NetPosse.com Lost Horse Alert: Junior, brown Morgan/Arabian Cross
Waterbury VT

Junior, brown Morgan/Arabian Cross Gelding Lost - Waterbury, VT--
Washington County, September 28, 2008

Waterbury, Vermont - Stolen Horse International, aka NetPosse.com,
and The Vermont Horse Council hope you can help them track down a 13-
year-old girl's lost horse in the Waterbury-Middlesex area.


Junior went missing from his paddock in the Perry Hill area of
Waterbury Monday night September 28, 2008. His owners believe he was
spooked by something-- possibly a moose-- which took down his fence.
He has not been seen since.

Riders have been looking for the Morgan-Arabian cross on horseback.
They found some tracks-- but not Junior, so they're hoping more
volunteers will join their search.

Where in Vermont is Junior? He may be lost in the woods, hurt or
worse. He could be with a good Samaritan who does not know where he
belongs. On the more sinister side, he could have been picked up by
someone hoping to make money off of their new found horse. All of
these scenarios are possibilities we have encountered with lost
horses at NetPosse.com.

Junior is a 25 year old brown gelding. His owners say he may respond
to Junior or Junebug.

You can help. Click on the link below and do one, or some of the
following to help bring Junior home:

Join the search (Contact Cindy)
Print a flyer and hang up within a 150 mile radius
Send this alert to your friends and ask them to do the same.
Contact Beth Gilpin to show your support by email. (That means more
than you know.)
More info and flyer:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/missing_1/junior_VTmissingSept08
.html
Beth's email: beth@...
Vermont Horse Council contact Cindy Cross-Greenia:
goodhorsekeepingco@...


Debi Metcalfe

Stolen Horse International, Inc.
PO Box 1341
Shelby, NC 28151
704-484-2165
www.netposse.com
Donation link: http://netposse.com/merch/donation_wish.htm
Home of the IDAHO Alert for missing horses.

Never underestimate the power of one!

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NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - OK - Stolen Bay Clydesdale Gelding - Aug
17, 2008 - Woodard County

Jack disappeared from his from yard in Woodard County on August 17,
2008.

He is a bay Clydesdale with a full blaze, front stockings above his
knees, back stockings up to his hips and a white spot on his stomach.

Tammy and Les are praying for Jack's safe returned and are bewildered
by his theft.

Despite the problem with theft in Oklahoma the last few years, many
of the horses have been safely recovered. Help bring Jack home!

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/JackOKstolenAug08.htm

Angela Kirby
NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


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NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - TX - Cremello Mare Missing from Herd - Aug
15, 2008 - Johnson County

Lexa was discovered missing from a herd of 16 horses in a 40-acre
pasture. She was last seen around mid-July. PRESUMED STOLEN!

Lexa is a cremello quarter horse mare with typical characteristics of
a cremello (pale palomino almost white), and she has no other
markings except for some scarring on her legs and a place on her
withers.

Help us find Lexa and bring her home!

NOTE: We have been in contact with the vet in Oklahoma and shared
those pictures with Lexa's owner. She doesn't believe it's her horse
and the timing is not quite right.

A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. Be sure to contact the victim
and show her your support. A few words means more than you think.

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/LexaTXmissingAug08.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Angela Kirby-NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


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NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

NetPosse.com IDAHO ALERT Update: TX Missing Horses have been RETURNED
to owners!
Missing/Stolen -Smith Co. 8/26/08
THESE HORSES ARE HOME!

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RB U Bet Your Asset/ Scooby - 2 years old, height: 14.2 Hands
Miss Peppy Patty/Patty - 23 Years old, 14.2 Hands
Owners: Seth and Melanie Bearden

Scooby and Patty have been RETURNED! The two horses were returned to
a neaby cattle pen near the pasture from which they disappeared. The
gates at the location from where they had been taken from had been
padlocked after Patty and Scooby's disappearance. It is believed that
the horses were brought back and put in this neighboring paddock
because they could not be put back into their own pasture. Both were
wearing halters when they were returned. They did not have them on
when they went missing. Law enforcement has been notified.

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/Patty_Scooby_TXstolenAug08.htm

Please contact Seth and Melanie Bearden  (at link above) and
congratulate them!

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Sign up to receive the NetPosse e-Newsletter:
http://www.netposse.com/netposse_newsletter.htm
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


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STOLEN HORSE INTERNATIONAL, INC.
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27, 2008

For more information, contact: Debi Metcalfe
PO Box 1341, Shelby, NC 28151
704-484-2165, Cell: 704-472-4314
Email: stolenhorse@...
www.netposse.com

Award Winning Paint Barrel Horse Stolen in Illinois – Listed on
NetPosse.com

Flat Rock, IL – Maximum Reflections, better know as Max, a 12-year-
old American Paint Horse Association (APHA) gelding was taken from
his pasture in Flat Rock, Illinois, August 23, 2008. His 13-year-old
owner Kaitlynn Blilskie needs your help finding her prized barrel
horse.

Keith Caughren, Kaitlynn's stepfather reported to the sheriff's
office that a place in the fence had been freshly cut along the
roadway of Highway 1150 East. The horse is 15 to 15.2 hands high with
a white with a brown medicine cap on its head. Max does have other
brown spots but is mostly white and has blue eyes, and a white mane
and tail. He was shod all the way around with pads on the front shoes

Kaitlynn's mother, Susan, says, "The horse did not have a halter on
it, however, a halter was removed from the other horse that was in
the same shed and evidently put on Max." A royal blue leadrope is
also missing.

The Caughren have dogs that will bark if anyone pulls in the driveway
whether they know them or not, and this is why they suspect someone
cut the fence where they did. Despite searching for Max over three
hours when he was first noticed missing, Keith did not find the cut
fence until later that day. The area was hidden from immediate view.

Kaitlynn is asking everyone in the area to be on the lookout for Max,
a much-loved member of the family. Since Max's theft, the Caughren's
have been contacting people in the community, and friends and distant
family members have been helping spread the word via the Internet.
Many they spoke with directed them to contact Stolen Horse
International so Max could be posted on the nonprofit organization's
website: www.NetPosse.com.

Once the report was processed, volunteers began distributing Max's
personal webpage and flyer in mass by the thousands through their
online contacts and list groups. Word is spreading quickly as any
missing horse could be transported across state lines and even across
the border in only a few hours.

"Our family is just stunned," says Keith Caughren. "Kaitlynn barreled
raced and ran poles on Max in competition and did well. Kaitlynn is
just heartbroken. We cannot believe he is gone."

Please go to
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/MaxILstolenAug08.htm and print
a flyer, which can be posted at public businesses, tack/feed stores
and auction houses, to help bring this beautiful paint horse home.

Anyone with information please call the Caughren's at 618-584-3178,
Stolen Horse International 704-484-2165 or the Crawford County
Sheriff's Department 618-546-1515, case number 08080689.

This press release has been sent to you by Stolen Horse
International, Inc. (www.netpossee.com). Contact Debi Metcalfe for
additional information at the above phone number. Stolen Horse
International is a Not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to
re-uniting stolen and missing horses with their owners by utilizing a
network of people through out the United States and Internationally.
If posting this release, keep contact information intact.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - TX - Presumed Stolen Paint/Draft Mare -
Bexar County - Aug 25, 2008

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Another horse is missing in Texas!

The day after Rain was picked up from her Trainer, she disappeared
from the pasture. The other, more valuable, horses were still there,
and there was no signs of escape.

Who took Rain?

Only hours after the NetPosse.com Idaho Alert went out on Scooby and
Patty from Smith County, Texas, they were mysteriously returned.

Let's bring Rain home!!
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same.

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/RainTXaug08.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Angela Kirby - NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - IL - Stolen Medicine Hat Gelding - Aug 23,
2008 - Crawford County

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Max is a medicine hat APHA (paint) gelding with two blue eyes. Max
was stolen out of his pasture through a cut fence. The other horses
were still there. A halter was removed from one horse and used on
Max, and a royal blue leadline was missing.

His teenage owner rides him in barrels and poles, and she is lost
without him.

Please help bring Max home! He could be anywhere in the USA or Canada.

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/MaxILstolenAug08.htm
Please contact Max's family (at link above) and let them know they
have your support. A few words mean more than you know to the victims
during their heartbreaking search.

A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same.


Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Sign up to receive the NetPosse e-Newsletter:
http://www.netposse.com/netposse_newsletter.htm
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
August 23, 2008

EPN OPPOSES Federal Horse Transport Bill HR6278 - Call Your
Legislators!
http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/legislation/HR6278.html
More info at this link. Link ends in "html"

(This is not the bill to ban slaughter)

************************************************************

Legislative History of the Commercial Transportation of Horses to
Slaughter Act of 1996 - A MUST READ to understand why we must oppose
this bill.

http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/legislation/cthsaHistory.html

********************************************

The EPN opposes the new federal horse transport bill to ban doubles
because it is unenforceable due to a lack of criminal penalties, in
other words the police cannot enforce this law, nor can a citizen
call 911 when they observe a violation.

This law will only be enforced:

  1.if there is an accident and law enforcement responds to the
accident

  2.in a state where there is already a law banning doubles because
local and state law enforcement enforcing the state law will then
also report it to federal authorties, who may or may not respond.

3.at the border if US Customs is aware that a law exists.

The ramifications of passing this legislation include state
legislatures refusing to consider state legislation because they will
point to federal legislation, enforceable or not, as a reason not to
address the issue. The Commmercial Transportation of Horses to
Slaughter Act of 1996 is always brought up by state legislatures as a
reason not to consider or pass state legislation.

State legislation will be needed because the federal law will not be
enforceable.

How can HR6278 be amended so it can be enforceable and we can support?

The EPN proposes to solve the problem of what law enforcement agency
would enforce a federal law that all 50 states do not have a
comparable law would be to amend the law to a chapter in Title 49
Transportation that has criminal penalties. Title 49 Chapter III Part
393 has been suggested. This section with criminal penalties allows
state law enforcement officers who have been trained and authorized
to enforce the federal motor carrier safety program laws.

How that works is once the federal governent adopts a law into Title
49, the states then have to adopt it. Because the states have agreed
to adopt this program, the states usually go ahead and adopt the new
law with no problems. Can a state refuse, yes, but it usually does
not happen and the federal government can encourage states to adopt
by withholding federal funds.

Currently the bill HR6278, amends Title 49, Subtitle X Miscellaneous
Chapter 805 and would add the section 80505 with CIVIL penalties.

During the discussion on this issue with law enforcement officers the
all agreed that:

1.Civil penalties will never be enforced. (All the officers laughted
at the mention of civil penalties)

2.Public will not/can not collect/provide the evidence necessary for
the US Attorney General's Office to successfully prosecute a case.


When doing legislation, the EPN strongly believe that you must
involve law enforcement and prosecutors, the very people who will be
expected to enforce the law. Their toolbox is filled with laws and no
one better then them, know what it takes to become aware of a
violation, obtain the probable cause to make an arrest, and the
evidence needed to obtain a conviction in court. They are the
experts. Not legislators, not lawyers who have never prosecuted a
case, and certainly not a lobbyist. Yet no one talks to them...

So what can we do?

The EPN is urging people to contact our legislators and request that
they withold their support for HR6278 until the bill is amended with
criminal penalties because with civil penalties the law will be
unenforceable. Suggestions are to amend Title 49, CH III, 393.

More information on HR 6278 can be found on the EPN website, updates
are being added.
http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/legislation/HR6278.html

Remember to withold support for HR6278 until CRIMINAL PENALTIES  are
added. If & when HR6278 comes up for any votes, ask your Legislators
to OPPOSE HR6278 unless CRIMINAL PENALTIES have been added.

We need your help bringing on organizations supporting the EPN
efforts to pass effective legislation banning doubles for all horses,
no matter what their final destination with criminal penalties
enforced by law enforcement officers

###

__________________________

HR 6278 IH


110th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 6278
To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation
of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing
2 or more levels stacked on top of one another.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 17, 2008
Mr. KIRK (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. WHITFIELD of
Kentucky, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. SERRANO, Mr.
FOSTER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, and Mr. MOORE of
Kansas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure


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A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation
of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing
2 or more levels stacked on top of one another.


Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Horse Transportation Safety Act of
2008'.

SEC. 2. TRANSPORTATION OF HORSES.

(a) In General- Chapter 805 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:

`Sec. 80505. Transportation of horses

`(a) Prohibition- No person may transport, or cause to be
transported, a horse from a place in a State, the District of
Columbia, or a territory or possession of the United States through
or to a place in another State, the District of Columbia, or a
territory or possession of the United States in a motor vehicle
containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of one another.

`(b) Civil Penalty- A person that knowingly violates this section is
liable to the United States Government for a civil penalty of at
least $100 but not more than $500 for each violation. A separate
violation occurs under this section for each horse that is
transported, or caused to be transported, in violation of this
section. On learning of a violation, the Attorney General shall bring
a civil action to collect the penalty in the district court of the
United States for the judicial district in which the violation
occurred or the defendant resides or does business.

`(c) Motor Vehicle Defined- In this section, the term `motor vehicle'
means a vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power and manufactured
primarily for use on public highways, but does not include a vehicle
operated exclusively on a rail or rails.

`(d) Relationship to Other Laws- The penalty provided under this
section shall be in addition to a penalty or remedy available under
any other law or common law.'.

(b) Conforming Amendment- The analysis for such chapter is amended by
adding at the end the following:

`80505. Transportation of horses.'.

Equine Protection Network
www.EquineProtectionNetwork.com
August 8, 2008

EPN Response to Pro Slaughter Vet, Vet Refers to List Members
as "humaneanics"

The recent EPN Newsletter with the EPN response to a pro slaughter
paint breeder drew all positive responses from readers who supported
our position of owner responsibilty, except for one response from a
pro slaughter vet who admits to being frustrated at not being able to
change our views. The vet's name has been removed because they
declined the EPN offer to post their response, along with others that
we received.

The positive responses included,

"The breeder/Owner is the responsible for the horses not other tax
payers.If you can't afford to keep them don't breed them, that is just
common sense."

" I always felt it was such a demeaning way for irresponsible owners
to "get rid" of their unwanted horses....they need to squeeze the
last couple hundred dollars out of their horse no matter what the
animal has to face for it."

"My sentiments exactly!"

"We don't eat them, we put them down humanly what is it about a horse
that you can't do that?  STOP BREEDING!"

"Sending a horse to slaughter or having them "humanely" put down and
then burying them still does not solve the issue of why are we
killing perfectly healthy horses. You hit upon the reason when you
asked "why did you breed them?   Until Amercian horse breeders start
breeding knowing that they have a buyer in place for each foal
produced, we will have an over abundance of horses."


Vet's Response to EPN Offer to Post Views

"I have given up on trying to talk reason to those with your
views .... since it would only generate more rancorous responses if
sent to the other subscribers, who are apparently equallly humaneniac
((My word for the PETA wannabees). In my experience there can not be
civil dialogue on this issue it is just a real shame that the
majority of Americans are so far from nature and "real" life they can
not see the farce of the anti-slaughter movement. Yes there were
abuses but abolishing tthe slaughter plants has only made the
situation worse as predicted by the AAEP, AQHA and AVMA!!

My response to the vet's statements that there is not a humane
difference between the captive bolt and lethal injection, and if the
issue was just about disposal, why would we care about what happens
to the carcass.


Dr,

I am a professional in the horse industry.


·       Owned and operated a successful horse farm that boards on
average 10-15 horses and has a waiting list for owners wanting to
board their horses with me;

·       Employed by Brook Ledge Horse Transportation, including
managing their layover farm for the largest Standardbred sale in the
World;

·       Employed on Thoroughbred & Standardbred breeding farms that
have foaled out Triple Crown winners;

·       Trained and showed my quarter horses to state and regional
championships on the AQHA circuit in the Youth and Adult divisions;

·       Employed at various horse barns

·       Owned horses for 40 years



As such I am offended by your referral to me as a "humaneniac ((My
word for the PETA wannabees)" and your assumption that I cannot carry
on a civil dialogue, or that I would allow anything but to be posted
on this list.



The EPN advocates for owner accountability and responsibility, and we
work with law enforcement assisting them in investigating and
prosecuting, if necessary, owners who violate the law, including
dealers and rescues because the law applies to us all. The EPN is
also opposed to slaughter because I am an American and the
consumption of a horse is offensive to me.



I stood up in 1996, a professional in the horse industry, and proved
that the management, conditions, handling, and transport of horses at
some horse auctions was cruel and in violation of several laws and
NOT accepted horse industry management practices, and the transport
of horses in double deck trailers was wrong.



I was immediately labeled with adjectives meant to discredit me,
simply because the people and organizations who supported the
inhumane transport and conditions at the auctions, none of which are
acceptable horse industry management practices were able to
articulate that I was wrong, instead they resorted to name-calling.
Is that a civil discussion?



During my 40 years in horses, I have subscribed to numerous horse
publications including: Equus -30 years, Quarter Horse Journal- 20,
Horse Illustrated, Horse of Course, Performance and Practical
Horseman, The Horse, Horse & Rider, Western Horseman, and numerous
regional publications.



I have never heard or read a published study or article that
advocates the use of a double deck trailer to transport horses, nor
have I seen ads for these trailers for horses in any of those
magazines.



Nor I have been advised when my horse founders, suffers a broken leg,
or any other career ending injury or life ending injury or condition
for that matter, to send him to an auction. Nor I have been advised
to starve my horse. The recommendations for sick and injured horses
is to administer first aid until the vet arrives to treat the horse,
and if necessary to have the horse put down. Yet when I attended
these non-catalogued horse auctions that is exactly what I observed.
Because I stood up and said that, this is "cruel and inhumane" I was
labeled with a term that in the horse world is considered a
negative, "an animal rights activist". Never mind that none of the
conditions or management practices were accepted by the horse
industry.



Now Dr. you refuse to participate in a discussion on this issue for
fear it will not be civil; but Dr. you are the one who stooped to
calling me a raving lunatic because I disagree with you on the
slaughter issue. I am an American and we do not eat horses. I am
offended at your attack on my culture, calling me a "humane raving
lunatic" because my culture does not eat horsemeat!



Definition of Maniac Raving with madness; raging with disordered
intellect; affected with mania; mad. A raving lunatic; a madman



Are you proposing that equine vets come to their clients armed with
the mechanical captive bolt and knife to slit their throat so that
when clients bury their horses we do not contaminate the ground? I am
not being sarcastic, I am dead serious. What method are you proposing
that owners should employ when it is time to put their horses down?
Please give me the names of equine veterinarians who use the captive
dead bolt in their private practice when called upon by their clients
for euthanasia?



Is this what you are proposing because the drugs from lethal
injection may contaminate the environment? Are you willing to stand
up and tell horse owners that they should have the vet captive bolt
their horse? I can give you the numbers of all my boarders and you
are welcome to call them up and tell them that they can no longer
have the vet out to give their horse a lethal injection and bury it
on my farm. I am dead serious Dr., just say the word & I will give
you the numbers.


My owners do not want their horses sent to slaughter, nor do they
want them sent to a renderer. They want them buried and/or cremated.
They want them killed via lethal injection, not a gunshot, and not
the captive bolt. I have had, and held horses put down via lethal
injection. I have had, and witnessed horses being shot. I have
documented the collection and the transport of horses to slaughter
week in and week out for five years, and I have seen the slaughter.
Lethal injection is calm and peaceful. Gunshot is violent and
disturbing and a mess to clean up. So disturbing that I will avoid it
at all costs.




You may find it interesting that the man who does the shooting for
the rendering company, who shoots animals every day for a living, did
not like shooting horses. He told us, "Horses are just different".
Are you going to tell me he is not in touch with "real" life and
nature??



Dr., if you and the AAEP believe so strongly that there is not a
humane difference between the captive bolt and lethal injection, then
why with the whole world watching and an opportunity to put this
issue to rest once and for all, did the vets who euthanized Eight
Belles choose to use lethal injection and not the captive bolt?



Dr. Charles Liskey, D.V.M, an equine surgeon with a private practice
in California addressed the AAEP at one of their annual conferences
several years back. He made the observation that it would be quite a
practice builder if he were to respond to a client call for
euthanasia by telling the client they would have to move the cars
from their driveway because after captive dead bolting their child's
pony, he was going to have to bleed it out. He stated that no private
practitioner is going to respond to their clientele this way when
called to put a horse down.





As an American, you will never convince me it is OK to eat a horse, a
dog, a cat, or any other animal that Americans consider non-food
animals. So does that make me a raving lunatic, a madman? I think
sociologists would beg to differ.



Dr., you are right, when the horse is dead, if the method is humane,
what does it matter what happens to the carcass? That is where
culture comes in to the equation, because culture determines how we
dispose of our dead, how we live, what we eat, how we marry, bury our
dead, our jobs, and our laws. Does culture make scientific sense,
maybe not to you, but it is a powerful influence, just ask any
sociologist.


The issue is not about cruelty, it is not about the method of death -
it is about the disposal of the carcass - it is about the fact that
we are talking about EATING a horse, an animal that as an American, I
do not eat and no science will ever convince me it is OK to eat. Why?
Because it is against my culture. Just as you will never convince me,
it is OK to stop shaving my underarms, and my legs - like some
foreign women do-you will not convince me it is OK to eat a horse.
That is culture. All the science in the world will never stop me from
shaving my underarms because as an American woman, we shave under our
arms!


Dr., you are right about the costs being lower if horses were
classified as a food animal. So why is the government being allowed
to tax me unfairly? Because America has decided that the horse is a
non-food animal, and has classified the American horse as a sporting
and recreational animal, taxed and revered as such



Keeping Slaughter Legal


If we are going to keep slaughter legal, and it is except in 4
states, (CA, IL, OK and TX), thus declaring horses a food animal,
then the taxes on horses must be repealed. Do you think the states
are going to give up the state sales tax revenue? I do not think so
because they are financially strapped now. Why give up billions in
state sales tax revenue so a few people, less than one percent, can
sell their horse to a foreign owned slaughterhouse, which does
nothing for their coffers?



Lethal injection or gunshot with disposal in a landfill, burial,
cemetery, rendering, cremating, all of those create demand for
American owned companies providing those services and benefiting the
states who earn revenue on the sales tax charged on the items and
services. Companies providing animal memorials, dead haulers,
pharmaceutical companies, animal cemeteries, and the list goes on,
all benefit from horses not being slaughtered.


State laws regulate the disposal, including the burial of dead
animals. PA and I believe NJ, state that the carcass must be covered
with 6' of good earth. That is not a shallow grave. The argument that
people do not follow that, can also be applied to the fact that the
humane slaughter regulations are not followed either. Same with the
commercial transportation of horses to slaughter act are not being
followed, nor are they being enforced.



According to the law only a veterinarian may buy and administer the
solution. Therefore, the random animal put down on an unincorporated,
rural property by lethal injection and backhoed is not going to cause
any ground water toxicity. Are you telling me that the vets are so
irresponsible that they are going to say nothing to their clients
about proper burial if there is a risk to wildlife and other animals
from eating the carcass?



What about the contamination from the carcasses of rodents and other
animals exterminated on farms by poisons? In incorporated less rural
areas, a vet performs the euthanasia and a dead hauler or owner takes
the carcass to a rendering plant, landfill, cemetery, or cremation
facility. The cost of private cremation is relative to one – two
months board depending on the area with communal cremation even less.



What about "green burials" Human remains from certain faiths
prohibits embalming and requires burial in a pine box. There are
untold chemicals in the human remains, especially from a person who
died from a long-term illness and was on opiate-based pain
medication. The EPA has not found any problems with ground
contamination from these burials.


The collection and the transport to slaughter is full of lies, fraud,
cruelty, and criminal acts. The slaughter was not humane because the
horses were terrified and were hit numerous times. The abuses have
not been addressed; one only has to look at the continued violations
of the Commercial Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Regulations,
violations of local and state laws. When are you going to realize
that many of these people involved in the collection and transport
are nothing more than common criminals as demonstrated by their
continued violations and convictions? Law enforcement officers and
prosecutors familiar with these dealers and haulers agree with me,
are they raving lunatics also?



I have seen people, my own farm neighbors who grew up butchering
their own animals for 40 years, shocked and appalled at the slaughter
of horses. These people are in touch with real life and nature, every
year they plant their garden, raise their steer, shoot their deer,
and butcher the steer. They know horses are not food animals Dr., so
like me, these Americans, they are repulsed at the slaughter of a non-
food animal.


I have also watched how the businesses involved behave when they know
they are being watched and when they believe that they are not. They
put on a performance for the inspectors. Not to mention the
preparation done in advance of the planned visit to, "observe the
conditions". I watched as New Holland underwent a metamorphous in
preparation for the USDA research studies conducted by Temple Grandin
and Carolyn Stull. What they observed and documented is not the way
it works at New Holland or during the transport, I know because I was
taking notes, photographing and videotaping week in and week out.


I will never change my opinion on whether or not it is OK to
slaughter a horse because I am an American. I have listened to the
pro slaughter arguments for the 40 years I have been in horses. I
have listened to the lies and spin put on the industry's method of
disposal.



I always knew in my gut it was wrong. America does not need slaughter.

As an American, you will never convince me it is OK to eat a horse, a
dog, a cat, or any other animal that Americans consider non-food
animals. So does that make me a raving lunatic, a madman? I think
sociologists would beg to differ.



It will never be an accepted practice for the vast majority of horse
owners who call on their veterinarian to humanely euthanize their
horse, to have their vets crush the skull of their beloved horse with
a retractable gun and then slit their throats so other cultures may
eat them.



No Dr., it is a very simple issue. Do we humanely euthanize non-food
animals in this country and culture, or do we cruelly slaughter them?

If there were a solution, which did not render the meat unusable,
there could be a different debate, but there, is not.All we have to
do is look up the words in a dictionary:



Humane: compassionate;

Euthanasia: the putting to death painlessly;

Humane Euthanasia: The good death;

Slaughter: great and violent destruction of life, massacre, to kill
with violence.



We are a democratic society. When we legislate social policy, it is
by the majority of the "reasonable community", the people who vote.
If given the chance tomorrow, Americans would overwhelmingly, at
least 80%, vote to outlaw the slaughter. Despite special interests
and lobbyists, who have stalled the American Horse Slaughter
Prevention Act in Congress, the fact remains that there are no
slaughterhouses in the United States where once there was 14. Why?
Because this is the United States of America, where horses are
revered and not classified as food animals.



It is not going to happen. Thank God for America and God Bless
America!



Christine Berry

EPN

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
August 4, 2008

EPN Response to Irresponsible Pro- Slaughter Paint Breeder

Below is the EPN response to Dan Giannola who contacted the Denver
Post and the EPN with his sarcastic plea for the EPN and others
to "save" his horse from slaughter and to contact the celebrities
against slaughter and ask them to "save" his horses. Our response
addresses the horse slaughter issue – the disposal of America's
Horses – not the rescue, not cruelty. It is the answer to the pro-
slaughter question of, "What are we going to do with all the horses
not sent to slaughter", albeit not the answer the pro slaughter
groups want to hear.

It is against state laws to abandon, abuse, neglect horses.
State laws regulate the disposal of dead animals
The United States disposes of 6 MILLION dogs and cats every year.
100,000 horses is a drop in the bucket.
The majority of horse owners are not criminals – they are not going
to break the law because they cannot sell their horse to a dealer who
has lied to them or failed to inform the owner that dealer is selling
the horse to slaughter.
Our response will be posted to the Denver Post in response to Mr.
Giannola's original post.

Hi Dan,

Why don't you take responsibility for your horses?

If you cannot afford to keep them, and cannot find a buyer, (that
begs the question why you bred them), then do what other responsible
owners do, call the vet and put them down. Or get your gun out and
start shooting. Make sure you don't miss, otherwise you are guilty of
cruelty.

Then you can call a backhoe/bulldozer & bury them in a mass grave or
you can send them to the render, or the landfill, or cremate them.

Yes it costs money. You should have thought about that before you
bought them and/or bred them.

I am not the trash can for irresponsible breeders and owners. Nor
should the American Public support the horses you created that you
cannot support and there is no market for.

The slaughter issue is about the method of disposing of America's
Horses, not rescue, not cruelty. Disposal.

Lethal injection or gunshot versus butchering for foreigners to eat.

As an American, I am opposed to the butchering of a NON-FOOD animal.

As a horse owner, I am unfairly taxed on the feed and all the related
products I purchase for my horses and my clients horses –NON-FOOD
animals.

I am in the horse industry and my clients make the decisions to put
their horses down, they do not call a rescue, they do not call a
dealer, they do not send them to auction, they call a vet.

Christine Berry

Equine Protection Network

www.SaveAmericasHorses.com
www.HoofPAC.com



http://www.allivet.com/?Click=77428




----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

From: Aqhagiannola@... [mailto:Aqhagiannola@...]
Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2008 14:38
To: info@...
Subject: Fwd: SAVE THE HORSES

dan giannola




----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

From: Aqhagiannola
To: newsroom@...
Sent: 8/1/2008 10:52:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: SAVE THE HORSES

HI

  PLEASE HELP  SAVE HERD OF 100 HEAD PAINT HORSES FROM BEING
SLAUGHTERED I NEED YOUR HELP OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW TO STOP THEM FROM
BEING SENT TO MEXICO TO BE KILLED PLEASE HELP! IF YOU CAN CONTACT THE
celebrity's THAT ARE LISTED FOR BEING AGAINST HORSE SLAUGHTER, PLEASE
LET ME KNOW. THEY MAY WANT TO SAVE MY HORSES.
www.aqhqgiannola.com   or contact dan at 405 398 3100      THANKYOU



###

RHODE ISLAND BANS DOUBLE DECK TRAILERS FOR HORSES

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
Contact: Christine Berry
570-345-6440

July 23, 2008

On July 5, 2008 Rhode Island became the 6th* state to pass
legislation banning double deck trailers to transport any horse no
matter what its final destination. (NY, PA, MA, MD, VT all ban double
deck trailers for horses. CT, MN, and VA regulate their use for all
horses, and CA bans for transport to slaughter and AZ regulates their
use for transport to slaughter.)

On June 18, 2008 H8425 was introduced by State Representative Amy
Rice (D) Portsmouth, a lawyer and horse owner, and by Senate Majority
Whip, Senator Ruggiero (D) Providence and became effective on July 5,
2008 an incredible17 days from introduction to law! Ironically,
seventeen is the number of horses killed in a double deck trailer
accident in Illinois in 2007 that inspired the legislation.

The Rhode Island Legislature recognized that double deck trailers are
not designed, safety tested, manufactured, or marketed to the horse
industry and took immediate action making it illegal to transport any
horse no matter what its final destination in a vehicle, "with two
(2) or more levels stacked on top of one another". Each horse is a
separate violation with the first offense carrying a fine of $500.00
and a second offense doubling the fine to $1000.00.

"The EPN applauds the Rep. Rice and Sen. Ruggiero and the entire
Rhode Island Legislature for recognizing a problem and taking
immediate action to prevent it from happening in their state." There
have been three accidents in three states in a three-year period
killing 55 horses.

• September 15, 2004 – Indiana – 21 horses killed on IN SR 1 in
Lawrenceburg, IN traveling from MN auctions to KY dealer.
• September 27, 2006 – Missouri- 16 out of 42 killed on I-44 in
Franklin County, MO traveling from Colorado to IL slaughterhouse
• October 27, 2007 – Illinois 17 horses killed on SR 41 in
Wadsworth, IL traveling to MN auction.

How many more horses have to be killed or members of the Public
killed, before the state legislatures are going to stop wasting tax
payer money and the legislatures' time holding committee hearings on
an issue that is not rocket science?" states Christine Berry of the
Equine Protection Network a longtime advocate against use of double
deck trailers for horses.

Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri, all states with an active Farm
Bureau, have failed miserably to pass legislation banning these
unsafe and inhumane trailers. In 2001, the IN Horse Transport Bill,
SB86, died after Rep Bob Cherry killed the bill on behalf of the
Fairs and the Rodeo. In 2008, the IL Farm Bureau killed the IL Horse
Transport Bill, HB 4162 in the Senate, even though the Senate
Majority Whip was the sponsor of the legislation in the IL Senate.
Missouri has failed to take any action.

"This is not rocket science requiring studies to determine whether or
not horses can be transported safely and humanely in double deck
trailers. If these trailers were safe and humane for horses, the
leading commercial horse transport companies would have been using
doubles years ago. I have yet to read a published study advocating
the use of these trailers to the horse industry. I have yet to open a
horse magazine trailer issue with a double decker in it, nor have I
attended a horse trade show and seen a double decker being offered
for sale to the horse industry" states Berry. "It is about time the
Farm Bureau and the State Legislatures start using good old common
horse sense."

Berry has advocated for passage of legislation banning doubles for
all horses no matter what their final destination since 1996,
resulting in the passage of the PA Horse Transport Law of 2001, the
strongest law of its kind in the United States and a model for Rhode
Island and the recently introduced federal bill, HR 6278. For three
years, Berry investigated the transport of horses in doubles from PA
to NY reporting violations to the NY State Police and PA State Police
resulting in numerous convictions under the NY Horse Transport Law
and PA Cruelty Law. Berry also traveled for 2.5 years in horse vans
with Triple Crown and Olympic Champions during her employment with a
leading horse transportation company.

In the EPN's effort to pass the PA Horse Transport Law, the EPN
provided the PA Legislature with:
• Final language of the PA Horse Transport Law, a law that has
been successfully enforced two times resulting in 67 violations
against four individuals and or companies;
• Justification for passage of the PA Horse Transport Law
• Written support of 35 plus PA and national horse industry
organizations;
• Arranged for a NY State Trooper to testify on duty at the PA
House Judiciary Committee Hearings along with Dr. Robert Lopez,
employees of Brook Ledge Horse Transportation and other experts in
the horse industry
• Support of thousands of Americans from PA and all across the
United States
• Provided photo, video, and court documentation of doubles and
the injuries caused to horses.

Since the passage of the PA Horse Transport Law, the EPN has worked
to pass other state laws banning doubles and has worked to educate
the public and law enforcement of the existence of the law. The EPN
maintains that the first step was passing the law; the second step is
making sure it is enforced. To that end the EPN has created and
provided the public with State Horse Transport Law Cards available
for download on the EPN website –
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com  .The EPN urges owners of websites to
link to the cards so as to educate more people and to make sure the
goal of the legislation is met- no horses transported in a double
deck trailer, no matter what its final destination.

The Equine Protection Network has added Rhode Island Horse Transport
Law to our website and is providing the public with Rhode Island
Horse Transport Law Cards to download and carry in their car with
instructions on the action to take if they observe a double deck
trailer carrying horses in Rhode Island. The EPN has also reached out
to law enforcement in Rhode Island to educate their members on the
enforcement of this very important law.

Rhode Island Horse Transport Law of 2008

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

      SECTION 1. Chapter 4-1 of the General Laws entitled "Cruelty to
Animals" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following section:

      4-1-39. Transport and shelter of horses. -- (a) Notwithstanding
any other provision of
law, a person may not transport or shelter, or cause or allow to be
transported or sheltered any
equine animal in or upon any trailer, conveyance or other vehicle
whatsoever with two (2) or
more levels stacked on top of one another.
      (b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall
be subject to a fine of not
less than five hundred dollars ($500) per animal for a first offense,
and subject to a fine of at least
one thousand dollars ($1,000) per animal for all second and
subsequent offenses.

      SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.


FACTS
• Double deck trailers are not designed, safety tested, or
manufactured for horses, nor are they marketed to the horse industry;
Industry standard for the commercial transport of horses is 8 feet in
similar sized trailers.
• Doubles are used by low end horse dealers, rodeo stock
contractors, and "killer buyers"
• Double deck trailers have been banned outright in several
leading horse states due to injuries caused to the horses
transported – PA (2001), NY (1980), MA, and regulated in: CT (1976),
VA(1987),VT (1989), MN.(1996), MD (2006)
o Note-These states are examples of either poorly drafted
legislation, legislation compromised with performance based language
offered by the opposition. Enforcement of these laws requires
testimony from experts, measurements taken by law enforcement. The
result is the regulation and legitimization of doubles. The hostile
amendment offered by the IL Farm Bureau would have legalized and
legitimized doubles for horses in IL and at the same time weakened
other state horse transport laws.
• Double deck trailers banned by the USDA for horses
transported to slaughter in 2007 due to the results of studies
documenting that double deck trailers, even if modified could not be
made safe and humane for horses. AZ and CA also ban their use for
transport to slaughter.
• Double deck trailers can have ceiling heights as low as 5'7".
Industry standard is 7'.
• Bottom deck has 3" I Beams every 12" on center to support the
top deck
• Steep and narrow ramps with metal floors cause the horses to
slip and fall, cause injuries to the horses hips.
• Horses are forced to jump down into a narrow opening leading
to the bottom deck
• Due to the low ceiling heights horses cannot raise and lower
their heads and necks for balance. Horses routinely throw their heads
and rear, unlike cattle, hogs, goats or sheep which theses trailers
are designed for.
• Horses suffer head and back injuries due to the low ceiling
height, the 3" I beams, and overhead ramp storage.
• Horses suffer injuries to their hips and sides due to the
narrow doorways

###

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com

Rhode Island General Assembly Passes Horse Transport Bill- Awaiting
Signature of the Governor Donald L. Carcieri

Sen. Dominick Ruggerio, D-Providence, and Rep. Amy Rice, D-Portsmouth
introduced legislation modeled after the PA Horse Transport Law, the
strongest law of its kind in the United States and one of PA's
strongest criminal laws banning the use of double deck trailers to
transport any horse, no matter what its final destination.

The PA Horse Transport Law passed the PA Legislature unanimously and
was signed into law by Governor Tom RIdge in June 2001. Since its
passage it has been successfully enforced two times.

We are asking everyone to please contact Rhode Island Governor Donald
L. Carcieri and ask him to sign H8425 into law bringing Rhode Island
into the select league of states banning these inhumane trailers.

Governor's Office

http://www.governor.state.ri.us/

Mail address:
Governor Donald L. Carcieri
Office of the Governor
State House, Room 115
Providence, RI 02903

Phone: (401) 222-2080
Fax: (401) 222-8096


E-Mail:
e-mail Governor Carcieri

For more information on doubles visit the EPN website:

http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/transport/transportindex.htm

FACTS


Double deck trailers are not designed, safety tested, or manufactured
for horses, nor are they marketed to the horse industry; Industry
standard for the commercial transport of horses is 8 feet in similar
sized trailers.
Doubles are used by low end horse dealers, rodeo stock contractors,
and "killer buyers"
Double deck trailers have been banned outright in several leading
horse states due to injuries caused to the horses transported – PA
(2001), NY (1980), MA, and regulated in: CT (1976), VA(1987),VT
(1989), MN.(1996), MD (2006)
Note-These states are examples of either poorly drafted legislation,
legislation compromised with performance based language offered by
the opposition. Enforcement of these laws requires testimony from
experts, measurements taken by law enforcement. The result is the
regulation and legitimization of doubles. The hostile amendment
offered by the IL Farm Bureau would have legalized and legitimized
doubles for horses in IL and at the same time weakened other state
horse transport laws.
Double deck trailers banned by the USDA for horses transported to
slaughter in 2007 due to the results of studies documenting that
double deck trailers, even if modified could not be made safe and
humane for horses. AZ and CA also ban their use for transport to
slaughter.
Double deck trailers can have ceiling heights as low as 5'7".
Industry standard is 7'.
Bottom deck has 3" I Beams every 12" on center to support the top
deck
Steep and narrow ramps with metal floors cause the horses to slip and
fall, cause injuries to the horses hips.
Horses are forced to jump down into a narrow opening leading to the
bottom deck
Due to the low ceiling heights horses cannot raise and lower their
heads and necks for balance. Horses routinely throw their heads and
rear, unlike cattle, hogs, goats or sheep which theses trailers are
designed for.
Horses suffer head and back injuries due to the low ceiling height,
the 3" I beams, and overhead ramp storage.
Horses suffer injuries to their hips and sides due to the narrow
doorways.

Federal law REGULATES the use of doubles for slaughterbound horses
only. Several states laws regulate their use and do not ban. PA & NY
have the strongest and the best laws, both of which have been
successfully enforced.

###

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - CA - Stolen Buckskin AQHA Gelding - Shasta
County - June 3, 2008

This beautiful young buckskin gelding, Whiskey, was stolen from his
pasture, but the other horses were still there.

Where is he now?

For more info and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/WhiskeyCAstolenJun08.htm

Angela Kirby
NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - CA - Older Brown & White Mini Mare Stolen -
  San Bernadino Cnty - May 18, 2008

Dawn's beloved miniature mare she has owned for Diana's entire life
of 20 years was stolen from her STALL in Devore, California the night
of May 18, 2008.

Please help bring this precious mini home!

Email Dawn at dawnbransfield@... and let her know that she has
support and we will help bring Diana home!

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/DianaCAstolenMay08.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Angela Kirby - NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.
NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - CA - Older Brown & White Mini Mare Stolen -
  San Bernadino Cnty - May 18, 2008

Dawn's beloved miniature mare she has owned for Diana's entire life
of 20 years was stolen from her STALL in Devore, California the night
of May 18, 2008.

Please help bring this precious mini home!

Email Dawn at dawnbransfield@... and let her know that she has
support and we will help bring Diana home!

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/DianaCAstolenMay08.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Angela Kirby - NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - GA - Missing  Jake Mt Horse Camp Madison,
Lumpkin Co.
Liver Chestnut Morgan Mare, Wildflower, May 16, 2008

Did Wildflower simply slip her head out of the halter and run or was
the halter left to make everyone think she did? There is only one way
to know....FIND WILDFLOWER!

She was picketed in the woods behind the trailer. In the morning she
was gone with halter and lead rope still attached to the picket line.
It appears she slipped her halter but there are 50 other horses in
camp and she is nowhere to be found. Riders have been on the trails
around the mountain all day with no sign of her. She was also wearing
a lt blue and cream plaid sheet which should make her easily visible.

To print a flyer and see more pics & details go to:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/WildflowerGAmay08.htm

A missing horse can travel a long way. Please post flyers in your
area, notify your friends, list groups and associations and ask them
to do the same. Never underestimate the power of one....you!

Please let Mary know you are supporting her efforts to find
Wildflower. A few words goes a long way, more than you know.  Mary's
email: maryleslie@...

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
May 13, 2008

The EPN is a non-profit 501-c charity and depends on donations from
the public to support our efforts. We understand that money is tight
and we have always tried to provide ways for people to support us
without costing them anything more than the price of a product they
are already purchasing for themselves or their animals.

Now we have partnered with Spalding Labs to kill flies and to raise
money for the EPN. Just visit the EPN website and click on the link
for Spalding Labs Fly Predators- your horses will thank you for it.
This is an easy, non-chemical, and enviromental friendly method of
fly control that WORKS!!


   The EPN's Christine Berry operates her own horse farm and makes
sure that every purchase she makes for her personal animals and for
her clients animals supports the EPN. "Everytime I make a purchase,
whether for my farm, the EPN, or my family I make sure the purchase
benefits the EPN. I accomplish this by using IGive.com, EScrip,
Heartof.com, or GoodShop.com. When I recently renewed my subscription
to Horse Illustrated I did it through the EPN's online magazine
fundraiser. When I sell my unwanted items on Ebay, I select the EPN
to benefit through MissionFish and of course when I surf the net I
use GoodSearch. Today I placed my yearly order for fly predators by
clicking on the banner ad on www.equineprotectionnetwork.com and not
only are my horses going to benefit, but so is the EPN, thus
benefitting thousands of more horses.

The EPN has accomplished for horses what organizations with paid full
time fund raisers, attorneys, lobbyists, investigators, secretaries,
humane agents, web masters,and marketing firms have failed to do, or
have refused to even take on, and the EPN has done it on an average
of $5000.00 a year. The EPN needs your financial support to continue
helping horses by raising awareness, assisting law enforcement,
legislators, the media and by continuing to raise the bar when it
comes to the issues of enforcement, legislation and the lifelong
commitment to our horses.

If every one of the EPN's members made the committment to support the
EPN when shopping, the EPN could earn thousands of dollars a year. If
you decide to sign up your organization to benefit from these
programs that you have learned about from the EPN Newsletter, then
specify the EPN as the organization that referred you and the EPN
continues to benefit.

So say goodbye to flies this summer & support the EPN at the same
time!

###

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetwork.com
May 9, 2008

Permission to Cross Post

Blind Pony Dragged to Death- Help Needed to Solve Crime- Reward Grows

We know this is not nice to read - please if you do anything at all,
urge the wealthy organizations to donate to the Reward Fund, or to
create a Fund to cover the cost of hiring an attorney, if necessary,
to assist in prosecution. In PA the District Attorney usually does
not get involved at this level and the Humane Society most likely
does not have the funds to hire an attorney. That means the defendant
will have a defense attorney up against the Mercer County Humane
Agent. Very few, if any, humane agents have the training to go up
against a defense attorney. In Florida there is the University of
Florida's (UFL) William R. Maples Center for Forensic Science. Mercer
County is a rural county, the Humane Society is small with very
limited funding.

The EPN hopes that forensic experts will step forward and help the
Mercer County HS positively identify and connect the ATV utilized,
the ropes utilized, and any other forensic evidence that can be
collected to bring the killers of this pony to justice. The
technology and the funds are available – the EPN is calling for the
individuals, agencies, and organizations with the technology and the
financial resources to accomplish this, to step forward and offer
their expertise and funds. This crime can and must be solved, and the
perpetrator(s) must be made accountable for their barbaric act
against this helpless pony. Who is their next victim going to be – a
helpless child? Animal abusers often graduate to crimes against
people and in some cases become serial killers.

I know we are getting ahead of ourselves here, but when this case is
solved, if forensics are utilized, this would be a case for the
television show, The Forensic Files. The wide spread broadcast would
help bring forensic science to more animal cruelty cases and maybe,
just maybe, bring something good from such a horrific crime.

Contact Information for Mercer County HS:

Renee Dorogy, Humane Agent
Humane Society of Mercer County
P.O. Box 1046
Hermitage, PA 16148
724-981-5445.


Christine Berry
EPN

###

From Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Reward offered in shocking death of blind Mercer pony
Saturday, May 03, 2008
By Linda Wilson Fuoco, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Kahlua was a sweet pony who gently carried children on his back and
was always the first equine in his pasture to trot up to and greet
visitors. His friendliness was all the more touching -- and
unexpected -- because he was blind.
The trusting nature of the 10-year-old gelding, and his blindness,
undoubtedly played a role in his torture and death. Owner Tory Morgan
found his mangled body in her Shenango Township, Mercer County,
pasture on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators think he was roped and
dragged behind an ATV.
Both of Kahlua's back legs were broken. Large pieces of skin had been
ripped away from his legs, chest and belly.
"There were enormous [bruises]" all over his body, especially on his
withers, where another bone may have been broken," said Ms. Morgan,
who is a trained veterinary technician. "There were rope burns that
went down to the bone. Severe swelling indicates he was alive when
those injuries happened. He died a slow and torturous death."
Renee Dorogy, humane agent for the Humane Society of Mercer County,
said, "there are tire tracks in the pasture, we think from an ATV."
The shelter has put up a $500 reward for information leading to an
arrest, and donations were coming in yesterday to up the reward ante.
Four young horses shared the pasture with Kahlua -- three Arabians
and a National Show Horse, which is a breed derived from crossing
Arabians with American Saddlebred horses. Those four were not
injured, though they have some cuts and scratches. Ms. Morgan thinks
they spooked and ran away from whoever brought a vehicle into the
pasture.
"But Kahlua was blind," Ms. Dorogy said. "He wouldn't have seen what
was coming. And he was very sweet. He always went up to people."
Kahlua is a breed known as POA -- Pony of the Americas.
"In the summertime I have 5-20 kids here every day visiting the
horses and Kahlua. I teach them about horse care and they ride.
Kahlua was the safe one" that any child could ride.
"There are many angry people around here," Ms. Morgan said. "My
mother is physically ill because of this. My 14-year-old son is just
numb. How can you explain something like this?"
Anyone with information about Kahlua's death can call 724-981-5445.
Linda Wilson Fuoco can be reached at lfuoco@post-gazette.  com or 412-
263-3064.
First published on May 3, 2008 at 12:00 am

NetPosse.com Featured in Cover Story of April Issue of the Paint
Horse Journal
Pg 88
This is really a good article!!!

Whether they are pasture ponies or performance winners, be sure to a
protect your valued Paint. Photo by Laura Jesberg

http://www.painthorsejournal.com/0408/ProtectingYourPaints.html

Turn to page 88 of your journal and ready this story. If you don't
have the PHJ I think you can get one at Tractor Supply or similar
stores.

Be sure to send an email (see contact info below) to the PHJ thanking
them for bringing this important issue to their readers. The horses
featured are listed with Stolen Horse International.

Preparation is the best way to keep your equine Picaso from
disappearing By Abigail Wilder
awilder@...

Managing Editor
Jessica Smith - jsmith@...

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International
www.netposse.com
704-484-2165

Never Underestimate the Power of One...You!
Join the NetPosse volunteers

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - AL - Two Geldings Stolen in Jefferson
County - Mar 14, 2008

Rusty is a 20 yr old dun quarter horse and Spirit is a 6 yr old black
racking horse. They were seen being loaded into a covered stock
trailer pulled by a dark truck. This happened on the Jefferson-
Tuscaloosa County line in Bessemer, Alabama

Where are they now?

Note: The black racking horse is older than pictured.

For more info, pics and a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/Rusty_Spirit_ALstolenMar08.htm

Please tell your friends about these horses. They could be anywhere
by now...maybe even near you or your friends.

Contact Jason Hosmer (email at link above) and show your support. A
few words goes a long way for a victim.

Debi Metcalfe
Angela Kirby-NetPosse Exec Coordinator
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - UTAH - Endurance Saddles stolen from Garage,
Salt Lake Cnty - Dec. 19 2007 were recovered in March!

One saddle was found for sale on eBay and tracked to a local pawn shop.
The other was recovered because of the first.

Read more on the link below ...

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/stolentack/EnduranceSaddlesUTdec07
.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc.
www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - SC - Black TWH Mare Lost on Trail -
Chesterfield Cnty - Apr 13, 2008

When the saddle slipped, Gypsy took off in Cooper Black Jr. State
Park on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

With about 6,000 acres, the owner is still searching for this horse.
Have you seen her? Did someone find her and not know who to call?

For more info, pics and a to print a flyer, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/missing_1/GypsySCmissingApr08.ht
m

A missing horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same.

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

Equine Protection Network
www.EquineProtectionNetwork.com
April 11, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rodeo Company Drivers Convicted of Violating PA Horse Transport Law
Banning Doubles has Scheduled Dates in IL – Passage of IL Horse
Transport Law will Ban Doubles

Three Hills Rodeo, whose drivers pled guilty to 36 counts of
violating the PA Horse Transport Law in 2005 and paid $5000.00 in
fines, also have five dates scheduled in Illinois in 2008. The
Illinois House just passed the IL Horse Transport Bill, HB 4162 on
Monday 80-26, and if passed will ban the use of double deck trailers
to transport any horse, no matter what its final destination
effective immediately.

  State Representatives from the locations of these rodeos, Freeport,
Jim Saccia, (R), Peoria Rep. Schock,(R) and the Rep. from Rockford,
Winters, (R),all voted against the bill. Representatives Reiss (R)
also spoke out against the bill. Saccia has been the most outspoken
opposing the legislation and has introduced his own bill (HB4489)with
the same language and with language that would repeal the 2007
legislation that closed the horse slaughter plant in DeKalb. Saccia
and others are trying to move the focus of this legislation from a
horse transport issue to a horse slaughter issue. Low- end dealers,
rodeo stock contractors, and "killer buyers" utilize double deck
trailers. Double deck trailers are not designed, safety tested, and
manufactured for horses, nor are they marketed to the horse industry.

Background information on double deck trailers, including photos,
diagrams, video, statutes, violations, and convictions under state
and federal regulations, legislative history of the federal
regulations and more, can all be found at the Equine Protection
Network's website in the Transport Section.

Saccia's argument is the economic hardship for killer buyers
transporting horses long distances to slaughter. What Saccia fails to
understand is that it is against the Commercial Transportation of
Horses to Slaughter Act, Federal Regulations, Volume 66, No, 236,
published Dec. 7, 2001 to transport horses to slaughter in double
deck trailers. (the doubles ban went into effect 5 years from
effective date) Also according to the USDA,

"As stated previously, commercial shippers typically charge owners a
flat rate to transport their equines, so the possibility of fewer
equines per shipment should not result in less revenue for commercial
shippers."

Regarding Saccia's statements on overcrowding on single decks:

"Overcrowding can also occur in single-deck (also called straight-
deck) trailers, which are used to transport equines to a lesser
extent than double-deck trailers. The requirement concerning adequate
space could translate into fewer equines per conveyance."

Regarding questions on the number of equines carried on a double
versus a single or straight deck trailer: Pg. 63594:

"We acknowledge that double-deck trailers can carry more equines and
other livestock than single-deck trailers. We are allowing the
continued use of double-deck trailers for the next 5 years in order
to minimize economic losses to those dependent on the use of
doubledeck trailers.

Regarding the idea that doubles can be modified or that somehow a
double deck trailer can be constructed in the future that can
transport horses safely and humanely: Pg. 63594:

  "We do not believe that equines can be safely and humanely
transported on a conveyance that has an animal cargo space divided
into two or more stacked levels. As stated in the proposal, double-
deck trailers can continue to be used to transport other commodities,
including produce and livestock other than equines. Also, owners can
sell their serviceable trailers at fair market value to transporters
of commodities other than equines."

Questions from those opposing regarding how many doubles are
utilized. From pg 63613:

"In fact, it is estimated that double-deck trailers in general carry
equines no more than about 10 percent of the time they are in use."



As for Representatives Reiss questions as to whether or not the
horses know what deck they are on, and if they do not what does it
matter, the EPN's Christine Berry responds,

"I know that horses realize they are not in a van designed for horses
from the moment they are forced with electric cattle prods, whips, or
biting dogs into a dark trailer by means of a "trap door" in the rear
of the trailer, forced to lower their heads & jump down into the
lower deck. As they slip and fall on the slippery metal floors and
then slam their heads into the top deck as they fight to regain their
balance by raising their heads, I can assure you those horses know
that they are not on a van that is designed, safety tested,
manufactured, or marketed to the horse industry!"

Boland from Moline voted in favor of the bill.

Three Hills also has dates scheduled in Maryland (2006) and New York,
(1980) two states that have also banned the use of double deck
trailers to transport any horse, no matter what its final
destination.

Three Hills has continued to come to PA for the rodeo in Plymouth
Meeting, PA in September. The sky has not fallen on rodeo since they
cannot use doubles to transport horses in PA since 2001 and it will
not fall in IL when IL passes the IL Horse Transport Bill. The EPN
supports this legislation as currently drafted and has the support of
the commercial horse transportation industry, including the National
Horse Carriers Association, Brook Ledge, Drexler Horse Transport, C
and E Horse Transport, along with Stolen Horse International and The
Paper Horse Magazine. Equine Advocates, Arlington Park, and numerous
other organizations support this legislation that is in line with
accepted horse industry practices.

Illinois Dates

Peoria, Rockford, and Moline, IL in January
Galena, IL on July 4-5th
Freeport, IL on August 21st



Christine Berry

Equine Protection Network

www.SaveAmericasHorses.com
www.HoofPAC.com

PLEASE CROSSPOST
Previous version had typos-please accept our apologies.
**************************************

Equine Protection Network
www.equineprotectionnetowrk.com
April 8, 2007

IL Horse Transport Bill Passes IL House 80-29

Great News for the horses and time to ride onto the Senate! The
record will show the three Republicans arguing against this issue at
the behest of the Farm Bureau, Pork Producers, and Beef Association
with facts that are not valid. Too bad no one stood up and let the
opposition have it with the facts proving that they were speaking out
of their hind parts.

When the transcript is available we will post on our website.

On the IL House Floor, three Republicans spoke against this bill.

Their concerns were that it would be an economic detriment to those
hauling horses to slaughter and that now horses had to travel farther
to slaughter since Cavel closed.

One Rep even asked Rep Osmond if the horses "knew what deck they were
on" and if they didn't what did it matter.

The EPN's Christine Berry responds,

"I know that horses realize they are not in a van designed for horses
from the moment they are forced with electric cattle prods, whips, or
biting dogs into a dark trailer by means of a "trap door" in the rear
of the trailer, forced to lower their heads & jump down into the
pitch blackness of the lower deck. As they slip and fall on the
slippery metal floors and then slam their heads into the 3" I beams
supporting the top deck as they fight to regain their balance by
raising their heads, I can assure you those horses know that they are
not on a van that is designed, safety tested, manufactured, or
marketed to the horse industry!"

Rep Reis and Saccia also directed questions to Osmond regarding the
number of horses on a straight deck versus a double deck,
overcrowding, etc.

In response to those comments I offer the USDA's statements from the
Commercial Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Act of 1996
Regulations dated December 7, 2001, Vol 66, No, 236,pg 63613:

"In fact, it is estimated that double-deck trailers in general carry
equines no more than about 10 percent of the time they are in use."

Regarding the number of horses on a double deck versus a straight
deck:

"This assumes 45 horses on a double-deck trailer and 38 horses on a
single-deck trailer."

Further on the issue of overcrowding and the economic cost to
shippers:

"Overcrowding can also occur in single-deck (also called straight-
deck) trailers, which are used to transport equines to a lesser
extent than double-deck trailers. The requirement concerning adequate
space could translate into fewer equines per conveyance. As stated
previously, commercial shippers typically charge owners a flat rate
to transport their equines, so the possibility of fewer equines per
shipment should not result in less revenue for commercial shippers."

On banning doubles:

The USDA has acknowledged that more horses can be transported in a
double as opposed to a straight deck . Even so, the USDA banned
doubles for horses because, even if modified they cannot be made safe
and humane for horses.

Pg. 63594

"We acknowledge that double-deck trailers can carry more equines and
other livestock than single-deck trailers. We are allowing the
continued use of double-deck trailers for the next 5 years in order
to minimize economic losses to those dependent on the use of
doubledeck trailers. We do not believe that equines can be safely and
humanely transported on a conveyance that has an animal cargo space
divided into two or more stacked levels. As stated in the proposal,
double-deck trailers can continue to be used to transport other
commodities, including produce and livestock other than equines.
Also, owners can sell their serviceable trailers at fair market value
to transporters of commodities other than equines."

It is time for the Farm Bureau to step aside and leave the horses
alone. Get a life guys - the horse transportation industry is opposed
to these trailers, the horse industry is opposed to these trailers
and the vets are opposed to these trailers. Do the honorable thing
and walk away from this issue. As for the Republican Representatives,
if you are going to argue an issue, get your facts straight on the
issue unless of course you want to be like Hillary who is dodging
imaginary sniper fire.

Christine Berry
EPN

Equine Protection Network
www.EquineProtectionNetwork.com
www.SaveAmericasHorses.com

E-Mail:

Comcast blocks e-mails before it reaches us, so we may not be getting
your e-mails. Send to:equineprotection@... or epnpa@...

Remember to Shop at IGive.com, Heartof.com, EScrip, GoodShop.com and
the EPN benefits!
Search the Net using GoodSearch & EPN benefits!
Subscribe or Renew your magazines & Support the EPN!
EPN Sanctuary Program is needs funds to care for Silver Inflation-
shop online & support Silver Inflation!

************************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2008

To All Supporters:

The IL Horse Transport Bill, HB4162 introduced by Rep. JoAnn Osmond
is scheduled to come to a vote on the IL House Floor this week. The
EPN is SUPPORTING HB4162 due to Rep Osmond's removal of the hostile
amendment offered by the IL Farm Bureau. The EPN supports the IL
Horse Transport Bill as currently drafted.The EPN has the support of
the commercial horse transport industry,The Paper Horse, Stolen Horse
International along with other organizatons and thousands of
indviduals.

In March the EPN opposed HB4162 after Rep Osmond accepted a hostile
amendment (House Amendment 02) from the IL Farm Bureau. Swift
opposition from the EPN and our supporters resulted in the withdrawal
of the amendment by Osmond. The hostile amendment would have
legalized the transport of horses in double deck trailers,legitimized
their use and have been a template for the opposition in other states.

The EPN is urging individuals and organizations from Illinois to
contact their state representative and if outside of Illinois to
contact the Speaker of the House,Speaker Michael J. Madigan, to voice
their support for passage of IL HB 4162 as currently drafted with NO
amendments. The goal of the bill is to prevent the use of double deck
trailers, to transport any horse, no matter what its final
destination, not regulate their use.

The IL Farm Bureau, the Pork Producers, & the Beef Association are
the enemy on this issue and any amendment offered by them is
considered hostile. The Farm Bureau represesnts the pro slaughter
forces-foreign owned slaughter houses and other groups who want to
hide behind the Farm Bureau so as to avoid the negative publicity of
being pro-slaughter or opposed to banning doubles.

The Farm Bureau has been working for several years to bring the horse
industry into their fold-this is similar to the witch luring Hansel &
Gretel to the cottage in the woods. Just as going with the wicked
witch bode betrayal for Hansel and Gretel, so does going with the
Farm Bureau bode betrayal for the horses. In the fairy tale the
witch's goal is to cook Hansel and Gretel; In the real world, the
Farm Bureau wants to cook the horses for foreign dinner tables.

Low end dealers, rodeo stock contractors, and killer buyers utilize
double deck trailers and claim they are safe since they have been
modified. The USDA has indicated, that even if modified these
trailers cannot be made safe and humane for horses.

Here is a link to the IL House Live so you can listen in to the
debate on the IL House Floor:

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

"As it stands right now the language is pristine and it must remain
that way for the EPN to continue to support", states Christine Berry
of the PA based Equine Protection Network. "The IL Horse Transport
Bill is modeled after the PA Horse Transport Bill -the gold standard
for horse transport laws. The law prohibits the transport of any
horse no matter what its final destination in double deck trailers.
The PA Horse Transport Law works. Law enforcement officers without
special training and/or expert witnesses have successfully prosecuted
violators. The very people charged with enforcement of the law praise
it for its simplicity and specificity and refer to as one of PA's
strongest criminal laws. The PA Horse Transport Law is the strongest
law of its kind in the United States. The goal is the same for
Illinois."


The EPN always urges our supporters to be informed of the facts. With
that in mind, we strive to provide on our website the original
document provided by the person or agency that created the source
document along with a link to the document source. Readers are often
misled by an individual or an organization that has put a spin on the
facts, or has inflated or exaggerated their participation in events
as a means to cast themselves in a favorable light, thus garnering
publicity and public support in an effort to benefit financially.

The EPN continues to urge our supporters to give credit and thank in
writing the public officials, the police, the prosecutors, and the
judges who are doing their duties of enforcing, prosecuting, and
sentencing those who violate the laws against cruelty to horses.

The trailer accident that launched the IL Horse Transport Bill is
scheduled for a hearing in court on April 14, 2008. The owner has
been charged under current Il law for cruelty to horses.

IL Horse Transport Bill Information:Link ends in "html" copy & paste
entire link if Yahoo! breaks the link onto 2 lines.

http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/legislation/ILTransportBill.htm
l

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Speaker Michael J. Madigan
Springfield Office:
300 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL   62706
(217) 782-5350
(217) 524-1794 FAX


House Members:

House Officers:

http://www.ilga.gov/house/95th_House_Officers.html

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

###

Remember to Shop at IGive.com, Heartof.com, EScrip, GoodShop.com and
the EPN benefits!
Search the Net using GoodSearch & EPN benefits!
Subscribe or Renew your magazines & Support the EPN!

WEBSITE UPDATES:

Legislative History of Commercial Transportation of Horses to
Slaughter Act
MD Horse Transport Law of 2006 & MD Horse Transport Law Card
Status of Federal Legislation
Cremation Companies

Coming Soon:
PA Legislative History
Status of Wild Horse Legislation
Legislation 101

Equine Protection Network
www.EquineProtectionNetwork.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 24, 2008

RE: IL Horse Transport Bill Update

The hostile amendment, (02) accepted by the bill's sponsor, Rep.
JoAnn Osmond that would have legalized the use of double deck
trailers for horses in IL, weakened other state laws and been a
template for Farm Bureau amendments in other states, has been tabled
according to Rep Osmond. We are pleased that Rep Osmond has agreed to
table the amendment and look forward to again supporting IL HB 4162
without the hostile amendment.

Legislation can take a lot of twists and turns during the legislative
process and equine advocates must always remain vigilant for hostile
amendments that will negate the intent of the legislation. It is
often the outside hard scrutiny, along with the voices of the People
that keeps a piece of legislation on the straight and narrow that
otherwise might seek the path of least resistance. An immediate
response to a hostile amendment resulted in the just as immediate
tabling of the hostile amendment and we look forward to moving ahead
with the IL Horse Transport Bill as currently written.

IL HB 4162 modeled after the PA Horse Transport Law, is a good clean
bill as currently written. The successful enforcement and prosecution
of the PA Horse Transport Law indicates the language works.
Prosecutors and law enforcement officers alike praise the PA Horse
Transport Law for its simplicity and specificity which allows any law
enforcement officer to make an arrest and prosecute; no expert
witnesses or special training is required for law enforcement
officers.

Gone are the days when animal welfare organizations introduced an
animal friendly bill and before the legislative process was done so
many hostile amendments had been accepted that the bill was now an
industry bill that legitimized, legalized, and regulated the very
practice that the original bill was introduced to prohibit.
Supporters were never informed of the Facts and blindly continued to
support a bill that was unrecognizable to the original bill.

PA HORSE TRANSPORT LAW

The EPN achieved the goal of a transport law that prohibited the
transport of any horse, no matter what its final destination in
Pennsylvania because the EPN stood our ground in PA during the
campaign to pass the PA Horse Transport Law of 2001. Law enforcement
officers and prosecutors, the very people charged with enforcement of
the PA Horse Transport Law have praised the EPN for passage of the PA
Horse Transport Law, the strongest law of its kind in the United
States, and one of PA's strongest criminal laws.

The EPN did not bow to the pressure from animal welfare organizations
urging us to accept a bill that compromised the goal of the
legislation, which was to ban double deck trailers to transport any
horse, no matter what their final destination. Instead, individuals
and groups who would have accepted a compromised bill denounced the
EPN for our refusal to compromise and accept language that would have
regulated their use and legitimized horse slaughter.

If it were not for EPN alerting the public to the facts, the People
would have remained silent, the lobbyists would have achieved the
goal of the exemption of their clients, and the animal welfare
groups, and the politicians would have had their publicity victory
and, a basis for more fundraising.

There would have been no press releases announcing the arrest of
Three Hills Rodeo or Sugarcreek Livestock, only press releases
congratulating everyone on the passage of the PA Horse Transport Law
and calling for more donations so they could address the still
remaining problems. The old, "come back and fix it later" rhetoric
that animal welfare groups are famous for.

The EPN wants our supporters and allies to read the Facts for
themselves and understand an issue so that they can articulate the
issue to their legislators, the media, law enforcement, and the
public. The EPN strives to provide our supporters with the Facts of
the situation by posting the federal regulations, state statutes,
proposed bills, and legislative proceedings such as committee
hearings or house debates verbatim, and by providing the links to
government websites.

The Facts of an issue can stand on their own merit and do not need a
spin put on them by those who stand to benefit. Those who are afraid
of the Facts and the Truth attempt to silence those who provide the
Facts. The first line of defense is to keep the Facts out by
silencing the speaker. If that does not work the next step is to
discredit the speaker of the Facts by referring to them as, "well
intentioned, but uninformed or emotional" or "That is not the way it
works in this state". If that fails the Facts are referred to
as "false or misleading".

The PA Horse Transport Law of 2001 is pristine. It can, and has been
successfully enforced by law enforcement officers without special
training and/or expert witnesses. It applies to all horses no matter
what its final destination. The goal is the same for Illinois.

We urge our supporters to never blindly follow without reading the
Facts for yourself. The Internet provides advocates the means to
provide the People with the Facts. It is our job as advocates to keep
the People updated on the behind the scenes maneuverings of lobbyists
and the political climate changes.

Advocates should not and must not be silenced. Silence is the friend
of dictators and corruption, and the foe of the truth and the will of
The People. The People deserve the Facts, and the horses deserve
better. No matter what the situation...be informed.

Thank you for your continued support for our efforts to pass an IL
Horse Transport Law that will ban double deck trailers for all
horses, no matter what their final destination.
The EPN will continue to keep you posted on the status of the IL
Horse Transport Bill with legislative alerts.

Christine Berry
EPN

###

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - FL - Stolen - Brwn/Wht Paint Mare -
Miami/Dade - March 21, 2008

Pinta was stolen from her stall during a roping event in Miami/Dade
County. There is a suspect, but Pinta needs to be found.

To print a flyer more pictures and contact info, go to:
http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/PintaFLstolenMar08.htm

A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same.

Report Submitted By: Det. Deborah Puentes
Officer email: dapuentes@...

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
If you put information on your website please link the info to
NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating information and has the only flyer
ready to print and post for those who want to help.  The Internet is
great for spreading the word but success stories show that most horse
are found from a flyer. Thank you very much for your generosity in
helping these victims. -- Debi Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse
International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - KY - RECOVERED -  TWH Mare & Gelding -
March 11, 2008

... someone located my two horses on a vacant farm. We retrieved the
horses this afternoon and returned them to our farm. The horses are
in great condition. I'd like to thank you and your group for the
support and all the emails that I received. Thank you again and I
wish future success for your
organization.
Rodney

For pictures of the hores and more info, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/Sunshine_BlackJack_KYstolenMar08
.htm

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse - Never
underestimate the power of one!
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A stolen horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.

NetPosse.com Idaho Alert - MN - Missing -Friesian Stallion Grand
Meadow-Mower Co - Jan 2008

Freedom's owner is frantic! When a friendship ended badly in Jan
2008, her "friend" took her horse. April has been told that Freedom
was sold at auction on March 15, 2008 - but she doesn't know where!

Please help April find the horse of her dreams! He may have been sold
with papers, but they were not legal! The papers were in April's name.

For FLYER, contact email, more pictures and info, go to:

http://www.netposse.com/stolenmissing/missing_1/FreedomMNmissingJan08.
htm

Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. Never underestimate the power of
one!


Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc. www.netposse.com
704-484-2165
reply: stolenhorse@...
Home of Idaho Alerts for Missing Horses --Join NetPosse
Purchase microchips and farm security signs at SHI --Proceeds help
continue SHII's educational and victim support programs.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------

NetPosse.com Stolen Horse Alerts for Stolen/Missing Horses and
more ...
A missing horse could be a long distance in a short time period.
Please pass this to your associations, list groups, council members,
friends and ask them to do the same. If you put information on your
website please link the info to NetPosse.com. SHI will be updating
information and has the only flyer ready to print and post for those
who want to help.  The Internet is great for spreading the word but
success stories show that most horse are found from a flyer. Thank
you very much for your generosity in helping these victims. -- Debi
Metcalfe , President--Stolen Horse International.

Equine Protection Network
www.EquineProtectionNetwork

March 19, 2008

IL Horse Transport Bill Update

Christine Berry & the EPN are being criticized for doing our job,
which is to inform people that a good horse transport bill has been
compromised due to the informed sponsor of the bill accepting a
hostile amendment from the enemy.

The sponsor, Osmond, was provided with information providing for the
justification of the bill, contact information for people experienced
in the enforcement of similar statutes, other state horse transport
statutes, video and photographic documentation including diagrams,
testimony articulating support for the issue, rebuttal testimony for
opposing arguments, police accident and incident reports, legislative
and court documents relating to the passage and enforcement of
statutes, and support from the horse industry, including transport
organizations.


Sponsors of the legislation tried to silence the EPN. The legislator
herself has now gone on record saying that she will only go forward
with the bill if the Farm Bureau accepts the language.

Therefore, everything the EPN has been trying to inform people about
was, and is, true.

*******************************************

Please remember there is a second IL HB that is also toxic,
introduced for the sole purpose of repealing the IL legislation
ending slaughter in IL.

*********************************************

Commercial Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Act Legislative
History

The original bills, sponsors comments, arguments opposing passage,
proposed rules, and final rules are posted in the Transport Section
of EPN website.

Passage of this legislation:

Legitimized horse slaughter;

Put the very people identified as the abusers in charge of the
horses' welfare;

Legalized & Legitimized the transport of horses 28 hours with no
food, no water, and no rest;

Legitimized the transport of horses in double deck trailers through
the continued use for 5 more years after the Proposed Rules were
drafted and 11 years after passage of the Commercial Transportation
of Horses to Slaughter Act;

Has been utilized by the pro slaughter forces to dismiss the anti-
slaughter argument that the transport to slaughter is inhumane;

As predicted by the CEC, the passage of this legislation led to water
deprivation studies that were paid for with your tax dollars. As
Cathleen Doyle said so well, "The horses didn't even get rubber mats!"

I was contacted by a volunteer for HSUS and asked to support this
bill and to help garner more support for this bill because, it would
eliminate double deckers, provide food, water, and rest every 12
hours, provide secure footing, prohibit pregnant mares, provide for a
veterinary "fit to travel" certificate, and prevent stallions, mares,
and foals from being shipped together.

Trusting an organization without reading the bill for yourself is a
mistake. The EPN always provides readers with the actual bill or
statute, or other document so that people can read for themselves
what statements were made as in the case of House Debates, the actual
language of a proposed bill or the actual statute.

I was naive and blindly trusted the HSUS and the list of other animal
welfare groups. I supported this bill and called for more support. I
was told NOT to contact the California groups as they were against
slaughter and did not want any bill passed. I was assured that this
bill was, "better than nothing" because slaughter was never going to
end.

I made a mistake in supporting the amendment to the Farm Bill
that, "Subject to the availability of appropriations", authorized the
Secretary of Agriculture to " issue guidelines for the regulation of
the commercial transportation of equine for slaughter by persons
regularly engaged in that activity within the United States."

Once I learned of my mistake, I opposed the proposed regulations and
called upon our supporters to do the same. The EPN's comments on the
proposed federal regulations has been on the EPN website since 1999
in the Legislation Section.

At the same time I worked to pass the strongest law in the United
States to ban the transport of horses in double deck trailers, no
matter what their final destination. The PA Horse Transport Law of
2001 is the result of refusing to accept vague and unenforceable
language, refusing to, "wait unil the Senate, we can have the hostile
Three Legged amendment language removed then", and refused to "not to
worry, when they come back in the fall they can vote on it" or "we
cannot dictate to the Department of Agriculture the language of the
bill", or "keeping the word "slaughter" in the bill because that
draws more attention to the bill", or "something is better than
nothing Chris, we don't want to make them mad."


Sound familiar? Supporters of a toxic bill urging people not to
listen to those who are calling for opposition to bad bill because we
might make the sponsor who accepted the hostile amendment from the
enemy mad. I have heard the same rhetoric in PA that I am hearing now
in Illinois. The same commentary is being utilized now, "mis-
information" What mis-information?

Bring it on point by point the "mis-information" presented by the EPN
on the InHumane IL Horse Transport Bill, HB 4162.

Christine Berry & the EPN are being criticized for doing our job,
which is to inform people that a good horse transport bill has been
compromised due to the informed sponsor of the bill accepting a
hostile amendment from enemy.

The sponsor was provided with information providing for the
justification of the bill, contact information for people experienced
in the enforcement of similar statutes, other state horse transport
statutes, video and photographic documentation including diagrams,
testimony articulating support for the issue, rebuttal testimony for
opposing arguments, police accident and incident reports, legislative
and court documents relating to the passage and enforcement of
statutes, and support from horse industry, including transport
organizations.

Sponsors of the legislation tried to silence the EPN. The legislator
herself has now gone on record saying that she will only go forward
with the bill if the Farm Bureau accepts the language.

Therefore everything the EPN has been trying to inform people about
was and is true.

Christine Berry
EPN

Equine Protection Network
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 17, 2008
Contact Christine Berry
570-345-6440
IL HB4162- OPPOSE and IL  HB4166 and IL HB4489 -OPPOSE
On March 12, State Rep JoAnn Osmond accepted a hostile amendment
(House Amendment 02) to IL HB 4162, now dubbed the Inhumane IL Horse
Transport Bill, from the opposition, the Farm Bureau.
FACT:
• The Farm Bureau represents the pro slaughter forces - the
foreign owned slaughterhouses, the AQHA, the AAEP, the AVMA, the
Cattleman, Meat Industry, and the Pork Producers.
• The Farm Bureau OPPOSED Illinois legislation that closed the
horse slaughterhouses in Illinois
• The Farm Bureau is the ENEMY of the horses.
• The Farm Bureau OPPOSED the PA Horse Transport Bill for FIVE
years.
• House Amendment 02 will LEGALIZE the transport of any horse
no matter what its final destination in a double deck trailer.
• Osmond was informed on numerous occasions in writing and on
the phone that the opposition would claim that their trailers
were, "specifically designed for horses" the same language of the
hostile amendment that Osmond accepted from the IL Farm Bureau.
The EPN informed Osmond on March 13, 2008 that the EPN and our
supporters, including the National Horse Carriers Association,
Drexler Horse Transport, C & E Horse Transport, Stolen Horse
International, Animal Angels, Equine Advocates, The Paper Horse
Magazine, Large Animal Protection Society, and thousands of
individuals have withdrawn our support and our OPPOSING the Inhumane
IL Horse Transport Bill, HB 4162.
On the other hand, Gail Vacca is urging the supporters of humane
transport for horses to "sit tight" for the next 2 weeks and do
NOTHING in response to the Farm Bureau's addition of a hostile
amendment (House Amendment 02) to the IL Horse Transport Bill, HB
4162, that will legalize the transport of horses in double deck
trailers and if passed would weaken every transport law in the
country and would be the template for language in other states!
The Farm Bureau is sitting back and laughing as Vacca does their work
for them of attempting to silence the opposition! It never fails to
amaze the EPN that animal welfare organizations are willing to take
hostile amendments without a fight while the opposition vigorously
opposes legislation hostile to their interests.
While the ineffective animal welfare groups sit back quietly and wait
for Vacca to ride to the rescue in 2 weeks, the IL Farm Bureau is
gathering support for the two toxic INHUMANE IL Horse Transport Bills.
HB4162 and HB4489
Meanwhile the supporters of humane transport for horses spend their
time fighting each other instead of doing what any savvy lobbyist
would do, which is to OPPOSE the toxic Inhumane IL Horse Transport
Bills as vigorously as possible.

Vacca, is attempting to silence the opposition to the toxic InHumane
IL Horse Transport Bill by refusing to allow posts from Christine
Berry of the Equine Protection Network, EPN to be posted on the
public message forum, Against Slaughter Board, has deleted posts by
the EPN from another board, and is attempting to silence the EPN in
other forums. Vacca is misleading the public by stating that the
Illinois General Assembly does NOT record committee hearings and
denying that the Committee Hearing of February 21, 2008 was recorded
and has nothing to do with the hostile Farm Bureau amendment. Vacca
clearly does not know the statutes of her own state as the
Legislative Materials Act provides for the recording and archiving of
the proceedings of the General Assembly. The text regarding the
recording of IL General Assembly proceedings is listed at the end of
this e-mail.

If any horse transport legislation that regulates, legitimizes, or
legalizes doubles for the transport of any horse, no matter what its
final destination passes in Illinois, the blame can be laid squarely
at Vacca's feet. Vacca claims that the amendment had nothing to do
with the hearings. The EPN finds that hard to believe when the
language regarding the design and the possibility of taking an
amendment from the Farm Bureau is discussed by Osmond!

In the hearing Osmond states she has, "great respect for the Farm
Bureau" and "if we can work this language out with the Farm Bureau
where they are comfortable with it, I am all for it."

According to Osmond, "Farm Bureau's been very helpful trying to work
out this language"

The IL Farm Bureau has been helpful in destroying the intent of the
bill in the EPN's opinion.

The Farm Bureau's position is that there is the possibility that a
manufacture could design a trailer with two levels that can safely
transport horses. The issue of a multi-level trailer is discussed.
The language states "stacked on top of each other" because that is
the issue and that is the language the USDA uses when they state that
these trailers cannot be made safe and humane for horses, even if
modified.

No one in this hearing was able to clearly or concisely articulate
important points of this issue to the committee members. No one stood
up and forcefully stated in response to the Farm Bureau's claims that
people need to be able to transport more horses farther distances
through Illinois,

• Double deck trailers are not designed, safety tested,
manufactured, or marketed to the horse industry
• According to the Commercial Transportation of Horses to
Slaughter Act, it is illegal to transport horses to slaughter!!
• According to the USDA, double deck trailers cannot be made
safe and humane for horses, even if modified.
That is inexcusable. Are these the same people who are going to meet
with Osmond in 2 weeks and attempt to explain this issue to Osmond
what has already been presented to her by the EPN numerous times and
Osmond has chosen to ignore??
The EPN has offered our expertise and others' who have experience in
this area to Osmond. Christine Berry can articulate this issue,
including the manufacture questions, why they cannot be made safe and
humane for horses, the federal regulations, state laws, successful
enforcement of laws, history of these laws, the transport of horses,
and refute the oppositions' arguments citing published sources and
court documents. Osmond stated she did not need any assistance and
went ahead and accepted a hostile amendment from the opposition that
has supported the slaughter of America's Horses, supported the
inhumane transport in double deck trailers, and who represents the
opponents of IL legislation that bans horse slaughter.
The Farm Bureau is the enemy of the horses. The Farm Bureau
represents the pro slaughter industry, the foreign owned
slaughterhouses, the AQHA, the AAEP, the AVMA, the Cattleman, and the
Pork Producers. No legislator who is a friend of the horses would
accept an amendment from the enemy of the horses! Osmond accepted
this amendment from the Farm Bureau even though Osmond was provided
with:
• Information and documentation proving the Farm Bureau's
statements in Committee Hearings were false and had no basis in fact.
• Warned the Farm Bureau would offer vague language that would
regulate the use of doubles and NEGATE the intention of the bill
• Informed that the opposition would argue that, "their
trailers were specifically designed for horses" and provided with the
statements from the USDA that, "even if modified these trailers could
not be made safe and humane for horses".
• Provided with information refuting the Farm Bureau's claims
that they were only one or two crashes involving doubles with horses
The EPN is asking people to contact Rep Osmond and OPPOSE this
legislation due to the addition of House Amendment 02 which would
legalize the transport of horses in double deck trailers.
Contact organizations and ask them to also oppose. If we sit quietly
back hoping that someone else will take the time to speak up, the
horses will suffer and we have nobody to blame but ourselves for
doing nothing.
HB4162- OPPOSE and HB4166 and HB4489 -OPPOSE
To sit back quietly and do nothing is naοve and is exactly what the
opposition wants us to do while they continue to garner support for
the two toxic INHUMANE IL Horse Transport Bills.
The EPN finds it hard to believe that Osmond is a friend of the
horses. Friends of the horses listen to those who know this issue and
who have proven their loyalty to the horses. They do not ignore the
information provided to them and then meet with the enemy who is
never going to agree to legislation that interferes with their
supporter's ability to make as much money as possible transporting
horses using any method that allows them to make the most money and
the horse's welfare be damned.

Christine Berry
EPN

The below link is to the IL General Assembly website on audio/video.

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

Here is the text:
House of Representatives - Live Audio/Video
________________________________________
This page is displayed on days and at times when the House is not in
session. The audio/video capabilities are activated when session
actually begins. This process may take a few minutes. It may be
necessary for you refresh/reload your screen at the Illinois General
Assembly home page in order to access the activated link to the
audio/video. Remember also that once the media player loads on your
PC, you will have another 20-30 seconds of waiting while the data is
buffering (depending on the speed of your connection to the Internet).

This live session video/audio broadcast is the property of the
Illinois General Assembly. Any use of this broadcast without the
prior written consent of the Illinois General Assembly is prohibited.

In accordance with the Legislative Materials Act (25 ILCS 105/1) the
proceedings of the 95th General Assembly will be recorded and
archived on digital video disc (DVD) by the House Clerk. Copies may
be obtained on DVD from the Clerk for a fee. Unauthorized duplication
of these recordings is prohibited.

The time of day that session begins on any given session day is
established by the House of Representatives. Because this time varies
from one day to the next, we do not list the actual time on this
page. In addition, the House can and often does delay convening until
preliminary activities such as committee hearings are complete.

On the home page you can go to the 'Schedules' link of the House of
Representatives and click the 'House Daily Calendar' link. This will
give a tentative time that session will begin. Keep in mind that this
time can be changed by the House of Representatives. Also be advised
that, because it is based on the latest legislative activity, the
House does not normally prepare the daily calendar for a given
session day until late on the day immediately before.

###

Christine Berry
Equine Protection Network
www.SaveAmericasHorses.com
www.HoofPAC.com