Nebraska Bill Would Slaughter Horses and Penalize Rescues

Horse News

By R.T. Fitch on January 17, 2011 • ( 13 Comments )

Story by Heather Johnson reprinted from the North Platte Telegraph

Horses Would Face a Double Whammy

Nebraska - The Horse Slaughter State

Two bills introduced in the Nebraska Legislature are drawing fire from the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. Newcomer to the Legislature Sen. Tyson Larson introduced LB 305 on Wednesday, which would create a state meat inspection program, which would in turn allow horse meat to be transported across state lines. He also introduced LB 306, otherwise known as the Livestock Animal Welfare Act.

“Basically, it would mandate that humane societies and horse rescue operations would have to accept a horse if one was presented to them, or they would face a class four misdemeanor,” said Larson. “I’m giving them an alternative. If they don’t want us to process horses, what are we supposed to do?”

He said if the Humane Society of the United States comes out against LB 306, it’s being hypocritical.

“They should be the first ones lining up to take our horses,” he said. “They’re the root of this problem because of the lobbying they did against processing plants in 2006 at the federal level. The HSUS has their opinion but unfortunately, I don’t think their opinion is good for agriculture or good for Nebraska.”

HSUS president and CEO Wayne Pacelle called LB 306 a “mean-spirited, horrendous” policy.

“It’s absurd, unconstitutional, strong headed and one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard of,” he said. “That’s like saying it should be a crime for a homeless shelter to turn people away because it’s full. The HSUS and rescue groups are the ones who have been cleaning up the messes created by irresponsible horse owners. We’re not the ones breeding horses. The senator needs to do his homework and find out where the problem is really coming from, which is irresponsible ownership and poor judgment in acquiring animals people can’t properly care for.”

He referred to LB 305 as “fundamentally flawed” and said the reopening of horse processing centers would result in a tremendous amount of criticism.

“These plants were not good neighbors when they were operating in Texas and Illinois,” he said. “If a plant were to open in Nebraska it would fall under an intense amount of scrutiny, and it wouldn’t be good for the local economy.”

Pacelle said people who have horses should treat them responsibly, and if they can’t, then the animals should be adopted out or euthanized.

“The idea that slaughterhouses are dealing with sick or unhealthy animals is not supported by data that exists,” said Pacelle. “Ninety-two percent of horses funneled into slaughterhouses are healthy. These horses were part of someone’s family. The killing of horses is an issue the public has weighed in on numerous times through votes and polls.”

Pacelle said using horses for human consumption is different than using cattle or pigs.

“Those animals are raised for that,” he said. “Horses are not raised for meat, and Americans don’t eat horse meat. We’re not preventing people from doing that in other countries, but we’re trying to protect our horses from a predatory industry. There are people in other countries who might want to eat dogs, but we’re not going to round up our dogs and send them to Asia.”

Larson said some breeders used to raise horses for slaughter.

“So, using Pacelle’s own logic, those producers were dealt an injustice when the U.S. plants were closed,” he said.

Pacelle said the HSUS initially lobbied for the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act implemented in 1958.

“We lobbied for it, but that doesn’t always mean you get the standards you want,” he said. “The law says animals need to be rendered insensible to pain, but horses are fright and flight animals and are skittish. We found in our investigation of U.S. based slaughterhouses that the horses were under high levels of stress. They were moving around rapidly, and it was hard to target them with a precise captive bolt. Some were also still alive when they were being disassembled.”

He said killing methods in Mexico and Canada are not standardized. He said they range from shooting horses to using captive bolts, or in Mexico, stabbing them in the spine with a knife until they collapse.

Pacelle called long-distance transport to processing plants in Canada and Mexico inhumane and said it’s one of the biggest issues the HSUS has with the slaughter industry.

“They don’t have proper transport vehicles,” he said. “Horses are just jammed in. They can still use double-decker cattle trucks that aren’t tall enough. The timeframe horses are in them is almost indefinite. The only reason transporting them across the borders is still legal is because certain agriculture groups have blocked legislation to stop it. Let’s be clear, we don’t like horse slaughter in the U.S., in Canada or in Mexico. Even if plants were open in Nebraska, the ride would be too long in vehicles not designed and suited for horses.”

Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter

Tagged as: Cruelty to animals, Equine, Horse, Horse Meat, Horse Slaughter, Nebraska