June 19, 2012

Moran Amendment Passes - A Win for America's Horses!

The Moran Amendment which prevents American taxpayer dollars from being used to fund USDA meat inspectors at horse slaughterhouses in the United States, thus preventing the operation of any American or foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in this country passed on June 19th. This was welcome news since the same language had been removed from a 2011 Appropriations Bill by a biased 4-member Conference Committee last fall of which three of its members, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) used the controversial GAO Report “…on the closing of horse slaughterhouses in the US” as the basis for not including Rep. Moran’s language in the 2011 bill. That immediately paved the way for the return of horse slaughter to the US. Many cried “foul” because the entire GAO report was filled with holes and misinformation as pointed out by numerous experts, including Dr. Carolyn Betts, a Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California. Dr. Betts was one of eleven distinguished speakers who appeared at the 2012 American Equine Summit held by Equine Advocates earlier this year. The Summit was organized in direct response to the fiasco by Congress in not retaining the Moran Amendment language last year. According to recent polls, more than 80% of Americans are opposed to the slaughter of      horses for human consumption.
 
“We, at Equine Advocates wish to extend our enthusiastic congratulations and heartfelt gratitude to Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) for persevering and working hard to successfully pass and reinstate “The Moran Amendment,” said Equine Advocates President, Susan Wagner. “It is outrageous that our tax dollars would be used for a practice that most Americans find repulsive and strongly oppose. However, our work is far from over. Now we must focus on banning the export of live equines from the US to any other country for the purpose of slaughter.” Approximately 150,000 horses and other equines are still being transported live to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for export as delicacies for human consumption in Europe and Japan (Also, for years, horses and foals have been flown directly to Japan where they are slaughtered and eaten.)
 
What you can do:
 
  • Thank Congressman Jim Moran from Virginia for working to get “The Moran Amendment” passed which will prevent wild and domestic equines from being slaughtered for human consumption in this country.
  • Contact President Obama, your Representative in the House and your two US Senators and express your approval for the passage of The Moran Amendment on June 19, 2012 and hope that they will follow up by now banning the transport of any US equine live to other countries for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption.
  • Write Letters to the Editors of your local newspapers and express your feelings on the horse slaughter issue. Keeping it exposed in the news is important and helps to educate others.
                 
Photo: Jim Craner
 
Most of the residents at Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary were saved from slaughter.