Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
www.saveamericashorses.com
June 4, 2005
Contact Christine Berry 570-345-6440

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Permission to Crosspost!

Action Alert! Calls Needed to Save America's Horses!
Call U.S. House of Representatives by June 8th!

U.S. House Switchboard 202-224-3121 to locate your Congressman

This Wednesday, June 8, Representatives John Sweeney (R-NY) and John
Spratt (D-SC) will offer an amendment on the agriculture
appropriations bill to stop the funding of USDA inspections at horse
slaughterhouses and at the United States border.

Your calls are needed NOW to Save America's Horses! Currently your
tax dollars are being spent to inspect the slaughter of horses for
human consumption overseas in three USDA horse slaughterhouses
located in Texas and Illinois. The slaughter of America's horses is
a hidden practice that the vast majority of Americans find
offensive, and if given the chance would overwhelmingly vote to
outlaw. Here is YOUR chance!

Call your Congressman and urge them to vote YES on the Sweeney-
Spratt Agriculture Appropriations Amendment to Save Americas Horses
from slaughter for human consumption overseas.

The issue of horse slaughter is one of disposal of unwanted horses,
just as we do not slaughter unwanted dogs and cats for human
consumption, nor should we slaughter American horses for human
consumption. The pro slaughter forces often ask, "Who is going to
pay for these unwanted horses to be euthanised?" The answer is
simple – their owners. It is owners' responsibility to cover the
cost of euthanasia and disposal. Just as we cannot use decompression
chambers or drowning to dispose of unwanted dogs and cats, it must
be illegal to slaughter unwanted horses for human consumption. This
issue is not about providing homes for all the unwanted horses, it
is about the method of disposal. Slaughter using a 4" nail to the
head and throat cutting, versus euthanasia via lethal injection.

FACTS:

• Since 1995 poll after poll show Americans want horse
slaughter banned.

• As of 5/21/05 33,489 American horses have been slaughtered,
including 41 American mustangs. Between 1980 and May 21, 2005, your
tax-dollars were used to pay for the USDA inspection of 4,007,645
American horses brutally slaughtered in foreign owned
slaughterhouses located in the United States. Between 1990 and 2000,
500,000 American horses exported to Canada for slaughter.

• Americans do NOT eat horses. This is a cultural issue and
culture shapes our laws.

• Horses are NOT raised, nor are they taxed as food and fiber
animals in the U.S. Americans view horses as sport, recreation, and
pleasure animals, not their next T-bone steak.

• Products used on our horses have NOT been tested by the FDA
for use in horses intended for food. Products used on horses carry
the warning label, "Not for use on horses intended for food."

• The largest horse state, & the leading agricultural state in
the country, California, made it a felony to slaughter a horse in
1998 when over 60% (5 million) of California voters, `Just Said
Neigh to Horse Slaughter'. The passage of Prop 6 did NOT change the
status of horses from livestock to companion animal, nor did the
number of horse abuse cases rise according to Carolyn Stull of UC
Davis.

Disposal options include: Burial, Cremation, Landfill, Rendering,
all of which are available to owners in the United States. The issue
of groundwater contamination is nothing more than a smokescreen
thrown up by the the pro slaughter forces who want to continue with
the Breed 'Em, Trash 'Em, Can 'Em" attitude. As the demand for a
service increases, the service industry will rise to meet the demand.

Call your Congressman and urge them to vote YES on the Sweeney-
Spratt Agriculture Appropriations Amendment to Save Americas Horses
from slaughter for human consumption overseas.

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