Why do I like horses? I think I must be mad.

My mother wasn't horsey - And neither was my dad.

But the madness hit me early - and it hit me like a curse.

And I've never gotten better. In fact I've gotten worse.

My stables are immaculate. My house is like a hovel.

Last year for my birthday - I got a brand new shovel.

I hardly read a paper - but I know who's sold their horse.

And I wouldn't watch the news - Unless Mr. Ed was on - of course.

One eye's always on the heavens -but my washing waves in vain

As I rush to get the horses in - in case it's gonna rain.

And though they're wearing 15 rugs, The best that you can get,

I bring them in to keep them dry - while I get soaking wet.

I spend up every cent I've got - on horsey stuff for sure

I buy saddles, bridles, fancy rugs - and then I buy some more.

I should have had my hair cut - or bought that nice blue shirt

At least it wouldn't now look ripped to shreds and in the dirt

I can't make a bloody sponge cake -I don't even try

But I can back a car and trailer - in the twinkling of an eye.

It's jeans and Ariat boots that I live in night and day

And that smell of sweaty horses just doesn't wash away.

Once every now and then I dress up for a ball

Make up and a hairdo - with high heel shoes and all.

I ache from long forgotten falls. My knees have got no skin.

My toes have gone a funny shape - from being squashed again.

But late at night, when all is still - and I've gone to give them hay,

I touch their velvet softness and my worries float away.

They give a gentle nicker and they nuzzle through my hair

And I know it's where my heart is - more here than anywhere

author unknown

FROM JOHN HOLLAND

Saving America's Horses on WFL Endangered Stream Live, Talk Radio for the Protection of AnimalsThe Hidden Cruelty of Horse Slaughter and the Fight for Federal Support to Make it Stop.Host Katia Louise interviews an expert panel of guests on the continuing sordid practice of horse slaughter as currently sustained by the United States. Horses suffer unimaginable cruel treatment in the process of their transport out of the US to Mexico and Canada where they experience barbaric slaughter. Listeners will learn the truth about one of America's darkest secrets and how to take action to stop this cruel and rapidly growing business of exports through the support of current, yet disregarded bills lingering in Congress for the past 8 years. Guests include Paula Bacon representing Americans Against Horse Slaughter and as former mayor of Kaufman TX, she helped to shut down the Dallas Crown, a US horse slaughter plant now operating in Mexico, among the worst malign abusers of cruelty in this brutal practice. Also joining us is the renown author on the issue of horse slaughter, John Holland; senior analyst for Americans Against Horse Slaughter. Holland has authored and coauthored studies on the relationship of horse slaughter to the rate of abuse and neglect in horses and has written dozens of articles on the subject of horse slaughter and its politics. Plus we have Animal Law Attorney, Laura Allen of the Animal Law Coalition who's been fiercely active in the support of getting legislature passed for the Prevention of the Equine Cruelty. These panelists are fighting to abolish horse slaughter and the export of horses for slaughter with support more stringent enforcement of laws to prevent abuse and neglect.Call-in number: (646) 727- 2170. Calls will be accepted live during the show. The chat room at the show's WFL Endangered Stream Live Blog Talk Radio page will be open throughout the broadcast for simultaneous discussion and to help answer questions. Registered listeners may connect and talk straight from their computer from anywhere in the world. (learn more) Listen live on Saturday, Feb 7th at 3pm (PST) at WFL Endangered Stream Live Blog Talk Radio. Listen anytime on demand. Links:http://wflendangeredstreamlive.org/showlineup.html http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wflendangeredstreamlive/2009/02/07/Saving-Americas-Horses

Current Co-Sponsors of HR 503

Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 1/14/2009
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 1/14/2009
Rep Bilbray, Brian P. [CA-50] - 1/14/2009
Rep Bono Mack, Mary [CA-45] - 1/14/2009
Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] - 1/14/2009
Rep Brown, Henry E., Jr. [SC-1] - 1/14/2009
Rep Burton, Dan [IN-5] - 1/14/2009
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 1/14/2009
Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] - 1/14/2009
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 1/14/2009
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 1/14/2009
Rep DeFazio, Peter A. [OR-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep Delahunt, William D. [MA-10] - 1/14/2009
Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep Gallegly, Elton [CA-24] - 1/14/2009
Rep Gerlach, Jim [PA-6] - 1/14/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 1/14/2009
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep Hall, John J. [NY-19] - 1/14/2009
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 1/14/2009
Rep Inglis, Bob [SC-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 1/14/2009
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep Kirk, Mark Steven [IL-10] - 1/14/2009
Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] - 1/14/2009
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 1/14/2009
Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 1/14/2009
Rep LoBiondo, Frank A. [NJ-2] - 1/14/2009
Rep Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] - 1/14/2009
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 1/14/2009
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. [MI-11] - 1/14/2009
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 1/14/2009
Rep Mitchell, Harry E. [AZ-5] - 1/14/2009
Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 1/14/2009
Rep Murphy, Patrick J. [PA-8] - 1/14/2009
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 1/14/2009
Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 1/14/2009
Rep Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19] - 1/14/2009
Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 1/14/2009
Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] - 1/14/2009
Rep Ruppersberger, C. A. Dutch [MD-2] - 1/14/2009
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 1/14/2009
Rep Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3] - 1/14/2009
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 1/14/2009
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 1/14/2009
Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] - 1/14/2009
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 1/14/2009
Rep Van Hollen, Chris [MD-8] - 1/14/2009
Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20] - 1/14/2009
Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 1/14/2009
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 1/14/2009
Rep Whitfield, Ed [KY-1] - 1/14/2009
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 1/14/2009
Rep Wu, David [OR-1] - 1/14/2009
Rep Young, C.W. Bill [FL-10] - 1/14/2009

This horses, and thousands like him, suffered a brutal death in a foreign slaughter plant. © The HSUS

BILL TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER REINTRODUCED

Washington, DC (January 15, 2009) – The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503), was reintroduced today by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Representative Dan Burton (R-IN). They first introduced the bill, which will ban horse slaughter, in the summer of 2008. It gained quick bipartisan support and passed out of the Judiciary Committee but did not move further as the legislative clock wound down. Committed to seeing the measure passed into law, Chairman Conyers has given the bill priority in his committee, as signaled by its reintroduction so early on the legislative calendar. With sixty-one original cosponsors, the bill already enjoys strong bipartisan support.
Although the few remaining horse slaughter plants operating in the US were shut down in 2007 under state law, the absence of a federal law banning the practice means that American horses are still at risk of being slaughtered for human consumption. In fact, more than 100,000 horses were exported to Mexico and Canada in 2008 for slaughter; In Canada horses are often shot to death while in Mexico some plants still use the “puntilla” knife to stab the horse into a state of paralysis prior to being slaughtered while still fully conscious. The meat is then sold to high-end consumers in Europe and Asia.
“There are naysayers who claim we should reopen the US plants rather than seek to ban all horse slaughter. Clearly, they’ve already forgotten how awful the plants here were,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of Government and Legal Affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute.
Documents recently released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal just how brutal conditions were at the US plants before they were shut down. Hundreds of graphic photographs taken by U.S. Department of Agriculture employees at one plant show live horses with missing legs, with eyeballs hanging out, with skin ripped from the body and the birth of foals at the plant. Other photos show horses dead on arrival, having succumbed to the miseries of transport.
“The suffering of hundreds of thousands of our horses rests solely on the shoulders of those blocking this bill. Were it not for their stalling tactics horse slaughter would have ceased years ago. Meanwhile an American horse is slaughtered every five minutes. We commend Chairman Conyers and Representative Burton for taking the lead once again to end this cruel practice through introduction of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act,” said Heyde.

For further information contact:
Chris Heyde, 202-446-2142 Liz Ross, 202-497-6780

For over 58 years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. Please join us in our ongoing campaigns to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Sign up for AWI eAlerts to receive the latest news on what you can do to help us protect all animals: http://www.awionline.org/joinus.

Vicki A Voice For Our Horses

No breed is more prominently represented in the slaughter trucks rolling
toward Canada and Mexico than the quarter horse. ~ John Holland

Stop Inhumane Horse Transport

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2009_horse_transport

Doubler decker trailers are designed for short-necked species, such as cattle and hogs, not horses. However, current federal law allows horses to be transported in these trailers to any destination other than slaughter plants. Since these trailers are not meant to carry horses, frequently the top deck of the trailer will collapse, resulting in horrific injuries and even death. Just last year, a double decker trailer carrying 59 young Belgian horses overturned on an Illinois highway, killing 17 horses and injuring dozens of others.Fortunately, Representatives Kirk (R-IL) and Cohen (D-TN) introduced, H.R. 305, the Horse Transportation Safety Act, to ban the use of double decker trailers for all horse transport. TAKE ACTION. Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative to urge support for H.R. 305 to prohibit double decker trailers for horse transport. You can reach your Representative through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or click here to look up your Representative and the phone number.After making your call, fill in and submit the form on the right to automatically send an email to your U.S. Representative. Remember to personalize the email message by expressing your opinion in your own words; it's much more effective.

Below is an excerpt from "The Texas Massacres - Horse Slaughter In America" By Laura A. MorettiIn a sworn statement before Cook County, State of Illinois, a former employee [name withheld] of Cavel International, a horse slaughtering plant, testified the following:

In July 1991, they were unloading one of the double-decker trucks. A horse got his leg caught in the side of the truck so the driver pulled the rig up and the horse's leg popped off. The horse was still living, and it was shaking. [Another employee] popped it on the head and we hung it up and split it open. .... Sometimes we would kill near 390, 370 a day. Each double-decker might have up to 100 on it. We would pull off the dead ones with chains. Ones that were down on the truck, we would drag them off with chains and maybe put them in a pen or we might drag them with an automatic chain to the knockbox. Sometimes we would use an electric shocker to try to make them stand. To get them into the knockbox, you have to shock them ... sometimes run them up the [anus] with the shocker. ... When we killed a pregnant mare, we would take the guts out and I would take the bag out and open it and cut the cord and put it in the trash and sometimes the baby would still be living, and its heart would be beating, but we would put it in the trashcan.

http://www.animalsvoice.com/edits/editorial/investigations/farmed/moretti_texas.html