Humane Society of the US Compiles State-by-State Regulations and Resources for Horse Euthanasia, Carcass Disposal

When it comes to burying a horse, not all states are created equal. The same adage applies if you are looking for a rendering plant or a low-cost euthanasia program.

But how would the average horse owner ever know?

Enter the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), which has compiled what looks to be a valuable tool for veterinarians, rescue workers, and owners or holders of unwanted horses who are looking for an alternative to sending a horse to slaughter but don't know what their choices are.

Hopefully, states will add services and resources as awareness grows, and also correct or add to their listings, so this resource will develop and grow.

Click here to access the list, and please forward this post to anyone you think might need this information.

Thanks to the Fugly Horse of the Day Blog for bringing this new resource to the horse world's attention.

More for the Record: Informal Letter from Arabian Horse Association Secretary Jan Decker

Provided by Fran Jurga | 13 June 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

The Arabian Horse Association has provided a personal letter from AHA secretary Jan Decker outlining her own sentiments in explaining why she believes the AHA was moved to support the re-establishment of horse slaughter in the United States. This letter was provided by Glenn T. Petty,executive vice president of the AHA, and is published on The Jurga Report with Ms. Decker's permission.

Here is the unedited text of Ms. Decker's letter:

"I will not attempt to speak for all of the Board members, but I want to share my thoughts with you related to this issue. I have had a passion for horses all of my life (and I mean all my life) and I share your concerns especially for the welfare of, not just Arabians, but all horses in the United States.

"Unfortunately, time has proved that the discontinuation of equine slaughter houses in the United States was a government action that was meant to be good thing, but turned out to be bad thing for the welfare of a lot of horses, in my opinion, from what I have observed since the inception of slaughter house closings.

"I am still struggling with the concept of a horse breed organization going to the American Horse Council trustees meeting this summer in the position of condoning horse euthanize aka slaughter.

"However, the facts of starving horses standing in squalid conditions because owners can not or will not provide feed due to current economic conditions is horrible. Trucks hauling loads of debilitated horses thousands of miles to get across the U.S. Borders south to Mexico or north to Canada is not a pleasant thought.

"I have been told herds of 'wild' horses out west in open range are growing greatly in numbers as owners haul their horses out to open range and open the trailer doors and abandon their animals. There are countless tales of horrible events all across the USA related to equines that I can not go into here of horses just "dumped" on rural roads and other stories of horror.

"The state forest/parks here in Indiana now have adopted the position of counting the horses in a trailer when they come into a park to be sure the people do not leave horses behind in the park turned loose to fend for themselves. Local fairgrounds with horse stalls are patrolling them to insure no one has broken into the locked fairground stalls and left behind horses in those facility's stalls.

“One suggestion I heard of recently that has come up is a 'Euthanasia Clinic' and I have been solicited to donate money to such a 'Clinic'. I can not visualize that picture of a lot of old, crippled, starved, or just plain unwanted horses hauled into one location to be 'put to sleep' at a cost of $200 - $500 per animal. Would they be buried on site? Would a winch truck be there to pull all the bodies up into a big 'dead wagon' truck? I just can't envision this happening with a lot of dead horses lying around after such an event.

"It is never easy to euthanize a horse anytime, but when the suffering does not validate continued life it is necessary. I had the veteriarian euthanized a horse on this farm last Saturday and then buried it with a back hoe. This old mare had some age on her, a thyroid condition and had grass foundered and her system was shutting down, we had doctored her for a month and she was not getting any better.

"Many counties/states do not allow horses/livestock to be buried and cremation costs about $1500.00 so I am told, thank goodness, we still have space to bury them on our farm and can do it legally in our county.

"Animal slaughter is necessary to obtain meat for consumption by humans and if the cattle, hog, chicken, sheep, goat meat slaughter houses can be regulated and maintained using humane methods to kill these animals, there is no reason humane standards of treatment and euthanasia can not be met for horses even though not for meat to be consumed by humans.

"Yes, there are rescue facilities around the country and here in Indiana. I had a college student/boarder here at my stable that was unable to maintain paying her pasture board here at my location so she "donated" her two fat healthy horses to a "rescue" place in southern Indiana. These were a palomino quarter type horse and an Arabian gelding (without papers) trained to ride, sound, and good looking horses. She had to pay some amount of money to the rescue location to take these horses off her hands and she still owes me $1700.00 in back board. The "Rescue" site would not take her horses until I agreed to let her make payments on what she owed to me. And this is just one story of thousands.

"In conclusion, am I in favor of regulated horse slaughter, yes, if the alternative is mistreatment of horses. Regulated being the key word here.

"Am I in favor of starving, mistreated, abandoned horses of any breed absolutely not, but people must face reality even though it can be ugly at times. Life is just not fair. Do not judge any of us to harshly, I believe we really do have the best interest of the horses in our hearts. It was not an easy position to take."

Jan Decker, owner of horses for 64 years

(Jan Decker is currently the secretary of the Arabian Horse Association.)

Please refer to today's earlier post for the official statement of the AHA board in support of horse slaughter and humane treatment of horses.

YouTube Video Contest Focuses on Thoroughbreds Rescued from Slaughter

Here's the winning video, by Laurie Tuozzolo for CANTER New England.

In this little lull before the third leg of racing's Triple Crown, I'd like to keep focusing on the great work being done by some of the people who may not be in the headlines with Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird as they train (or not, as we wait to hear) for the upcoming Belmont Stakes two weeks from now.

The Thoroughbred retirement/rehoming organization known as CANTER New England has won the Alex Brown Racing / You Tube video contest, which showcased more than two dozen short homemade videos on the very personal side of why horses should be spared from slaughter.

In true "social media" form, the contest was judged not by experts, but by the public. I was amazed at the videos that people put together.

Leading anti-slaughter advocate / exercise rider / journalist Alex Brown came up with the idea of using YouTube to encourage horse rescue organizations to express themselves through video and post their creations for the world to see. Amateur filmmakers and video editors had 60 days to post their creations on YouTube.com. Alex's popular website, Facebook page and articles encouraged the public to view the videos and vote by commenting on the videos they liked. A prize of $1000 went to the winning organization.

The rules were very specific--no gory graphics of horse slaughter could be used to shock viewers, and the length had to be under four minutes. Entrants first had to read an essay on why horse slaughter should be banned, written by Alex Brown, and base their productions as an extension or expression of that document. Brown offers that document as a resource document to anyone writing about horse slaughter.

Even though the contest has ended, the videos have garnered close to 31,000 page views to date and 1,800 comments. So far!

CANTER/New England helps re-home needy racehorses from Boston's Suffolk Downs and other racetracks. Laurie Tuozzolo of Johnston, Rhode Island made the video for CANTER about the ex-racehorse she adopted; Laurie is a big supporter of CANTER New England.

I'd call this project a success, all around. I am very familiar with CANTER New England's work and I know that the prize money will be put to good use. I hope there will be more contests like this so we can see how horsepeople express themselves through video, especially when there's a good cause at stake.

Kudos to CANTER and to Alex Brown Racing for a great idea!

All Eyes Are on Kentucky, But Montana Is Stealing the Real Headlines

by Fran Jurga | 2 May 2009 | The Jurga Report



Didn't we fight the Civil War over this very issue?

States' rights is an amazing aspect of the US legal and legislative system. If you are old enough, you may remember when abortion was legal in some states and not in others. Roe v. Wade made it legal in all states but not everyone wanted to accept the Supreme Court decision. And they still don't. Ditto for any number of legal decisions that are morally or ethically based.

Including horse slaughter.

As celebrities and wealthy patrons of all stripes walk the rose-strewn carpets of Churchill Downs today, the focus might be more on the safety of racing and the tragic losses of Eight Belles and Barbaro than on horse slaughter because many people think that horse slaughter is an issue that has been ruled illegal in the United States. All that is left to do is clear up the nasty detail of shipping horses to Canada and Mexico.

Just a detail, right?

Hardly.

A testing of the waters began in North Dakota, Arkansas, Illinois and other states this winter to see if individual states could foster horse slaughter plants as favored ag industries within their borders. Along with the quiet work of agricultural industry sub-committees was relentless publicity about horse abandonment and neglect in record numbers.

Montana is the first state to technically allow horse "processing" and whether or not a horse plant is built remains to be seen but you have now seen lawmakers and lobbyists getting a job done. It will take a lot of anti-slaughter attorneys and a lot of anti-slaughter money to undo it, if indeed it can be undone.

Or, if the anti-slaughter movement has enough attorneys, enough sympathetic judges and enough money, I suppose it could end up eventually in Washington as some sort of a Supreme Court case.

I still don't believe that there is enough money in horse meat to warrant this action and that this is the larger meatpacking industry preserving its turf from intervention, and have been all along.

Now seems like a great time to start working on a compromise between the two sides to make sure that if slaughter is to be allowed in the USA again, the transport laws will have some teeth and will be enforced, and that the horses that are sent to slaughter are sent there with the knowledge and clear intent of their owners.

I'd love it if someone like Jeanine Edwards on ESPN/NBC today looked straight into the camera and said, "Here I am at Churchill Downs, America's most famous racetrack. Statistics show that a surprisingly large percentage of the horses racing here, as at all racetracks, will end their lives before the age of six, in the chute of a horse slaughter plant."

There just aren't enough roses to cover up the truth. Listen carefully: you will be able to hear the Montana legislators laughing in the distance over the two-minute roar of the Derby crowd.

Bi-Partisan Caucus for Animal Protection Formed in US Congress While Western States Move Toward Autonomous Horse Slaughter Regulations

By Fran Jurga | 19 February 2009 | The Jurga Report

Has the nationwide obsession with the economy (Just how poor am I? I dunno...how poor are you?) pushed some other close-to-the-heart issues to the back burner?

A press release published today in Washington informs us that US Representatives Jim Moran (D-VA) and Elton Gallegly (R-CA) will co-chair the newly formed “Congressional Animal Protection Caucus (CAPC),” a bipartisan organization committed to raising awareness of animal welfare issues in Congress. CAPC replaces the Friends of Animals Caucus that existed in previous Congresses.

The press release says that, through non-partisan forums and briefings, CAPC will seek to highlight important issues affecting animals and upcoming animal welfare legislation. CAPC will also track the progress of relevant legislation, provide members of Congress with dependable information, and attempt to build broad coalitions in support of common-sense, humane animal welfare laws.

In the 110th Congress, the old caucus was instrumental in the passing tougher animal fighting legislation, and tightening animal welfare regulations in the 2008 Farm Bill. Priorities for the 111th Congress include beefing up legislation banning the slaughter of horses.

Meanwhile, west of the Beltway, some states--make that quite a few states--are initiating states-rights or "home rule" resolutions that could possibly lead to legalized horse slaughter in certain states. Whether the slaughter they would like to usher in is for meat export purposes is not clear; much of the legislation in Washington has been specific to slaughtering horses for meat, so rendering-type slaughterhouses might find some loopholes.

Another loophole that may be open is "on the hook" export of horse carcasses, as is done in England, where export of horse meat, per se, was stopped by law.

According to an article in Monday's Salt Lake Tribune, Utah is leading the pack of the "horse slaughter resolve" states, while action is already in process in the states of Arizona, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Montana.

Utah's HJR7 voices the state's approval of the export of horses for slaughter and has passed the House and Senate; the nonbinding position statement will be sent to the White House, the U.S. Senate and House and Utah's congressional delegation.

Blogger's note: To refresh your memory, President Obama was one of the sponsors of anti-horse slaughter legislation in the Senate that led to the closing of foreign-owned US horse meat processing plants. And the recently impeached governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was hailed as a hero when he signed the order to close the DeKalb slaughter complex in that state in 2007. Blagojevich's role in anti-horse slaughter legislation was generally overlooked in the controversy over his impeachment.

Now that Obama and Blagojevich have moved on (or up, or out, as the case may be), slaughter advcates are obviously losing no time reversing things in that state.

An upcoming vote by the American Quarter Horse Association on March 9 adds to the slaughter story: slaughterhouse by-products include uteruses from slaughtered mares that required for cloning cultures. A plentiful supply of viable uteruses is critical to the cloning industry and adds to the complexity of both the horse slaughter and cloning debates, much as does the medical use of human stem cells from warehoused embryos in the abortion debate.

If I had a crystal ball, I think I would be able to see the stately columns of the US Supreme Court shining in its depths when I ask it where the horse slaughter debate is headed.

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.

Au Contraire: On Parisian Billboards, Artistic Thoroughbreds Face Off Against Horse Steak

If you were driving through Paris earlier this month, you'd have seen some of the most spectacular billboard banners in the world. They promoted the Qatar Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe, one of the world's greatest and richest horse races, which was run on the turf at Longchamps...and won by the Aga Khan's spectacular filly Zarkava.

And if you know Paris, you recognize the sculpture details superimposed on the horse as part of the race's namesake, the famous arch and symbol of Paris (detail below).

Who is that horse? It's not Zarkava. London's BBC decided to find out, or perhaps they were tipped off that that was no French horse's head, but rather a British one. Click here to read the BBC web site's story about the model, a gray filly from Berkshire, England.

But what about the other horses of Paris, the ones in the butcher shops? A group called Je Ne Mange Pas De Cheval ("I don't eat horse") also has a horsey billboard in Paris.

If you never thought you'd need your high school French, try to decode the billboard anyway. Rough translation: "How do you like your horse? Free running or plastic-wrapped?"

NOTE: The photo for the horse race banner was taken by my friend, British photographer Tim Flach, whose book EQUUS (no connection to our favorite horse magazine, other than an appreciation for fine horse imagery) is being published this month in the USA. You'll be seeing exclusive sample images from the book in this blog; you can email me for details on how to order a copy of this most extraordinary photography book, which will be the ultimate Christmas gift of 2008! On the cover: Icelandic horses at home in action in their native environment.

Click here to read a post and see a short video on this blog from September 4, 2008 about what Tim Flach saw in a one-eyed rescued horse at a World Horse Welfare farm.

HBO's "Real Sports" Investigates Racehorses Sold for Slaughter Issues Tonight

"Real Sports" host Bryant Gumbel headlines HBO's sports newsmagazine format show at 10 p.m. EDT. On the schedule: an investigative segment on the fate of US racehorses in the hands of the slaughter-for-meat industry.

HBO has not disclosed many details about tonight's segment but the press release tells us that the segment is called "Hidden Horses" and describes it this way: "Few casual horse racing fans are aware that many former racing horses are slaughtered for profit. When a thoroughbred race horse reaches the end of its career or is simply no longer profitable on the track, it is often taken directly to auction and sold for meat. Because horse slaughter is no longer practiced in this country, these thoroughbreds are now being shipped by 'killer buyers' to slaughterhouses abroad, which are frequently less regulated and less humane than former U.S. slaughterhouses."

I'll be watching, how about you?