V_Key
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-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 1:45 PM
To: Reynnells, Richard
Subject: Slaughter Horses
Richard,
I was concerned about what would happen to horses when the plants
closed.
Updated:2007-03-15 02:33:46
Kentucky Swamped With Unwanted Horses
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
AP
STAFFORDSVILLE, Ky. (March 15) - The bidding for the black pony
started at $500, then took a nosedive.
There were no takers at $300, $200, even $100. With a high bid
of just $75, the auctioneer gave the seller the choice of taking the
animal off the auction block. But the seller said no.
"I can't feed a horse," the man said. "I can't even feed
myself."
Kentucky, the horse capital of the world, famous for its sleek
thoroughbreds, is being overrun with thousands of horses no one wants -
some of them perfectly healthy, but many of them starving, broken-down
nags. Other parts of the country are overwhelmed, too.
The reason: growing opposition in the U.S. to the slaughter of
horses for human consumption overseas.
With new laws making it difficult to send horses off to the
slaughterhouse when they are no longer suitable for racing or work,
auction houses are glutted with horses they can barely sell, and rescue
organizations have run out of room.
Some owners who cannot get rid of their horses are letting them
starve; others are turning them loose in the countryside.
Some people who live near the strip mines in the mountains of
impoverished eastern Kentucky say that while horses have long been left
to roam free there, the number now may be in the thousands, and they are
seeing herds three times bigger than they did just five years ago.
"There's horses over there that's lame, that's blind," said Doug
Kidd, who owns 30 horses in Lackey, Ky. "They're taking them over there
for a graveyard because they have nowhere to move them."
It is legal in all states for owners to shoot their unwanted
horses, and some Web sites offer instructions on doing it with little
pain. But some horse owners do not have the stomach for that.
At the same time, it can cost as much as $150 for a veterinarian
to put a horse down. And disposing of the carcass can be costly, too.
Some counties in Kentucky, relying on a mix of private and public
funding, will pick up and dispose of a dead horse for a nominal fee.
The cost is much higher other places, and many places ban the
burying of horses altogether because of pollution fears.
Sending horses off to the glue factory is not an option anymore.
Adhesives are mostly synthetic formulations nowadays, according to
Lawrence Sloan, president of the Adhesive and Sealant Council. And
because of public opposition, horse meat is no longer turned into dog
food either, said Chris Heyde of the Society for Animal Protective
Legislation.
Eventually, anti-slaughter groups insist, the market will sort
itself out, and owners will breed their horses less often, meaning fewer
unwanted horses.
Nelson Francis, who raises gaited horses, a rare, brawny breed
found in the Appalachian mountains, said the prices they command are
getting so low, he might have to turn some loose. He houses about 57 of
them, double his typical number.
"I can't absorb the price," Francis said. "You try to hang on
until the price changes, but it looks like it's not going to change. ...
What do I do? I've got good quality horses I can't market because of the
has-been horse."
"Kill buyers" used to pay pennies a pound for unwanted horses,
then pack them into crowded trucks bound for slaughterhouses that would
ship the horse meat to Europe and Asia.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained
in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
However, public opposition to the eating of horse meat has
caused the number of horses slaughtered each year by American companies
to drop from over 300,000 in 1990 to around 90,000 in 2005, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Only one U.S. slaughterhouse - in
Illinois - still butchers horses for human consumption.
"What do you do with them all?" said Lori Neagle, executive
director of the new Kentucky Equine Humane Center in Lexington. "What do
you do with 90,000 head of horses? That's something that has to be
addressed. It'll be interesting to see if people financially can do the
right thing or if they will leave their horses to starve."
Federal law prohibits the use of double-decker trucks for
transporting horses to slaughter. Many members of Congress
<javascript:;> have also been pushing a national ban on the butchering
of horses for human consumption.
While California is the only state that has expressly banned
horse slaughter, in a 1989 ballot initiative, similar measures are under
consideration elsewhere, including Kentucky, Maryland, New York and
Illinois. Connecticut has made it illegal to sell horse meat in public
places, and many states have tightened up the labeling and
transportation requirements governing horses bound for slaughter.
A federal court ruled recently that Texas must start to enforce
its long-ignored 1949 ban on the transportation and possession of horse
meat. That put a stop to horse slaughter at the two slaughterhouses in
Texas that engaged in the practice.
While the market price for horses has plummeted, the cost of
food, lodging and veterinary care has not.
Kathy Schwartz, director of Lisbon, Md.-based Days End Farm
Horse Rescue, which adopts abused and neglected horses, said that rescue
operations that choose not to euthanize horses are generally full.
"We had one horse we brought in that was a rack of bones - in
pain both from starvation and parasite infestation and injury," Schwartz
said. "His owner thought life was better than going to slaughter. Well,
life is - if you're going to feed it and take care of it."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained
in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
From:
Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 1:45 PM
To: Reynnells, Richard
Subject: Slaughter Horses
Richard,
I was concerned about what would happen to horses when the plants
closed.
Updated:2007-03-15 02:33:46
Kentucky Swamped With Unwanted Horses
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
AP
STAFFORDSVILLE, Ky. (March 15) - The bidding for the black pony
started at $500, then took a nosedive.
There were no takers at $300, $200, even $100. With a high bid
of just $75, the auctioneer gave the seller the choice of taking the
animal off the auction block. But the seller said no.
"I can't feed a horse," the man said. "I can't even feed
myself."
Kentucky, the horse capital of the world, famous for its sleek
thoroughbreds, is being overrun with thousands of horses no one wants -
some of them perfectly healthy, but many of them starving, broken-down
nags. Other parts of the country are overwhelmed, too.
The reason: growing opposition in the U.S. to the slaughter of
horses for human consumption overseas.
With new laws making it difficult to send horses off to the
slaughterhouse when they are no longer suitable for racing or work,
auction houses are glutted with horses they can barely sell, and rescue
organizations have run out of room.
Some owners who cannot get rid of their horses are letting them
starve; others are turning them loose in the countryside.
Some people who live near the strip mines in the mountains of
impoverished eastern Kentucky say that while horses have long been left
to roam free there, the number now may be in the thousands, and they are
seeing herds three times bigger than they did just five years ago.
"There's horses over there that's lame, that's blind," said Doug
Kidd, who owns 30 horses in Lackey, Ky. "They're taking them over there
for a graveyard because they have nowhere to move them."
It is legal in all states for owners to shoot their unwanted
horses, and some Web sites offer instructions on doing it with little
pain. But some horse owners do not have the stomach for that.
At the same time, it can cost as much as $150 for a veterinarian
to put a horse down. And disposing of the carcass can be costly, too.
Some counties in Kentucky, relying on a mix of private and public
funding, will pick up and dispose of a dead horse for a nominal fee.
The cost is much higher other places, and many places ban the
burying of horses altogether because of pollution fears.
Sending horses off to the glue factory is not an option anymore.
Adhesives are mostly synthetic formulations nowadays, according to
Lawrence Sloan, president of the Adhesive and Sealant Council. And
because of public opposition, horse meat is no longer turned into dog
food either, said Chris Heyde of the Society for Animal Protective
Legislation.
Eventually, anti-slaughter groups insist, the market will sort
itself out, and owners will breed their horses less often, meaning fewer
unwanted horses.
Nelson Francis, who raises gaited horses, a rare, brawny breed
found in the Appalachian mountains, said the prices they command are
getting so low, he might have to turn some loose. He houses about 57 of
them, double his typical number.
"I can't absorb the price," Francis said. "You try to hang on
until the price changes, but it looks like it's not going to change. ...
What do I do? I've got good quality horses I can't market because of the
has-been horse."
"Kill buyers" used to pay pennies a pound for unwanted horses,
then pack them into crowded trucks bound for slaughterhouses that would
ship the horse meat to Europe and Asia.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained
in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
However, public opposition to the eating of horse meat has
caused the number of horses slaughtered each year by American companies
to drop from over 300,000 in 1990 to around 90,000 in 2005, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Only one U.S. slaughterhouse - in
Illinois - still butchers horses for human consumption.
"What do you do with them all?" said Lori Neagle, executive
director of the new Kentucky Equine Humane Center in Lexington. "What do
you do with 90,000 head of horses? That's something that has to be
addressed. It'll be interesting to see if people financially can do the
right thing or if they will leave their horses to starve."
Federal law prohibits the use of double-decker trucks for
transporting horses to slaughter. Many members of Congress
<javascript:;> have also been pushing a national ban on the butchering
of horses for human consumption.
While California is the only state that has expressly banned
horse slaughter, in a 1989 ballot initiative, similar measures are under
consideration elsewhere, including Kentucky, Maryland, New York and
Illinois. Connecticut has made it illegal to sell horse meat in public
places, and many states have tightened up the labeling and
transportation requirements governing horses bound for slaughter.
A federal court ruled recently that Texas must start to enforce
its long-ignored 1949 ban on the transportation and possession of horse
meat. That put a stop to horse slaughter at the two slaughterhouses in
Texas that engaged in the practice.
While the market price for horses has plummeted, the cost of
food, lodging and veterinary care has not.
Kathy Schwartz, director of Lisbon, Md.-based Days End Farm
Horse Rescue, which adopts abused and neglected horses, said that rescue
operations that choose not to euthanize horses are generally full.
"We had one horse we brought in that was a rack of bones - in
pain both from starvation and parasite infestation and injury," Schwartz
said. "His owner thought life was better than going to slaughter. Well,
life is - if you're going to feed it and take care of it."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained
in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The
Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.