AAEP Vets Inspect Mexican Horse Slaughter Plants, Give Thumbs Up for Horse Welfare Conditions
by Fran Jurga | 19 February 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com
A report in the March 1 edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) chronicles the work of a group of representatives of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). The group inspected two Mexican horse slaughter plants and judged the welfare conditions experienced by American horses shipped there to be processed into meat.
The article, which is now available online, documents the process of the horses' arrival from the border in sealed trailers, through the captive bolt slaughter process, and describes the plant, the staff, and how the horses were treated during the inspection.
A key quote from Dr. Tom Lenz: "If you look at it from the hard perspective of the meat industry, they're in the business to produce meat. They don't want an injured or down or stressed horse any more than they have to, because it affects the meat quality."
Click here to read an article about the report.
As stated in the article, both the AVMA and AAEP are working actively in Washington to derail or defeat passage of HR 503, the Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on January 14, 2009. HR 503 would prohibit the transport of horses to slaughter. Slaughter itself has been effectively banned within the United States, so horse must be trucked to Canada or Mexico for slaughter. The meat is largely consumed in Japan and Europe.
If it sounds counter-intuitive for the two main veterinary groups in the country to be opposing a bill with the words "prevention of equine cruelty" in it, it is because so many words in our world have twisted meanings when it comes to politics. "Humane", for instance, has become a very subjective word and is highly charged with potential votes and influence when used in the political context.
But for some people, the word "humane" has become another word for "animal rights", and it's all wrapped up in a perception of PETA's plot to take over the world. And, they believe, if PETA succeeds with horse slaughter, cattle and hogs and chickens will be next.
For others, humane means reforming the conditions that horses endure during shipment to slaughter, or not allowing any slaughter at all, under any circumstances.
The US vets did not travel in the trucks with the horses, but did mention that the severely injured horses were humanely euthanized when the trucks were opened in central Mexico, and they were there to witness that.
This battle is far from over.
Labels: AAEP, AVMA, Burton, Conyers, horse, legislation, Lenz, Mexico, slaughter, Tom
posted by Fran Jurga @ 2/19/2009
15 comments
15 Comments:
The truth is far from being exposed here. First slaughter only rewards irresponsible people like the Auctioneers that cant sell to killers they both lose money so they spread lies and promote the theroy of loose horses or more starved and abused horses. Slaughter does not fix the problems it only creates more. The whole horse industry needs to be repaired and stop promoting biths of horses for papers.The American Quarter Horse Association and others that make money this way are the start of the problems. The AVMA and the AAEP which took an Oath to protect the horses have failed several times. First they knew of Mexican plants were killing horses inhumanely long before US plants were shut down. Second they knew Texas plants operated illegal ignoring a Texas Law based in 1949. They knew Auctioneers excepted and profit off abused and starved horses. They knew horses were being hauled in double deckers mixed with all breeds,Sex,Age,and sizes. They knew the violations reported by the USDA reports of the (FOIA) All this and they still did nothing of years while everyone profited and lied to the public not to mention we tax payers paid there inspections for foreign profits. Even that the plant didnt pay gross income taxes or export taxes. In our eyes the AVMA and the AAEP have lied and failed to there own Oath. Its a slaughter support slaughter industry its not about unwanted horses its about promoting greed and irresponsible people for profits only. To date not one of these organizations have set funds for horses nor donated to any Horse Rescue in the US or Canada...I am not Peta I am a responsible horse owner that knows the difference between responsiblity and greed.
I am a horse owner who has been in the movement to ban horse slaughter for many years. PETA has never been involved in any significant way.
All this is the worst kind of propaganda. It is animal agriculture fighting back against what they think is a broader animal agenda.
As to the AAEP or AVMA giving a clean bill of health to the Mexican slaughter plants, I would remind everyone that they did the same thing for the Texas plants during the very time when the recently exposed horrors were being documented by the USDA! (see www.kaufmanzoning.net for 900 pages of this FOIA report)
What utter nonsense to think you can find any abuse during a visit planned months in advance! I am reminded that the Nazis used to invite Red Cross inspections of their "family camps" and they got good reviews too.
I'm amazed Lenz had the audacity to make that comment you highlighted after the whole downed cow scandal last year. Obviously "delicate" handling of the meat is not always a priority.
This is such a sham... a planned inspection and you don't think they were gonna clean up their act for this? They pulled out the captive bolt instead of the usual barbaric stabbing... nice n neat n clean...THUMBS UP? More like.. heads up... your a**.
Donna Cody
Actually the knife is only used in Juarez, which Lenz and Co. chose not to vist, in addition to months afforded this slaughter house to clean up its act .
Money is well spent to educatebuk breeders, recuce the costs of humane euthansia, and build rendering plants .
Slaughter is ruled by money and the salvage mentality for an animal NEVER designed for human consumption.
The vast majority of US people including " real " horsepeople are against it .
Tom Lenz, along with his nutty wife, sends horses to slaughter. This makes him incapable of presenting a truthful statement regarding the unneccesary, evil treatment our horses receive in slaughter plants.
If the AAEP, AVMA, Lenz or any of his associates gave a damn about horses they would provide free euthanasia services for financially strapped horse owners. They will never do this as slaughter is only about making a profit off of the horrific death of equines.
This is such a crock. What a setup up that inspection was. And these people are supposed to be veterinarians.
The same type of thing happened in Canada. After a hidden camera documented abuses at Natural Valley Farms, a PLANNED visit, by a so called horse welfare organization published an article that can only be called 'a load of horse crap'.
"but did mention that the severely injured horses were humanely euthanized when the trucks were opened in central Mexico"
This comment alone is a reminder that the actual slaughter of the horse is just the final part of a long, painful process. The abuse starts at the auction, then transport, maybe some horse tripping thrown in, feedlots, more transport, then the slaughter.
Tom Lenz is a vet and he sends horses to slaughter? As a vet he knows the drugs given to horses to keep them healthy. So either he doesn't use drugs on his own horses or he is violating the law. If an animal is sick and needs drugs and you do not provide then you are guilty of animal cruelty. So either Mr. Lenz is neglecting his horses which is a crime or he is violating federal law by knowingly sending them to slaughter with drugs in them that have no withdraw period or are banned in all food producing animals again violating the law. Tom Lenzs which criminal act are you committing?
The horse slaughter industry has been based on lies and deception since its inception. That is why it succeeded in remaining hidden from public knowledge for so long. Now that it has been exposed by those who demand truth and justice for man's equine friends and partners, the oath-defying veterinarians of the AVMA and AAEP (and the so-called horse lovers in the AQHA, APHA and the state horse councils) are showing their true colors. They are all traitors to the loyal horse, whose welfare they are charged with protecting. The fact that the Mexican workers "humanely euthanized" horses who couldn't stand up and be slaughtered -- all for show when the vets were in town, I think -- proves that there IS a kinder way to treat horses who are supposedly "unwanted." It proves that horses are being murdered for the money. The collaborators in this "crime" remind me of the hirelings the Bible describes -- those who do not know how to be good shepherds because they are so full of self-deception, self-denial, self-aggrandizement, self-love. What a pity that they have chosen not to learn the lessons that our horses teach us when we are humble enough to listen -- lessons in loyalty, trustworthiness, commitment, honesty, servanthood. What a pity they have missed the purpose of building a relationship with our Creator's noble horse. One day, I hope, these hirelings will realize how they passed up an opportunity to be noble themselves.
What a shame that persons holding influential positions are easily duped. I live on the Texas border and 4-5 trucks per day come through our town. I have seen inside them. The shipping is not humane. I have been to Mexico and seen a slaughter house in Chihuahua. They use a knife to cut the cord then hand them live but paralyzed. One of my workers worked in a plant and has told me stories.
How can anyone think they are going to contact the Mexican officials to view what is a money making and employment industry for them and expect them to not show what the visitor wants to see. I can't believe Dr Lenz is that naive. What a shame. I think it is all politics and has nothing to do with reality.
Horse meat is TOXIC, that is why it is unfit for Americans. Why should we care about other people eating meat too toxic for Americans? How do we know toxic horse meat never finds its way back into America? We don't know. Reason enough to stop the export of American horses.
If American dog food companies are chartering planes to have horse meat which has been slaughtered in Canada and Mexico shipped back to the United states for processing at a greater expense than maintaining our own slaughter houses, while providing jobs in other countries, what is the difference in the humanity of the process other than prolonging the agony for the animal and blindly trusting unregulated slaughter by shipping them across borders first?
For the immediate economic and humane future of America, wouldn't it be better if we regulated our own slaughter houses until the over-population of horses is under adequate control? There's no time to look back and point fingers in order to make that decision.
What is the difference in any type slaughter and the prolonged abuse of horses dying very slowly on farms with no food, left locked in a trailer behind some obscure building in 90 degree heat to die a tormented death, turned loose on our highways to be struck by passersby, left in a neighbor's pasture who cannot afford to feed them, or dragged off into the woods after they die when a stable fails? Those are the people who should be prosecuted to the hilt! They are amongst the most irresponsible in this dilemma. Auctioneers have nothing to do with it.
Apparently BLM is having a difficult time maintaining our dwindling number of protected Wild horses and we can't protect our own? Is anyone thinking of the stressed American economy for horse owners, much less any facet of American ownership?
On the toxicity level of horse meat, there seems to be more reported human illnesses from American and other nameless countries' produced food (bird flu, salmonella, e-coli, listeria, mad cow, etc) than those of dogs suffering toxicity from horse meat or English populations eating horse loin on fine china. How many horse owners own and care for dogs? Have they a true concept of where dog food originates? I don't think grocery wholesalers waited for the wolf to naturally kill a horse in the wild. Would horse slaughter be accepted more easily under Kosher process?
America has all but eliminated its own safe food source. Food is crucial to survival and we are not producing enough of it for man nor beast at the moment. We are approaching post-apocalyptic status without nuclear reaction. Why has our Administration left Agriculture out of its budget?
How can we best resolve this crucial decision? How many gov't officials do we know possessing a vote who also own or ever came close to a horse? Everyone can make a contribution to this dire horse population issue by eliminating emotion and putting common sense into practice.
When I heard about horses turned loose in a western desert with their brands sliced off their hips so the owners could not be identified and all the horses perished a slow grueling death, a chill ran through me at the cellular level. That act is truly unconceivable.
If nothing else, ownership identity possibly needs to be more stringently monitored, even for grade horses (a simple lip tattoo or tiny tracking chip would suffice) with responsibility lying on each owner. We remain more responsible for dogs who happen to eat horse meat. Whether it is in the private sector, corporate realm or government oversight, any violator of abuse needs to be hauled in and horse whipped!
I am a multiple horse owner and fully willing and prepared to humanely put to death my own should it prevent them one minute of irresponsible abuse, pain or agony. I carry medical insurance on the best of the lot and have room to give them a respectable burial if my provisions fail. I committed to that responsibility before I purchased the first horse and I am by no means a wealthy person. I consider myself and my horses lucky in this time of American economic peril, but horses at large are not so lucky with no voice of their own.
One thing remains certain; there are suddenly reduced numbers of horse thieves.
Barbara Ellen Ries Says:
Stand you ground in July’s 2009, Peaceful protect with the Cloud Foundation ~ Save Cloud and his Herd and the Ely, Nevada, horses from extermination of the speciesof 11 herds.
Donate and become a list of CITIZENS STANDING THEIR GROUND FOR SAVE WILD HORSE HERDS & BURROS
E-mail join today!!
Sign up to the Cloud Foundation at support@thecloudfoundation.org.
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U.S. Mail:
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107 South 7th Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Barbara Ellen Ries, Arizona
Senator Leahy Proposes "Truth Commission to investigate and Online petition to investigate and prosecute constitutional abuses of Bush administration. Senator Leahy ~ Please investigates the documents from the BLM. One would hope that the time invested in this information be known and discovered. I hope and pray that this information dark and shocking as it may be is investigated.
I hope for the wild horses sake, The Cloud Foundation and horse advocates as well as myself in the USA are represented and not and the laws for horses in the wild horse and burro act. Here's body of the petition:
I hereby join Senator Patrick Leahy's call for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission, to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration's constitutional abuses so we make sure they never happen again. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws especially towards the wild horse and burro.
A truth and reconciliation commission should be tasked with seeking answers so that we can develop a shared understanding of the failures of the recent past. Rather than vengeance, we need a fair-minded pursuit of what actually happened. The best way to move forward is getting to the truth and finding out what happened -- so we can make sure it does not happen in any way shape or form. Thank you for any consideration.
Documents on web below read like a holocaust of Wild Horses and Burros. You will not believe until you read the proposed BLM plan to end horses as a species in their own words. Opps I’m bad will not do for the United States citizens who love and cherish these beauties.
http://www.conquistadorprogram.org/blmcourt_d...
For Immediate Release Contact: Patricia Haight, Ph.D., (480) 430-2294, pathaight@yahoo.com Julianne French, 520-309-5791, J_French@cox.net
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