Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com

March 13, 2008

PLEASE CROSSPOST

IL Horse Transport Bill LEGALIZES Doubles for Horses!!!!!

The EPN has notified Illinois State Rep JoAnn Osmond, sponsor of the
IL Horse Transport Bill, HB4162, that we are withdrawing our support
due to her acceptance of a hostile amendment that was offered by the
Farm Bureau. The result is a bill with vague language that
legitimizes and regulates the use of double deck trailers for horses.
A copy of our letter is included in this newsletter.

We are asking Illinois residents to contact their legislators in the
IL House and OPPOSE this bill. Once a bill have become toxic due to
hostile amendments, we have no choice but to kill the bill.

We are asking you to contact horse industry organizations and request
that they join in opposing this legislation and that the
organizations who were supporting the bill to pull their support. The
EPN has the support of the National Horse Carriers Association,
Drexler Horse Transportation, and C & E Horse Transport. All now
oppose this toxic bill.

The EPN has consulted with prosecutors and law enforcement agents and
we all concur that passage of this bill with the hostile House
Amendment 02 will result in regulation of the doubles for horses and
does nothing to assist law enforcement in eradicating these inhumane
trailers for horses.

Under current IL law that prohibits cruel transport a prosecutor
needs expert witnesses to demonstrate that doubles are inhumane. If
the IL Horse Transport Bill passes, prosecutors will have to prove
that the trailers were not specifically designed for horses! This
bill will LEGALIZE the use of doubles for horses!

It is time to KILL the IL Horse Transport Bill! This Bill is as bad
as the proposed PA Three Legged Horse Transport Bill that the EPN
successfully killed before passage of the PA Horse Transport Bill in
2001.

Contact Info for IL House:

http://www.ilga.gov/house/

Letter to Rep Osmond:

Dear Representative Osmond,

The Equine Protection Network, EPN, and our supporters are
withdrawing our support for the Illinois Horse Transport Bill, HB
4162 due to the vague language in House Amendment 02 called for by
the Illinois Farm Bureau who opposed IL HB 4162 in its original form.
This hostile amendment has vague language resulting in the regulation
of double deck trailers for horses, not the prohibition of double
deck trailers, which is the goal of any valid horse transport bill.

Double deck trailers are not designed, safety tested, or manufactured
for horses. The USDA has stated that they cannot be made safe and
humane for horses, even if modified. The EPN has provided your office
with documentation supporting the above statements.

This vague language will allow people who utilize double deck
trailers to transport horses to argue to law enforcement that their
trailers are "specifically designed for horses". In court documents,
news footage, and news articles relating to cases in Pennsylvania and
New York, defendants routinely claimed that their double deck
trailers were, "designed for horses". To quote Arlow Kiehl, convicted
in New York of violating the New York Horse Transport Law of
1980, "It was made for horses, and I can't seem to convince them of
that". If it were not for Pennsylvania and New York's specific
language offenders would not have been arrested and successfully
prosecuted.

This vague language will result in law enforcement not making
arrests, and if by chance an arrest were made, prosecutors will need
trailer experts, horse industry experts, and veterinarian experts to
argue beyond a reasonable doubt that the trailer in question was
not "specifically designed for horses". Any one can design a trailer
for horses and then pay to have it manufactured and state in
court "it was designed for horses". There is no regulatory body
regulating the design and manufacture of horse trailers. Horse
trailers are designed and manufactured by the horse industry's demand
for safe and humane transport of horses.

The EPN is disappointed and concerned that you, who expressed concern
for the horses' welfare, so readily accepted a hostile amendment,
that if passed will result in nothing more than a publicity victory
for the politicians and status quo for the horses. This bill
legitimizes the unsafe and inhumane transport of horses in double
deck trailers and the EPN cannot support any bill that legitimizes
the transport of horses in, any vehicle with more than one level
stacked on top of each, no matter what their final destination.

Christine Berry
March 13, 2008

For More Information on Double Deck Trailers:


Horse Transport Information - Statutes, Convictions, Accidents,
Photos, Federal Regulations, Pending Legislation



House Amendment 02

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?
DocName=09500HB4162ham002&GA=95&SessionId=51&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=34429&
DocNum=4162&GAID=9&Session=

09500HB4162ham002

LRB095 14311 RCE 48243 a







1

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4162



2

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4162, AS AMENDED,

3

with reference to page and line numbers of House Amendment No.

4

1, on page 1, line 9, after "other", by inserting ", unless the

5

vehicle or trailer is specifically designed for the

6

transportation of equidae and meets the requirements of Section

7

15-103 of the Illinois Vehicle Code".



IL Vehicle Code



(625 ILCS 5/15‑103) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 15‑103)
Sec. 15‑103. Height of vehicles. The height of a vehicle from the
under side of the tire to the top of the vehicle, inclusive of load,
shall not exceed 13 feet, 6 inches on any highway in the State.
A person convicted of violating this Section is subject to the
penalty provided in paragraph (b) of Section 15‑113.
(Source: P.A. 92‑417, eff. 1‑1‑02.)

We need your help to kill this TOXIC Bill that LEGALIZES Doubles for
horses!!!



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