Full page ad yesterday in DRF by National Horse Protection Coalition.

[Solitaire]

Full page ad yesterday in DRF by National Horse Protection Coalition.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION, THE AMERICAN VETERINARY MEDICAL ASSOCATION AND THE AMERICAN ASSOCATION OF EQUINE PRACTITIONERS

STAND UP AND TAKE A BOW

DUE TO YOUR EFFORTS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN HORSES HAVE BEEN KILLED ANNUALLY IN FOREIGN OWNED SLAUGHTERHOUSES AND SENT ABROAD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.

We could go into detail about the treatment these horses receive in transport, in the holding pens and during the actual slaughter process, but in the interest of good taste, we won't go there. Suffice it to say that what happens to these horses ranges from casual brutality to extreme cruelty. We have a few words to say about these groups.

The American Quarter Horse Association has never polled its members on how they feel about horse slaughter. And we wonder why the AQHA insists on keeping them in the dark about this brutal practice. Our own attempts to inform their membership about this practice have been thwarted; our gentlemanly ads making the case against horse slaughter for human consumption have been rejected by the AQHA magazine. We're guessing that the AQHA position that horses are mere "livestock" would come as news to much of their membership and the owners of Traveler, Silver, Scout, Trigger, Champ, Secretariat and Barbaro. (When was the last time you heard of a cow with a name?)

We think it's time for the AQHA to show some respect for these members and the American people. It's time for this organization to publicly show its hand. It's reprehensible to gush sentimentally about horses while you have a back door open leading to the slaughterhouse. This can no longer be swept under the rug.

As for the veterinarians, our quarrel is not with them individually (most are our staunch allies) but rather with the political organizations that purport to represent them. The pitiful positions of the AVMA and AAEP rest on two points: that some of the slaughtered horses might have been in bad homes had they been allowed to live and that horse slaughter is nothing more than a form of humane euthanasia. We find these positions terminally insensitive and hypocritical and reject the contention that our position qualifies us as extremist "animal rights activists." We'd like to remind these organizations that our own board includes veterinarians and even a few hunters but not a single vegetarian.

We hear a lot these days in the public discourse about taking an "up or down vote" on this matter or that. How about the AQHA, the AVMA and the AAEP taking an up or down vote with their memberships on the matter of the slaughter of American horses for human consumption abroad? Or is the outcome of that vote a foregone conclusion? Find out what you can do to help. Go to www.horse-protection.org.

[yewberry]

1. Do you have any idea of how the AQHA came to their position?

I mean, the AVMA & AAEP have at least made their position clear (dubious as it may be) but what is behind the AQHA's inaction on this?

I really don't know much about them.