Horse slaughter opponents WIN in the House!!!!!!!

[ailsagirl]

Horse slaughter opponents win major victory in U.S. House

In a historic step to end the slaughter of horses in the United States for human consumption overseas, the United States House of Representatives voted 269-158 on Wednesday afternoon to pass an amendment to an appropriations bill by John Sweeney (R-New York) to remove federal funding of inspectors at the three remaining horse slaughterhouses in America.

If a companion bill is passed by the Senate, the Sweeney amendment, co-sponsored by Ed Whitfield (R-Kentucky), Jack Spratt (D-South Carolina) and Nick Rahall II (D-West Virginia), will trigger a 12-month shutdown of those slaughterhouses when a new fiscal year begins October 1.

During the interim, the four lawmakers will work for the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503) presently before the House, which would permanently end horse slaughter in the U.S. for human consumption overseas.

"Today the horse slaughter issue was finally considered in the open, not behind closed doors," Whitfield said. "The vote was a major victory and shows the overwhelming support in Congress to end this brutal practice. The amazing outpouring of public support helped to make this possible and I thank everyone who supported our efforts today."

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=55243&subsec=1

How did YOUR representative vote??
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll233.xml

[Southsideirish]

1. Yay!

[Desertrose]

2. Thank god..and goddess!!

Maybe there is hope :)

[CottonBear]

3. This is fantastic news!

:)

[SteppingRazor]

4. Ye gods!

The things that even a voracious news consumer never hears about...

Gawd, I've got this horrible image of Mr. Ed begging for mercy. Where do they eat horse steaks, anyway? Just curious. I've been a lot of places, but never seen horse on a menu.

[ailsagirl]

5. We have been sending horsemeat abroad

And it's disgusting.

[acmejack]

6. They love it many places.

A lot of it probably ends up in dog food, too. At least we have stopped them for a while. I'm surprised we prevailed, but pleasantly surprised!

[SteppingRazor]

7. Yes, I know it's abroad, I read the story...

I mean, WHERE abroad? Like I said, I've been all over, and I've never seen anyone eating horse.

[doodadem]

9. France and Japan are two countries I know of

Hell, Japan even eats Derby Winners! Ferdinand, 1986 Derby winner was sold to Japan, and after not doing well there as a sire, was sent to slaughter.
I have an acquaintance that swears she has bought horsemeat at Walmart. She has traveled extensively in Europe, and yes--eaten horsemeat there. She said she picked up a couple cans of "filet mignon" at Walmart one day, because they had it for like $2.99 a can. She said when they cooked it, and tasted, it was horsemeat, no doubt about it. So, she calls up Walmart. They hum and ha, and say most people wouldn't know what horsemeat taste like, can neither confirm or deny, yada yada.
I am curious about the couple slaughterhouses in this country, in IL and TX. They are foreign-owned. I'm wondering, by whom?

[ihaveaquestion]

8. Hate to be realistic, but ...

Now the slaughterhouses will close down and the horses will be shipped out of the country to be killed - probably to Mexico.

[doodadem]

10. I'm hoping that's covered by this

"will defund USDA inspections at the three U.S. horse slaughterhouses as well as border inspections of slaughter-bound horses."
They'd have a hard time smuggling them across the border. They could be pulled over at any point, and documentation demanded. They could not lie about what the horses were intended for, because they would have to produce up-to-date health inspection certificates and Coggins tests. No horse is supposed to leave home without them.

[ihaveaquestion]

11. Forged papers, easily obtained. n/t

[doodadem]

12. No, they're not

If you've ever had to go thru the hassle of getting them, no they're not. Both have to be filled out and signed by a licensed veterinarian, stamped by the Dept of Agriculture--handwritten originals, they will not accept copies. The cops and/or inspectors can actually impound the animals.
I would say that if you're trying to take them out of the country, you're also going to have to show an original bill of sale.
That's probably WAY too much trouble to go to for someone who's only going to make $500-$1,000 selling by the pound, not counting expenses.

[GetTheRightVote]

13. Thank goodness for this action.

:kick: