just click on their names) and a list of all Missouri state senators here.
Contact Missouri’s Governor Jay Nixon and First Lady Georganne Nixon. Here is more contact info for the governor:
Office of Governor Jay Nixon
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3222
Tell them horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and has no place in American culture!
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Hooray!!! That’s 4 states now that have withdrawn these bills!
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This is wonderful news!
I feel the ground swell!
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Good news, BUT…the horse haters will be back until the Federal laws are passed.
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This is great news. And we can use this when we talk to our Fed. legislators–4 states have tried but the public loudly proclaims NO!!
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Great outcome! Thanks to everyone everywhere who raised their voices and worked to get this amendment withdrawn. But, since the bill passed the first time, did legislators rethink the horse slaughter issue, or just oppose Viebrock’s underhanded tactics? Is there any way to get a hard copy of the debate and vote?
I agree with Denise. The best hope of ending slaughter is if the Feds intervene. Even then it may become a “state’s rights” issue. We need to help find other options to save horses that have quality of life, and assure those past saving have a “good end”.
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What great news….we’re heading in the right direction. We must continue to protect and show compassion for these magnificent creatures that have served us throughout history. Thanks to all that have worked hard to make this happen.
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This IS GREAT NEWS!! But, we all MUST remain ever vigilant in our fight to protect horses.We must NEVER “let our guard down”, or, most certainly, someone will try to sneak past us! Maybe we can rest easy , once Congress passes(hopefully!!), a ban on horse slaughter in the U.S. In the meantime, we still continue our fight for our American mustangs, &, the horses living in other states with pending slaughter bills.
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For the life of me, I cannot understand why all these states are in such a frantic fight to have horse slaughter. The market is down even before the new EU rules are enforced by Canada. Even if you count that it might be three years before Canada actually required a “passport” system like the one in the EU, it doesn’t require one to be a rocket scientist to see that by the time you do all the paperwork, permits, get investors, design and what-ever hoops you have to jump through before you could even START to build the thing, how could you possibly expect to make enough profit to just break even with the passport deadline staring you in the face? Makes NO sense. Unless they’re hoping that if they ignore this “problem” long enough, it will go away. I don’t think so…..
Wouldn’t it be nice if these idiots would put all this effort into doing something USEFUL?
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Of course you probably have all heard that Missouri has not taken the slaughter language out of the bill as previously reported. Damn. If you haven’t here’s the link to the article.
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160
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I always find it so disingenuous when legislators have to play proceedural game or just plain hide legislation to get it passed. If what they are pushing is so honorable, so justified, so ethical, why do they play hide and seek?
Seriously Mr. Viebrock….if this is such a necessary, fine and damn good idea, why do you play games, skulk and refuse to debate the issue with opponents? Why Sir? Because you know how to play the “game” in Missouri?…gettin’ bucks from the meatmen and irresponsible breeders?
If your idea is just so freakin’ perfect…why do you hide? I’d call you a snake, but they at least serve an integral function in our eco-systems. You do not.
Conrad Burns pulled the same kind of chicken S**T manuver on the wild equines (ever heard of 3 Strikes rule????).
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Forgot to add, you don’t think someone responsible for proceedure and language didn’t monkey around with this bill, incorrect info and playing with published status language on this bill buried in the main bill?
I most certainly do….and what is so totally disgusting is this may very well be government employees doing what elected officials dictated.
Good God…what is happening to this country?!?!!
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Nothing new here in AMerica, this has been going on I believe as long as there have been lawmakers that have their own agendas. Native AMerican policy is a great example of how laws were manipulated/stuff hidden in order to get the land and resources that were controlled by Native Americans. this is politics, it’s really a shame, but it’s just the same old same old US government out of control.
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I understand and agree Jan…but when does the basic principles of decency, truth and justice begin to infiltrate some of these legislators, politcal party handlers, the press, the public?
Remember Viebrock and his cheerleaders say this is about doing the right thing primarily because they like the paid to dump option and dismiss the pay for option. The other really, really disturbing aspect is that they don’t give a s**t about food safety. That’s right Mr. Viebrock. If you are pushing human consumption horse slaughter as it is now or with some legislative wordsmithing….then you do not responsibly care about the animals or humans eating that product. Fact Sir…not emotionalism.
So here is another observation, if Viebrock is spending this much time peddling questionable meat from an obscure American meat source, what precisely do you think he, the NCBA, AVMA, USDA, Farm Bureau, etc are doing while peddling traditionally acceptable US meat sources under the conspiracy radar?????? Let’s get lettuce, tomatoes and freakin’ chicken, pork and beef right before we twist this system any further.
Clean up the traditonal US meat floor before you insert this perpetuation of the easy equine disposal paradigm. Let’s start with 24/7 video taping! I would think Homeland Security would cozy up to that proposition to ensure bio-threat safety for our food system. Spend time on that sir….or is Cargill against it?
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Denise, I agree, I was so hopeful that business as usual was going to change in America, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that things are continuing on as they were and in some cases, worse.
I just listened to comments from a former USDA meat inspector,it is horrible!!!! I do NOT buy meat the comes from factory farms and is processed in plants that slaughter 240 animals an hour!!!!!! the captive bolt doesn’t work 100% on cows either, I noe buy my meat from a reputable market, all antural, slaughtered in as humane manner as possible, tops 8 animals /day. It’s more expensive, I eat less, but I will support these farmers.
I don’t know why the slaughter stuff is on so many agendas, that would be something worth investigating, because there’s gotta be money or power somewhere.
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I believe that the food industry, with the help of an incompetent US government regulatory authority has been running fast, loose and with so little intereference that they are petrified that after the horrors of horse slaughter and it’s meat are truly exposed and eventually shutdown, the next step would be to shutdown the traditional meat industry. I do not subscribe to that. Will it be shutdown? No, BUT it will be subject (and this will eventually happen) to such scrutiny that it will slow down the lines, require multiple small operations (not factory farms) and ultimately cut into their profits.
Essentially, they are terrified of the prospect of loosing their control, disbursing operations, slowing down processing and 100% inspection/enforcement by the Feds. Bottom line? Profits and a reduction of same. It also explains why they have been pushing international marketing so much.
I believe we have one of the best food systems in the world, but I also believe it is in dire need of cleaning up for the consumers, the enviroment and animal welfare issues.
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These people are the most disgusting bunch of clowns I’ve EVER seen! If I were a Missourian, I would be wearing a sack over my head. What an embarrassment to the great state of Missouri.
One of them – I believe it was Clemens, but not sure – said, “Go ahead and boycott Missouri. We won’t miss you.” I plan to write the Gov. and tell him why tourism will be down soon.
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dont get you hopes up to quick…..dont trust them they are very slimmy…. no better than a snake….you can only step on what you can see….hoping horses are safe…no on some table..
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