Non Issue? We think not.

The Captive Bolt Pistol
This does not kill the horses or any other equid.

Among the many responses to the blog entitled 'Beyond Stupid' was a particularly staggering response from an alleged horse protection activist. This 'activist' claims the State of Illinois continuing to allow horse slaughter for carnivore consumption, as well as privately owned horses not intended for human consumption, is a 'non issue'.

This person justifies their contention of this being a 'non issue' by stating the market for carnivore consumption is small, therefore, not too many horses will be slaughtered. ONE slaughtered horse is one too many. The low prices Cavel International is able to charge the zoos compared to slaughtering for human consumption abroad means they will operate at a steady loss and employ only a skeleton crew of their illegal aliens as they pursue their appeal.

Privately owned horses may be brought to Cavel International and slaughtered for a fee. Cavel International manager Jim Tucker has long held that he is providing a service and is simply recycling a resource. Watch him state so by viewing this video from CBS News. The only way the meat from the sub-set of privately owned slaughtered horses can be sold is to be included amongst the horses slaughtered for carnivore consumption.

Cavel International is permitted to engage in interstate commerce to sell the meat of horses slaughtered specifically for carnivores because the Illinois Horse Meat Act expressly allows this. The statute only bans slaughter for human consumption.

One cannot logically, ethically, morally or seriously identify him or her self as an activist working against slaughter of horses if slaughter for any reason with the exception of human consumption is considered a 'non issue'.

Attempting to justify the legality of this type of slaughter as a 'non issue' is paramount to declaring there are exceptions to the banning of horse slaughter that are acceptable. There is absolutely no justification for slaughtering a horse, pony, donkey, mule, or their foals. Horse slaughter is never acceptable.

This 'activist' should view this graphic video of the captive bolt in action documented by the Humane Farming Association. Count how many times this horse was assaulted by the captive bolt. The horse regained consciousness approximately THIRTY SECONDS after being stunned. The horse was fully aware that it was being vivisected.

Does this alleged activist truly think that the use of the captive bolt on the horses slaughtered at Cavel International is any different than that which is documented here? Is it done more efficiently? Does it require less than one blow unlike the horse shown in the video had suffered?

It is a well documented fact that the captive bolt always requires more than one attempt. Do the horses experience less terror? The answer is no. It is not possible. This 'activist' is truly beyond stupid. The 'non issue' argument fails prima facie. Miserably.

Ellen-Cathryn Nash
President
Manes and Tails Organization

Response to Tribune-Chronicle

April 13, 2007

John Parker
Tribune-Chronicle
240 Franklin St. SE
Warren, OH 44482

Dear Mr. Parker,

In response to your editorial dated April 13, 2007 entitled 'Ban would lead to neglected horses' please consider this:

1. Horse slaughter is a violation of the

Humane Slaughter Act of 1958.

This Federal statute has been amended twice, most recently in 2002 when it was strengthened. This is the legal grounding of the anti-slaughter position. This is irrefutable and it is not possible to defend horse slaughter due to the stipulations of this statute. Therefore, it is illegal to slaughter a horse, or any other equid, in the United States of America.

2. The following zoos no longer feed horse meat to their carnivores:

Austin Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Columbus Zoo

These zoos are aware of the drugs that horses ingest that saturate the tissues and are not fully purged by the body. Horse meat is simply dangerous to carnivores as well as humans.

3. Horse meat has not been an ingredient in domestic animal food for over 25 years, for exactly the same reason that all zoos are moving towards eliminating horse meat from their carnivore diets.

4. From the USDA web site regarding Federal Inspection:

"Numbers refer to the amount killed in Federally Inspected plants, and are not necessarily inspected."

The plants are not inspected on a regular basis, and that is a direct quote from the USDA web site. No animal is guaranteed federal protection or humane treatment while at the slaughterhouse.

5. The horse slaughter ban is a matter of Law, not an 'animal rights' issue. It is simply folly to assert that the Humane Society of the United States or PeTA will ever ban the slaughter of animals raised for food, which horses are not. PeTA may want people to convert to vegetarianism or veganism, however, that is a personal choice and not one that will ever be legislated.

6. A ban on horse slaughter will not lead to a ban on the production of food animals or the jobs associated with them.

7. Regarding the organizations that oppose HR 503 and S. 311, the American Quarterhorse Association breeders delivered over 120K live foals in 2006. The majority of horses slaughtered in the United States are American Quarterhorses. It follows logically that far too many horses are bred every year by the AQHA especially. How about legislating the breeding of horses?

8. The American Veterinary Medical Association classifies horses as companion animals. See the following brochure on the AVMA web site that discusses

'How do I know it's time?'

There is absolutely no question that the AVMA is catering to the cattle industry as they have many more bovines to care for than equids. The AAEP follows what the parent organization does. That these organizations support horse slaughter is contradictory.

9. Let us compare the native abilities of the food animals to the horses:

A. Horses have carried our cavalry into battle.

B. Horses, not bovines, porcines, lambs, or fowl, march in Presidential funeral processions.

C. Horses, not bovines, porcines, lambs, or fowl, are service animals as are the dogs on the K-9 units. There are over 90 horses on the New York City Mounted Police Unit and the Mounties do indeed make arrests with the assistance of their mounts. It is a felony to strike a police horse in New York City, Houston, and many states that have Mounted Police Units.

D. Horses are therapy animals for stroke victims, people with auto-immune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, and for rehabilitation from accidents requiring the improvement of balance.

E. In 1973, 'Time' magazine awarded 'Secretariat' the Athlete of the Year. 'Secretariat' was a horse.

10. The 'Private Property' issue.

When a horse owner has his or her horse (or horses) stolen and slaughtered they suffer not only material harm, but psychological harm as well. These owners can never recover that which they have lost.

One cannot invoke the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution's 'Takings Clause' in this case as the mere existence of the slaughter industry enables the private property rights of horse owners to be violated via their horses being stolen and slaughtered.

11. Unwanted Horses

Only a handful of owners have directly taken their horse to a slaughterhouse for slaughter. The brand managers at the plants do NOT check the brands a horse may bear, or for microchips until after the slaughtering has been done. Horses are for sale and 'killer buyers' look for the youngest, healthiest horses in good weight. These horses would have been sold to a private owner if they could out bid a killer buyer.

Every horse that is spared from slaughter continues to contribute to the economy. Finally, slaughter is not 'euthanasia.'

Are you able to refute my argument based on a Federal statute and an amendment to the Constitution?

Sincerely,

Ellen-Cathryn Nash
Founder & President
Manes and Tails Organization

DC Circuit Court Did NOT End Horse Slaughter!

On March 28th, 2007 a DC Circuit Court Judge ruled that the 'fee for services' program created by the USDA was a violation of procedure and also violated the NEPA. This lawsuit was regarding the independent inspectors' 'fee for services' only.

The Humane Society of the United States issued a press release which was misinterpreted by many. At the end of the release it states: "Because the Congressional Act cutting funding for horse slaughter expires in September, The HSUS is calling on Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 311) to settle the matter permanently."



Although Cavel has been forced to close, horses can still be exported to Mexico and Canada. Beltex has been exporting horses to Mexico for months. As the amendment that defunded the USDA inspectors expires on September 30, 2007, there is nothing preventing Beltex and Dallas Crown or even Cavel from setting up operations in another state.

Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) will most likely attempt to open a facility in Virginia. Given that the legislation in Congress is progressing at a snail's pace, Goodlatte could help a slaughterhouse become operational before Congress acts on the legislation.
HR 503 has 138 cosponsors as of March 28, 2007. S. 311 has 23 cosponsors as of March 13, 2007.


Ellen-Cathryn Nash
Founder & President
Manes and Tails Organization

Are you an Activist or a 'Slactivist'?

'Exceller'
The only horse to defeat two Triple Crown Champions. Slaughtered in Sweden in 1997.

Are we activists or 'slacktivists'? We receive email alerts directing us to a particular web site so we may be informed about a current campaign to help animals or the environment. We click on the link to sign the petition and we feel good. In just a moment, with our computer in the comfort of our home, we have made a difference. Or have we?

When dealing with the United States Congress here are a few things of which most citizen activists are unaware.

1. Petitions

Unless the petition you have clicked (and hopefully added a comment in your own words) is from a large organization such as the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or some other similar organization with a lot of name recognition, the petition may never be sent to the intended target.

Individuals who draft petitions are responsible for generating the signature report and delivering it to the target. This may require a lot of time printing the signatures - which are email addresses - and some petitions do not include the city, state, zip code or country. In this sense, the petitions can be regarded as ineffective. Even if the signature report is sent to the target, it may be regarded as incomplete information; which it is.

It is interesting to note that PeTA never issues alerts with point and click petitions. Rather, they supply the name, street address, the phone number of the targets and encourage citizen activists to write letters. They also emphasize the importance of being courteous.

2. Email

All members of Congress have individual web sites with their email addresses posted. However, many members have programs which send emails to trash, especially if the the email is not from a constituent. This may be determined by the use of filtering applications where contacts whom are not constituents are deleted. In short, they do not count.

3. Faxing

Faxing campaigns are among the most detested mechanisms confronted by Congressional aides. It takes a tremendous amount of time to log the faxes and separate the constituents from the non-constituents. It also interrupts the flow of routine correspondence and prevents other constituents from being able to get through their concerns through.

The most effective and legitimate method of contacting your Senators and Representative is the same as it was before the advent of technology. Letters (hand written letters carry more weight than typed letters), phone calls to the aides in District Offices where the call volume is much lighter than in DC, and a request to meet with the Senators or Representative in their offices in Washington, or in their District Office.

It is important to remember that we - the American taxpayers - pay the salaries of all members of Congress. However, this does not give us license to take advantage of technology to harass members of Congress. This is counter productive and rarely yields a positive result.

People who organize faxing campaigns swear that they have made an enormous difference in getting legislation to pass. This has proved NOT to be the case, especially with the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Activists have been working to get this bill passed since the 107th Congress. The most progress we have had was with the 109th Congress when HR 503 passed in the House of Representatives only to become stalled in the Senate.

One of the targets of the Senate faxing campaign in the 109th Congress was Senator Frist. There was a rumor that Senator Frist had placed a hold on the bill; the result was a furious flurry of faxes and calls to Senator Frist and the only impact that had was to lose any modicum of support we could have gotten from the Majority Leader at the time.

It is now known that Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R- GA) had placed holds on S. 1915.

The organizers of the faxing campaign did not have the foresight or the understanding of Congressional process to organize a call for a cloture. This complete lack of understanding of how Congress works generally, and the different processes and procedures employed in both chambers led to the AHSPA failing again. Horses are still being brutally slaughtered in the United States, and are being exported to Mexico in greater numbers than ever before. So much for the success of the faxing campaigns and National Call In Days.

We must respect the processes and procedures that both chambers have created for us. If we continue to point and click, and email and fax ad nauseum, then we are slacktivists. More horses will be brutally slaughtered and we will have accomplished nothing - except the false feeling that we have made a contribution to the cause.

Ellen-Cathryn Nash
Founder and President
Manes and Tails Organization