Dog-Sense For All Dog Owners

HSUS CONDEMNS HORSE SLAUGHTER

HSUS Proposes Horse Slaughter Prevention Act - A horrid CRUELTY for old or diseased horses forced to live without proper care and unable to eat...

For non-horse owners, this condemns these old horses to the worst forms of cruelty - starving to death with food in front of them, unable to eat because of no "floating" tooth care, suffering disease that would have killed them in the wild.  The HSUS bill makes no provision for equine care... "Animal Rights" at its stupidest best!

August 2006

Bob Kane, SOAVA - Legislative Legend & Lobbyist

UPDATE: PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Act of 2005) is totally dead. This (Senator) Rick Santorum - HSUS-DDAL-AKC-AVMA bill consumed incredible time, energy and resources to kill, but common sense and responsible animal owners prevailed.

SAOVA took a leadership role in this fight and, with the support of hundreds of animal owner groups and thousands of individuals, S1139 and HR2669 were soundly defeated. Neither bill ever had a subcommittee vote and their cosponsor lists never matched those of Sen. Santorum’s 2001, pre-PAWS, Puppy Protection Act (PPA). This support shortfall occurred despite the American Kennel Club (AKC) and American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) switching sides and joining HSUS-DDAL on PAWS, after opposing them in 2001.

Take it from a retired career lobbyist, this was an amazing achievement! Seldom has a pro bono federal lobbying effort had such an inspired and forceful grass roots component. Much is owed to many, but I’d be remiss in not recognizing the many non-canine groups, supporting agriculture interests, and the officers of the forty parent breed clubs and 140 other AKC clubs that put their members' and dogs interests' before the AKC’s disguised attempt to hurt other registries, and in so doing injure thousands and thousands of innocent animal owners.

Susan Wolf of the North Carolina Responsible Animal Owners Alliance and Kelly Wichman of the Dog Federation of Wisconsin also deserve special accolades for their tireless cooperative efforts with SAOVA against PAWS. They gained an unusual DC insider perspective. Few others understand the role that the Judiciary Committees and Department of Justice played in this winning effort.

UPDATE On H.R.503 - The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (HR503) passed the House by a vote 263-146 on September 7, 2006 in a very dark day for animal owners. The hysteria surrounding this bill that was whipped up by the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), and that group's dishonesty, were overwhelming. This bill gives equines quasi-human status, federally dictates end-of-life decisions for animal owners and sets a dangerous precedent by banning a livestock product for reasons other than food safety or public health.

HR503 will not become law. Senate opponents, led by Sen. John Cornyn (TX-R), have put a procedural "hold" on the bill, eliminating any possibility of Senate passage this year. If you agree that HR503 is a bad bill, call the Senator’s office and thank him - 202-224-2934.

HR503 Horse Slaughter Prevention is the bill where the anti's are most likely to achieve success using a revised legislative technique. Equine slaughter is an incredibly emotional issue that divides and ravages the horse community. More than twenty horse owner groups oppose the bill. Race track owners and thoroughbred groups are for HR503 and adamantly opposed to this disposal idea in any form, fearful of a repeat of bad publicity that Derby winner Ferdinand's slaughter in Japan created. HSUS's CEO Wayne Pacelle invokes images of covered wagons, pony express riders and fallen war heroes when he lobbies for HR503. This is also a huge money raiser for the anti's.

The policy issue is whether a horse owner or the government decides how to dispose of an old, sick and unwanted animal. In a few states equines have been classed "companion" animals. For each sides talking points, see the attached paper and

http://www.equineadvocates.com/slaughter.html

https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2006_horses_cosponsorhouse2

http://www.commonhorsesense.com

Since July 2001 there's been at least one horse slaughter ban bill every Congress. The bans normally take the form of prohibitions on shipping horses to slaughter via interstate commerce. The co-sponsor support has steadily grown.

2001 - 8

2002 - 65

2003 - 228

A new (repeat) ban bill was introduced 2/1/2005, HR503/S1915. It has 203 House and 21 Senate cosponsors. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR00503:@@@P Chairman Bob Goodlatte's House Agriculture Committee voted 37-3 to kill HR503 last month. The Energy and Commerce Committee, in a separate action, discharged the bill without recommendation or amendment. Resource Committee Chairman Richard Pombo asked to have the bill referred there, without success. An important factor in this fight is the very public opposition to the bans by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

ACTION REQUEST:

HSUS is pushing for a HR503 floor vote on September 7th, immediately after Congress returns from its August recess. Most House members are home in their districts, busy campaigning for reelection in November. Please contact your individual Congressman and urge him to vote *against* HR503. If he or she is listed as a bill cosponsor (above), take special pains to make your points against HR503.

In addition, call or fax the following House GOP leaders and ask that HR503 not be permitted on the floor. At a minimum, it should have a hearing before the Resources Committee.

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (202) 225-2976 - Fax: (202) 225-0697

Majority Leader John A. Boehner (202) 225-6205 - Fax: (202) 225-0704

Rules Chairman David Dreier 202) 225-2305 - Fax: (202) 225-7018

H.R. 857 is another first step into federal legislation restricting your rights as an animal owner. It has to do with equine slaughter and it does nothing for horses but everything for the political growth and bank account of the Humane Society Of America (HSUS.) It fails to provide any standard of humane care for horse rescue facilities now receiving federal funds. It fails to provide funding (minimum $1800 per year for minimum care) for the huge numbers of sick and elderly horses that would be kept alive in order to promote the political agenda. It fails to provide care/facility funding for horses confiscated from violators or voluntarily turned in due to new slaughter restrictions, thus causing unnecessary suffering for the horses. It restricts euthanasia methods, hampering vets and forcing inhumane killing of horses. It fails to address the significant environmental issues resulting from the necessary disposal of thousands of carcasses presently being “recycled” through slaughter houses.

Like other such bills pushed by anti-animal agendas, it “sounds” as though it would benefit horses when in fact, the exact opposite is the case. It is devious and deadly to animal owners.

UPDATE: The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) (S3880) passed the Senate on September 30, 2006. This is a pro-animal owner interest bill. The House will take it up during the lame duck session. Bill dynamics in the House after the November 7th election will be substantially changed, if the Democrats win control of that chamber, even though new members won’t be seated until January. This makes it hard to predict S3880’s chances. SAOVA lobbied for AETA's inclusion of hunting-related business enterprises.

No bills are ever carried over to the next Congress, contrary to what consultant James Holt told AKC’s Lobby Day PAWS supporters last month. However, the anti’s efforts will never cease and new assaults against us, our sports and livelihoods are guaranteed. These positive lobbying experiences of 2005-2006 demonstrate that we can effectively protect interests if we stay vigilant, communicate, work hard together and get to know our legislators better.

The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), the anti's flagship group in Washington for federal lobbying and political campaigning, may be poised for a major legislative victory. It's not on S1139, the Pet Animal Welfare Statute (PAWS). Your help is needed to defeat this anti's precedent-setting effort to bypass the germane law committees on HR503, the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

HSUS has had very poor success at the federal level, but it's getting closer to a breakthrough. Its attempts to change federal law on hunting, hobby pet breeding, animal medical research and livestock farming have been largely rebuffed, due to concerned stakeholder lobbying and the support of conservative GOP members and 'blue dog' Democrats on the House Agriculture and Resources Committees. HSUS's Hill low point had to be on July 17, 2003, http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/federal6.html when it attempted to bypass the committee lawmaking process and had four appropriations riders all killed on the House floor. It's now attempting a variation on this rider process and it could prevail without your intervention.

Both bill actions have gone to the House Rules Committee to determine which bill version goes to the floor, whether they're combined to go to the floor and what if any amendments are allowed. The four Democrats on Rules are HR503 cosponsors. It may be that HSUS has found a way to get one of its stalled law bills onto the floor via the Rules Committee, bypassing germane law committees. This would be a very significant set-back for all animal owners and the legislative process generally.

Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance - Working to identify and elect supportive legislators http://saova.org - Bob Kane says “Frustrate the Anti's - Take your children to the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and a Rodeo”

See Part One - Personal Interview with Bob Kane - SAOVA     ~     Animal Rights Bills Die - 2006

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