Equine Welfare Alliance Launches “War Horse” Assault on Three Troubled Political Careers
Billboard Plea to Save Horses Up In 24 Cities Coast to Coast
By Steven Long
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – The Chicago based Equine Welfare Alliance launched the most sophisticated assault yet against the return of equine slaughterhouses with a 90 screen breakout ad to be shown within 10 minutes of the opening credits of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse.” The ad campaign will target three Washington politicians who pushed the cancellation of a prohibition against funding horse slaughter inspectors. The targeted ads will run in the districts and states of Georgia Republican Rep.
Jack Kingston, Sen.
Roy Blunt (R) Missouri, and Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl.
An ad featuring the real Korean war horse, Sgt. Reckless will appear before the beginning of the feature. It will be aired in selected theaters in Eastern Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Montana, and Wyoming. It will run for 30 days in a saturation campaign certain to bring howls of protest calls and letters from animal advocates targeting Kingston, Blunt, and Kohl in their Capitol and district offices.
The attack is a new get tough strategy by EWA aimed at defeating politicians of both parties who favor the slaughter of horses, mules, and donkeys.
“These people do not own the seats they occupy and we mean to replace them with tough minded fiscal public servants who also have compassion and listen to their constituents,” said Vicki Tobin, EWA’s Chicago based vice president. The group says every pro slaughter legislator can expect vocal and well funded opposition in their individual states and districts. EWA has dubbed the campaign “Operation Doolittle.”
Also targeted is Democratic Sen. Max Baucus and slaughter mouthpiece, Republican Rep. Sue Wallis of rural Wyoming.
The ad will direct moviegoers to Real War Horse where the general public will learn more about the issue of equine slaughter and the actions of the politicians who quietly removed the inspection prohibition without congressional hearings or a vote in a joint senate/house conference committee. In scores of polls conducted by respected firms over the last decade a full 70 percent of all Americans have said they oppose horse slaughter. The most recent poll, conducted this year, grew the number to 80 percent.
A message targeting the politicians appears on the “Real War Horse” website saying, “The voice of the American people was stifled by Representative Jack Kingston (GA) and Senators Roy Blunt (MO) and Herb Kohl (WI). These three legislators ignored the voices of over 75% of Americans and quietly removed protections on a bill that allowed no debate by the full house and senate. Many representatives and senators who opposed horse slaughter were forced to approve the bill to avoid a government shutdown.”
The website also targets the other two politicians saying “Senator Max Baucus of (MT) and state representative Sue Wallis (WY) were also instrumental in this betrayal of our horses.”
The message was hammered home with boldface type saying, “Steven Spielberg called the action “….a very sad turn of events” quoting comments by the director in an Oklahoma newspaper.
Both the EWA and Robin Hutton of the Reckless Memorial Fund have reported a significant increase in website hits and overwhelmingly positive emails and phone calls.
The EWA is accepting funding for this campaign and others here.
Simultaneous with the movie theater campaign, animal rescue organizations across the nation are promoting a growing effort to educate an unknowing public that its horses are being killed for meat.
The billboard features the heads of two horses and the caption “In Memory of Every Slaughtered American Horse,” and in large letters, “Stop Slaughtering Us” in red and white letters on a black background. The red lettering represents horse blood.
The campaign is using large professionally designed billboards in 24 cities from coast to coast including:
Baltimore County, MD
Baltimore City, MD
Philadelphia, PA – 2 locations
Dover, Delaware – 2 locations
Hartford, CT
Jacksonville, Florida – 2 locations
Cheyenne, Wyoming
The Dalles, Oregon
Branson, Missouri
Augusta, Georgia
Aiken, South Carolina
Ft. Benning, Alabama / Georgia border
Louisville, Kentucky
Raleigh, North Carolina
Florida Turnpike in Jupiter, Florida
I-95 corridor – Richmond, Virginia
Massachusetts Turnpike & RT 291 in Massachusetts.
The billboards are being funded by individual donations from rescues and horse owners around the nation. There is no corporate funding in the campaign spearheaded by Angel Acres’ Jo Diebel. To become part of the campaign or to donate she says to email Angel Acres at angelacreshorsehaven@yahoo.com.
Angel Acres is seeking other strategically placed locations.
Facebook
It is going to get mighty toasty in many directions…..
A medical doctor, such as Ann Marini has taken a oath to preserve human life.Four ounces a day of horse meat as a burger, soup or any other method to satisfy the protein requirements of a hungry baby whether in Louisiana or Africa only makes good sense. Her stand against the humane slaughter of horses makes her the hypocrite of the year.Ann Marini will be featured on my web page right along side of the HSUS weasel and Mary Landrieu.
Please do more research before making a misguided comment like this. Slaughtered American horses do NOT feed starving babies as there’s not enough profit in actually using it for good. The meat is shipped to European countries and RICH people eat it, making only the slaughter house owners richer. MONEY is the theme here, benefiting only the politicians behind this and the slaughter house owners.
Dear Kris,
Please do more in depth research before attacking the good Dr. John Radosevich.
Horsemeat is very affordable for the population base of most countries…yes there are some horses fed to a certain diet that do bring a premium(much like Beef…ever hear of Kobe..?) if you do some research of your own you will find that horsemeat actually sells(on the average) at a discount to beef.
I might add that survival of starving babies is in fact an issue and perhaps more should be done to make an affordable high quality protein like horsemeat more readily available to those population bases that are in fact starving to death while we are wasting it and living our less than conservative lives here on this Continent.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
We would like to know in what state your Dr. John Radosevich has his practice. We would like to know if his state board is aware of his advocacy of violation of FDA prohibitions. He appears to be doing so. Moreover, he appears to be advocating feeding poisoned meat to children, as do you.
The Editor
Dear Editor,
In over 40 years of exporting horsemeat from the U.S. no link or connection to prove an actual poisoning and or death from consumption of said product has been reported by an official source.
When and if that occurs you will have my attention and support in your ambition to stop the marketing of any horsemeat proven to have any toxic(to humans) substance in the tissue being consumed.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Editor…google the name and you’ll find a physician in IN or IL.
At first I thought it was a member of the horse racing training and jockey family from around Beulah Park. They lost their son in a sad racing fall.
American horses provide affordable high quality protein? We must have drifted off to another planet. There are so many arguments against the horsemeat industry that there isn’t room to post them all, but they run the gamut from lack of safety controls (non-food animals without health and medication records entering the food supply) to spotty ownership records (including stolen horses entering the food supply) to inept handling, transportation and abandonment by dealers and transporters (far too many examples to cite here) to basic economics (good quality horsemeat is generally a high priced, high end market product where most profits are realized overseas) to protecting our own industries (why promote a competitor to our existing meat and poultry industries?)
What people in some third world country want to do with their animals, including eating cats and dogs, is their business. However in America we have an established, regulated food industry that doesn’t include consuming our pets and companion animals.
Besides, if the horse slaughter industry is so great, why were the communities that had horse slaughter plants so adamant about getting them out of town? Paula Bacon, the Mayor of Kaufman, TX (home of Dallas Crown) laid out quite clearly the problems caused to her town by one of the foreign-owned horse slaughter plants.
In Calfornia after Prop. 6 (the anti-slaughter measure) passed, reports of stolen horses declined. That statistical correlation alone would be enough for me to support a ban. It’s an industry that attracts far too many crooks.
Another, the LAW requires horses contaminated with substances labeled “not for consumption” be banned from the human food chain! The FDA, USDA, EU member states and others I’m sure have STRICT LAWS that forbid these horses from human consumption.
It does NOT matter whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, or ANYTHING you or anyone else thinks. The LAW is the LAW. YOU may think it’s okay to disregard a law you don’t agree with, but others are more careful.
Here’s a thought. If you are so concerned about starving children you should maybe support orgs that supply these people with education and birth control. Set up several Abortion clinics in each area as well. The U.S. is the largest manufacturer of Condoms, birth control devices and drugs in the world and by doing this you would instantly create more manufacturing jobs here in one day then the slaughter industry will supply in a hundred years, less starving people elsewhere (reduce breeding, what a new concept) and no need for horse slaughter on our part. Simple thinking is all it took to solve the world’s starvation issues. I have not seen any information from the Red Cross, Salvation Army or UNICEF saying they are waiting to by all this cheap horse meat to solve the hunger problems. Have any of you? Fact is in much of the 3rd world nations, you would sell your wife or daughter before you would ever consider eating your horse, mule or donkey. The poor do not want to eat horses anymore then most American’s. In Mongolia the horse eaters (poor Slavs) are shunned to the remotest part of the country and looked down upon as barbarians. No civilized Mongol would ever consider eating their horses. That is fact as well. Only problem with my plan? Some uneducated, uncivilized people won’t make money off the deal. (No, a degree or going to University does not make you automatically educated
Horses are not on our menus or.in grocery stores. We do not want our children in Louisiana eating horses. Louisiana does just fine feeding our own, thank you much. Still we will win this war. One way or another. We won’t stand for this industry in the USA ever again. We will force them out again, or out smart them, just you wait n see…I am Kowgirlnme, we don’t give up..
Dr Radosevich you might want to check your sources. Horse meat is a gourmet item in Europe and Asia. I’m from Louisiana and the poor here don’t eat or buy or want horsemeat. There is already a meat industry in place as a food source and ground cow is pretty cheap. Don’ t need ground horse. Horse meat for Africa – not a horsemeat country either. There is lots of information available about horse meat and its lack of safety for consumption. Feeding the poor is a misguided notion.
drjohnradosevich:
I’d say you’re the one with medical ethics issues by ignoring the food safety concerns regarding US equines going to human consumption horse slaughter (HCHS).
Also, you are a highly educated human and I am appalled at your brazen ignorance (arrogance?)regarding equine welfare and what a “HUMANE” death is, isn’t and should be.
Dear Denise,
As usual you are challenging the ethics of intelligent people who just happen to not believe your point of view.
While many substances have been proven to be harmfull to humans there is no proven correlation(we have asked you many times) of eating horsemeat and death or sickness of a toxic nature. All that has been submitted is speculation and conjecture of such an occurrence.
After nearly a year and some months of reading all your postings I and my peer group believe you are a animal rights/ anti-meat vegan paid hack who will at any chance slander all red meat production and animal use in your delusional yet organised attempt to discredit and destroy livestock agriculture and the horse industry on the North American Continent. Your words are interesting but your actions tell the tale.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Who the hell are you talking about? Surely not the editor.
Dear Editor,
No Sir….not you.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Nope, he is going after my comments….I think. It is hard to tell with this guy.
Anotherhorseman,
You have no idea what you are talking about and nothing more than a mouthpiece for pro-slaughter. If you are legitimate, list your qualifications and references on this board as well as your name.
2) You are not an expert on the medical issues regarding drugs. In fact, it is clear from your writings that you are not in a health-related field at all.
3) You are so self-righteous and arrogant. You talk about nonsense and distract people away from the issue at hand and insult them to make them lose focus and to stop them from posting.
4) For the at least 100th time. Phenylbutazone is a carcinogen (something you just love to overlook). There are plenty of people who develop and die from cancer EVERY DAY. You have no data to support your position that “In over 40 years of exporting horsemeat from the U.S. no link or connection to prove an actual poisoning and or death from consumption of said product has been reported by an official source.”
5) You are greedy and unscrupulous.
You don’t care that American horses are not raised for food in the United States just and that you are exporting contaminated horsemeat overseas for people to eat because you are profiting from horse slaughter.
As Equus Primus so eloquently said to you: BEGONE
Anotherhorseman, I usually try to avoid one-on-one discussions as they tend to drift off topic, but I’m going to weigh in here. Just so you don’t waste space claiming that I’m a tofu eating animal rights activist, I’m a carnivorous great grandson of a Montana MD and stockman, from an extended family that included farmers and meat producers. My daughter is a staff university veterinarian. I’m on my county’s Animal Control Board, Wildlife (game) Board and chair the town’s Horse Committee. I’ve been involved in horse issues for decades. I’ve seen, investigated and experienced first hand the corruption in the horsemeat industry. It’s an unregulated deceptive industry that preys on the unwitting.
With respect to contaminated horsemeat, while it may certainly be difficult to say that poor Francois died from eating a horse, there has been enough evidence of trace contamination capable of producing cumulative effects on humans that the EU is cracking down on this issue.
For just one example see Toxicology and Carcinogenesis of Phenylbutazone (Gavage Studies) Dept. of Health and Human Services. Conclusion: “There was equivocal evidence of carcinoegenic activity.”
While it is a relatively common drug administered to equines, Phenylbutazone is one of several drugs in which there is no published withdrawal period before animals can be slaughtered for human consumption. The FDA has not approved the use of Phenylbutazone at any time in any food-producing animals. However the product safety standards that apply to virtually every other animal food product are ignored by the horse slaughter industry. And this is just one of many examples, and one that I chose because Phenylbutazone (“Bute”) is so widely used.
There is NO responsibility demonstrated by this industry and it has no place on our soil. As a simple matter of fairness, why should American meat producers have to comply with so many specific health and record keeping standards while the horsemeat industry does pretty much whatever it wants to?
You and your “peer group.” Are you really so dumb that you can’t see that the food safety issues are NOT a “point of view?” They are LAWS. Or, maybe you should be challenging the FDA, USDA, CFIA, EU, etc. about THEIR “point of view.” Those are the ones that count, after all. Then you can leave US alone.
I believe that Dr. John Radosevich is a veterinarian in Wyoming who has contracted in the past with the BLM, and is a supporter of Humane Watch, along with Rep. Sue Wallis. I would wager to bet that he is part of lovely Sue’s slaughter possee.
for anyone to believe that horse slaughter meat is going to feed starving children in third World countries shows just how many misinformed persons are out there…It is a gourmet meat served in other countries and is for nothing other than love of the almighty dollar and greed…there is absolutely no rational argument for the return or horse slaughter in the USA…and 75 to 80% of Americans are against it….
Dear Kenneth,
Contrary to popular misleading information distributed by EWA and HSUS ect. horsemeat is in great demand in CHINA where many people consider it a normal and affordable source of protein……..in that perspective the Chinese can hardly be thought of by the U.S. as uninformed or less than intelligent as it appears that China as a whole owns most of the U.S. debt and can in fact be viewed as a superior nation in that context.
As well perhaps horsemeat should be made available to people in 3rd world countries at an affordable price in relation to purchase cost….a $300.00 1000 lb. horse could feed a lot of people for a very long period of time.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
We’re sorry, but Horseback has checked with several sources of Americans working currently in China and each has responded that the Chinese do not eat horsemeat in their regular diet. Please do not post misinformat
Wishful thinking has no place on this forum.
The Editor
Dear Editor,
My sources indicate otherwise. I could as well mention several other Asian Countries(as well as European) but it would appear that your magazine would discredit my knowledge in that regard as well.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
p.s. Happy New Year and best wishes..!!!
Priceless….China is a superior nation because of American debt.
Let’s see, about 125k plus US equines dumped, because broken, too slow, overbred, wrong color and stolen go to slaughter and that is going to fix monetary issues?
Please don’t accept any cabinet positions for commerce, foreign policy or monetary responsibilities.
And no one from EWA or HSUS said US horsemeat was or was not in demand in ASIA….citation please. Many have said with the change in drug protocol enforcement from the EU, the killers would switch markets (probably to Asia and Latin America, possibly eastern europe:Russia, etc)
BTW…and the waste from a 1000 lb equine is what? versus cattle? and rendering and pollution costs for equines is what? versus cattle? And you left out production records and pharmas…..AGAIN!
QUOTE…”Anotherhorseman on December 31, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Dear Editor,
My sources indicate otherwise. I could as well mention several other Asian Countries(as well as European) but it would appear that your magazine would discredit my knowledge in that regard as well.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
p.s. Happy New Year and best wishes..!!!” END QUOTE
Dear Anotherhorsekiller…please provide statistical data sources that support your opinion that US Equines are in big demand in China. While you are at it, you might find ag stats that support Dr John’s position that 4 (whatevers measurement wise) daily horsemeat portions are good for babies.
I know it’s tragic for equines, but you folks are tragic supporting this evil, cruel nonsense.
I have to back the Editor on this one. I checked with my friends who have extensively traveled China. In some tribal areas there are subsistence tribes that own horse herds who drink mare’s milk and eat some of their horses. There is also a niche high end urban market for horsemeat if you know where to go. However I read the argument to be about a “great demand” for horsemeat there, a claim that I cannot authenticate.
Some folks are dragging this comment blog off point. It’s not about China or the Far East and arguments about foreign countries are irrelevant. It’s about the US, and here is where the hoof meets the trail.
Based on economic studies conducted by Sonoma State University, Texas A&M and others, it is an accepted calculation that the average “rehomed” horse will contribute around $20,000.00 to the local economy over its lifetime. Obviously a foal is likely to contribute more than a teenager but that’s the average. The reason is that adopters make a conscious decision to spend a portion of their disposable incomes on the feed, maintenance and care of their horses as opposed to foreign made consumer goods. “Horse money” tends to stay in the region and according to research produced by the Reno-Sparks Local Business Co-op, studies have shown that every dollar spent locally actually circulates seven times before being used up, so the actual benefits exceed those net calculations. That significant benefit contrasts with nearly all the profits going overseas in the horse slaughter trade.
I’m sensitive to these figures as I live in a small high desert town that literally has more horses than people. I live on a one block street of 5 acre ranchettes and this morning for grins I counted horses, mules and donkeys. There are 58 of them just on our block, counting the two houses at the end of the street on the feeder street. (15 of these animals are in my corrals.) In a rural area that kind of economic impact is huge.
Before this was all thought through, Animal Services used to sell unwanted and impounded horses. Now they give them to non-profits for rehoming as keeping the horses in the county helps the economy and saves agricultural jobs. Lyon County is ranked the third most economically stressed county in the country having a population of 25,000 or more so (1) it’s important to keep as much money in our county as we can, and (2) even such a economically stressed county can successfully manage its horse population. We aren’t hauling truckloads of horses to the auction house.
Some of you horse killing enthusiasts can proselytize all you want, but I’m living the reality here and the data is clear. Horses do the US and especially the rural agricultural economic sector far more good on the hoof than on the meat hook. The equine population just requires some intelligent management and a support system for people who go in the tank financially and need help rehoming their animals.
I remember those smart folks in China. They sent us poison children’s toys, poison dog food and a poison ingredient for baby formula.
China is not about food safety. They are 100% about the $$$$$.
Dr. John appears factually ignorant.
Domestic horses are not raised as food animals and as such are a completely unregulated and unrestricted commodity by the USDA and the FDA prior to slaughter. Additionally, some time ago the FDA banned Phenylbutazone (Bute) in all food producing animals as a carcinogen. Current research shows the drug is retained in tissue. Per existing guidelines from both the FDA and the EU, one administration of Bute eliminates the recipient as a food option. Bute is commonly used as an equine aspirin, and accurate contamination testing is accomplished at necropsy.
I assume Dr. John was administered the same oath as Dr. Marini, but subversion of U.S. health and safety regulations seems not only hypocritical but possibly unethical.
Dear Dr John Radosevich,
You can get protein from NON animal sources. You would feed tainted horse meat to a baby? I am sure you are aware that bute causes Aplastic Anemia and I don’t know of a single horse that hasn’t had bute.
Finally, there is NO such thing as humane horse slaughter. You should really check your facts before posting such inaccurate information.
Why not post your webpage here so we all can see it, Dr. Radosevich.
Jo Deibel
Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue
A medical doctor would be able to read the FDA warning labels on medications given to horses that say “not to be used for animals intended for human consumption.” Actually, anyone who can read would want to take this position to be, at the very least, be on the safe side when it comes to the food supply.
Ann Marini is a remarkable humane being and your statement about hungry babies in this country eating horsemeat is ludicrous, at best. Do your research, Dr. Radosevich. The MAJORITY of American DO NOT support horse slaughter in this country.
You wouldn’t want to give horsemeat to babies unless you want them to get aplastic anemia and related blood diseases. All who eat our horse meat are vulnerable, but especially those babies in Louisiana or Africa.
Dr. Radosevich:
As pointed out by others on this board, horsemeat is a delicacy for gourmet diners. Horsemeat is VERY expensive. No one should be eating horsemeat contaminated with phenylbutazone. As pointed out by the Irish veterinarians, even the smallest amount of phenylbutazone can cause aplastic anemia in a child. It is shocking and disturbing that you would even mention feeding a baby with contaminated horsemeat, truly shocking and disturbing.
The last thing you should serve a hungry baby is US horse meat — it’s almost universally tainted by butte (equine equivalent of aspirin)which causes a-plastic anemia and related leukemia in children. Do your research – there is NO good reason to slaughter horses and dozens of reasons NOT to.
dr john, I’m sure you are aware that slaughter is for food production. It is not a disposal service or a dumping ground but a place to send animals that have specifically been raised for food in accordance with food safety guidelines. For horses, the market requires full vet records from birth of every medication the horse has been administered from birth. Based on food safety guidelines, the slaughter of US horses for human consumption should be halted immediately.
If you disagree, which I’m sure you will, please tell us what passport system is in place, where the productions records are and what mechanism is in place to ensure that all US horses meet the strict guideline to qualify as food animals. In addition, what government agency is overseeing this and making sure that the horses currently going to Mexico and Canada have EIDs that have been correctly completed and are accurate?
With our food sources, we can trace the animal back to farm where it was born. How do we do that for horses?
Also, “Dr.” don’t you know YET that American horses are NOT food animals, are not regulated as food animals, and so many horse products – both – prescription and over-the-counter – contain ingredients that are absolutely banned in food animals? These products are plainly marked on the label: Not for use in horses intended for food purposes. This means that ONE usage of any of these substances requires a horse be permanently banned from the human food chain.
Phenylbutazone – bute – is one of the most prescribed medications in equine practice and one of the most dangerous for humans. Even a fractional amount of bute residue in horse meat can cause aplastic anemia in children. Since we have NO tracking system whatsoever for horse medications and no way to remove contaminated horses from the slaughter pipeline, American horses would be the LAST thing one would feed to CHILDREN! I can’t believe you don’t know this!
Dr. John, your website is “hore meat?” Really? How is that working out for you?
The meat is tainted. Its dangerous for children, it causes Aplasti Anemia in children. This is a scientifically backed and FDA approved finding, that horse meat is tainted with dangerous medicines. I don’t want any of my children eating this meat in Louisiana. Horse meat is not a poor mans food. Its $13.00 to $40.00 a lb. In the retail market. There are many lies being sold down the pike about horse meat and the slaughter industry. And it is so easy to actually find the truth. We do not want to pay taxes to inspect a dangerous meat for foreign consumption. And we do not want horses being inhumanely slaughtered……ever….
Thank you Equine Welfare Alliance, American’s do not eat their companion pets.
It is time to demand that our government act in a morally responsible way and end this barbaric practice once and for all. Way to go EWA and Angel Acres.
Thank You EWA — the vast majority of the public OPPOSE horse slaughter and the transport to slaughter. Wallis and her flunkies have overstayed their welcome.
Sure–let’s feed horse meat to every one who wants to eat it–I have a really old horse so full of Bute/Pergolide (for Cushings)/Strongid2x and a dozen other drugs –why he practically glows in the dark!
Then when the brains of the slaughter cretins have shriveled up and their bodies have exploded, the rest of us (who won’t touch it with a geiger counter) can get on with the sane- humane approach to horse management ( Animal Husbandry 101) without the distraction of the idiots.
Proslaughter cretins don’t have the guts to eat US horseflesh on a regular basis…they just want to dump it on others and make a buck. They also don’t have the guts to euth humanely (vet/gunshot).
They are cruel cowards….they have somebody else do their dirty works
Dear Denise,
Once again you assume more than you actually know….I know of many good humans on the North American Continent that consume horsemeat on a regular basis…several of these families have raised their entire family on horsemeat. These people are all upstanding good people by any standards of society and do in fact treat their animals with great care and consideration..when the time comes for a conservative and intelligent decision to be made in regards to individual animal reduction of their property…these people always humanely put the animal(horse) down as painless and least invasive as possible.
There is absolutely nothing immoral or unethical in regards to consumption of horses by humans…whether it is purchased or raised.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
I said eat HCHS equines on a regular basis; not old paint in the backyard. They want to eat their equines…go for it. That meat neither gets paid for dumped, processed through the cruel US HCHS system, inspected nor entered into the “traditional” mass marketed human food system. Lord, you are THICK or just doing your rebutt with butt lobbying job.
As to your last sentence….oh yes it most certainly is about immoral and unethical. And that you don’t get that, means you are beyond education…just toleration…to a point Sir, to a point.
Anotherhorseman,
Show yourself…give us your real name lest we believe that you really don’t exist.
Dr. Marini
Are you requesting the contact information for anotherhorseman, so that you and others can threaten him? In your and others actions and words you may have already broke the law..
You and EWA comments and actions that also include these billboard signs. It seems very clear that you want to stop a business that has been going on for well over 70 years..
I am speaking about the (AETA) Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. It is very clear that you may have now gone beyond freedom of speech.
The AETA definition of ” Animal Enterprise” to include acedemic and commercial enterprises that use or sell animal products. It also increases the existing penalties based on the amount of economic damage caused, and allows animal enterprises to seek restitution.
John:
What a ridiculous post…to the extreme and absurd.
I’d ask what planet you are living on, but it is obvious you ain’t even in the same solar system. Black hole? Maybe.
In response to John:
Please explain the basis of your own thinly veiled but misplaced threat, other than, of course, the fact that in the recent past it appears that the Eric Holder (named to Judicial Watch’s 2011 Top Ten Most Corrupt List)/DOJ does whatever he/it pleases, i.e., immigration, preferential Black Panther treatment, “Fast and Furious” ATF gun running to Mexican drug cartels, Elana Kagan participation in Obamacare, FOI Lying Proposal, misapplications of Patriot Act, etc.
Everyone should be familiar with and know that AETA is controversial legislation circuitously enacted in 2006 via more special interest influence against animal welfare, this time by Big Pharma instead of Big Ag. Further, many believe it tramples the first amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly. As expected, a lawsuit was recently filed challenging the legislation’s broad and vague language, and its constitutionality. Again, I am interested in you, John, verbalizing the specific legal basis you claim so we can further familiarize and publicize the impact of this legislation and so we can all differentiate between informed interpretations or blowing blue smoke. In other words, put up or shut up. Idle threats or vast ignorance will not go unanswered.
Another, a “good many humans” does not a market make! If there was a market for horse meat in the US and a buck to be made, why wasn’t it sold here when the plants were open? Why did it rot on the shelves during a beef boycott (I believe it was in the 1970s or early 80s)? You never, ever heard a peep about selling horse meat in the US until Wallis tried to make a market that didn’t exist last year. The momentum against slaughter didn’t start until the early 2000s. No mention of selling horse then.
We don’t give a rat’s butt who eats horse meat. All that matters is our horses are not raised or regulated as food animals, they are not food animals in our country and if foreign countries want to eat horse meat they can kill their own horses. Our horses are raised to race, perform, for sport, service and as companions. That makes them non-food animals and whether you call them livestock, service animals or companions, they are still non-food animals.
The majority of horses going to slaughter are sport and performance horses and most likely have all had bute. It is time for those industries to step up and take care of their horses. We already know that it is not the owners that have fallen on hard times that are sending their horses to slaughter because y’all keep saying they are abandoning them. If you open a plant here, they are still going to abandoned them. If they don’t want to send them to slaughter now, they’re not going to with a plant here.
Dear Mrs. Tobin,
I speak not of in country consumption and never have..whether this country consumes horse meat is not and never has been the issue of my attention(you may recall I am not a member of United Horsemen/Wallace). I do however promote the responsible use of the tissue of deceased horses for what ever responsible/conservative purpose there may exist as opposed to decomposition or coyote/buzzard/maggot subsistence.
It pleases me that you have no concern of who eats horse meat…in reality it is a personal choice and wise of you to not meddle in personal choice of diet as well as use of private property.
In regards to the horses and designated purposes…I find it remarkable that you would say that all horses in the U.S. were/are by majority raised for sport or pleasure of some sort….not long ago we had on this Continent a thriving equine industry that produced young horses(as a by product) all most specifically for the slaughter for human consumption industry…as I and my peer group recall your organisation was very instrumental in assisting in the decimation of this very economically stimulating industry known as “PMU”, while its true that a small percentage humans did not gain quality of life from the derivative(Premarin) of this industry, it did in fact make quality of life for a majority of middle age females much better(and still does as evidenced by continued use of existing supply of product).
In relation and addition to this fact…the young horses that were raised(by product) were seldom given any of the toxic products(pleasure/sport horse usage) that you speak of so vehemently and that you claim such a high usage of. In fact these horses were sent directly to feed yards and were fed a controlled weight gain diet and were very well managed(nearly organic).
It seems that you and your organisation are simply using whatever(self serving) position you can think of to promote the end of equine slaughter for Human consumption or responsible product usage of , as evidenced by your efforts and historical affiliation with all the umbrella groups who assisted in harassing the PMU Industry and the subsequent ending of supply of nearly organic feeding for slaughter of Horses for human consumption…. into oblivion.
In regards to people wanting to send horses to slaughter…if the horses were thought of in high regard as value added entities..say 1.00/lb. you would see a flush of horses come to the market the likes of which has not been seen since you started this program of yours.
I have a viable question for you Mrs. Tobin….after you(EWA/HSUS) win this battle…who or what group/user of livestock is next…?
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Vicki-To your post on 12/31 @11:41 pm-Your response to “Another” raises a very simple,yet contentious point…since you are so good at splitting hairs,you may want to delve into the meaning of food; food is something that nourishes,sustains, or supplies.That being said,your claim that horses are non-food animals(regardless of the nomenclature)is absolutely false, not to mention erroneous.This fact is corroborated by the worldwide usage figures for humans and animals alike.To say you can’t eat one because you went fox hunting on it at one time is ludicrous,as is saying,”most horses going to slaughter are sport and performance horses and most likely have ALL had bute”.It’s time you got out from behind the desk and took a ride into the real world…
This is total BULL — as if there are families that will starve because they are “raising their entire family on horse meat”. Banning equine slaughter will not prevent ranchers from individually putting down their own horses and eating the meat. Presumably they know what that horse has taken (re:butte). The issue is NOT whether it is “immoral” for you to eat a horse (dog? cat?) you raised. The issue is the slaughter industry. There are ways to humanely put down a horse. But that is NOT what the slaughter industry does. The animals aren’t transported humanely and they aren’t killed humanely. In fact, because the market for horse meat is so small, there is no equipment designed specifically for horses — they use facilities designed for cattle which are INHUMANE for horses.
Wow, Anotherhorseman. Great use of spin. If people didn’t realize that Mexico is actually considered part of North America we might think you were daffy. But how about digging up some hard verifiable statistics on the number of US residents that “consume horsemeat on a regular basis” in this day and age, given that Horseback is talking about the US in the present time in its article. Relevance to the story, please! You made a bold claim. Please back it up. I don’t claim to know what the actual percentage might be so I’d like to learn it.
Also regarding your “immoral” statement, I offer Leviticus 11:3 in response.
Dear Willis Lamm,
Thank you for your polite responses and thoughts on this issue.
I agree that any horses proven to have any detectable level of Bute in them should most likely be tanked at the plant well before they enter any countries human food chain…however to link circumstantial statistics of toxic to humans products to the 1% of 10 Million horses that do in fact get killed for slaughter is a bit of a stretch by anyone’s common sense.
Also…speaking of killing horses and the value of live horses versus dead horses…you are without a doubt correct…however we do not have a below demand level of horses in the United States of America…there are more than enough good usable (worth their salt) horses to absorb all the disposable income that people wish to spend that way….the problem we have is an abundance of (I hate to type cast these unlucky horses this way) worthless/non-usefull equines that no one wants…that is why the Kill Buyers are able to own them…no one else will bid the top bid against them. I might add also that yes some horses may get stolen and sold as killers however statistically speaking the numbers of legally obtained horses far out weighs the stolen ones…also..I doubt there are anymore crooks in the horse industry than in the Auto Industry/Finance Industry as well as many other rather large segments of our economy.
In regards to your doubting of China’s consumption of horsemeat…I will agree that it is an unknown number statistically speaking(from my in depth research) however I will offer the following Statistics offered by Nation Master….
Argentina- 57,000 Metric Tonnes (2200lbs./ton)
Australia- 24,000 ” ”
Brazil- 21,000 ” ”
Canada- 18,000 ” ”
Chile- 10,000 ” ”
Columbia- 6,000 ” ”
France- 7,500 ” ”
Italy- 16,000 ” ”
Kazakhstan-55,000 ” ”
Kyrgyzstan-25,000 ” ”
Mexico- 78,000 ” ”
Mongolia- 38,000 ” ”
Poland- 18,000 ” ”
Romania- 14,000 ” ”
Senegal- 9,500 ” ”
Spain- 5,000 ” ”
Uruguay- 8,000 ” ”
410,000 Metric Tons of reported consumption not including many other Asian countries that do not offer these statistics such as Korea,Philippines and China.
I think that these numbers reflect more than spin in regards to consumption on a world wide basis…on the issue of North American families..well sir I am not sure anyone would know the number of N.A. families that consume horsemeat actually is, having said that the only ones I know of live in my region and I do not recall any of them being of Mexican Heritage.
I’d like to add..in so far as in country consumption goes…I and my peer group could care less of North American Consumption…we also are not offering a option or competition to the existing beef/chicken and pork industries….what we are advocating is a responsible use of a quality red meat protein source that your minions would waste and dispose of in a nature that is so common on this continent…you would just throw it away while others could in fact survive quite well(historically proven) on its value.
Lastly…your criticism of not staying on the topic of this article….loss of inspection also prevented export and value added…In my opinion its all related to this article and subject matter.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Dearest Anotherhorseman:
And your link re: Nation Master is exactly what?
Who or what are they?
And equines in rural Asia are exposed to the drugs US equines are or the hell of slaughter, like US equines?
Thank you for your politeness and kindness. Bless you.
I commend EWA for getting this ad campaign from concept to production to “air” in record time. I hope we don’t stop here but continue to use the media to get our message out there.
Very encouraging report. Perhaps people will wake up to what’s really going on. Thanks to Horseback, EWA, Angel Acres, Mr. Spielberg and everyone else who is coming together and are not letting this travesty go down without a fight.
Willis-”Thanks” are also due to Mr.Spielberg for creating a huge interest in horses, thru his movie,the “War Horse”.If only there were more movies/programs w/ horses in them! As breeders w/substantial investments in time and money,we welcome the people who may now look into horse ownership.If “101 Dalmations” could spur an interest in that breed of dog,look at the possibilities the “War Horse ” presents!I remember when the #1 present under the Christmas tree was a pony;wouldn’t it be great to see kids wanting a horse/pony instead of an Ipod?
Great article! And BTW if you would like to order a Stop Slaughtering Us bumpersticker that looks exactly like the billboards go to the website http://www.stopslaughteringus.com.- $4 each. I have cut out a piece of magnetized “paper” to put under it so it easily stays on my car. Folks ask about the sticker often. Is a good way to show support of the STOP HORSE Slaughter campaign!! Thanks EWA, Angel Acres and Mr. Spielberg! Let’s keep the pressure on!!
Happy New Year- Stop Horse Slaughter 2012~~
Kudos to Equine Welfare Alliance for getting this message into the public domain. This article also states that the politicians do NOT own the seats they occupy in Congress. Vote them OUT of office. That is the only consequence that most politicans understand. I vote that Ms. Sue Wallis be the first to go!
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs022/1101655399670/archive/1108487022880.html
NOT OK says the EU
On U.S. soil or Canadian, the issue of drug residues in U.S. horses is hugely concerning to the EU, as evidenced in their most recent inspection report. The report, released on October 26, 2011, uses phrases like, “no official guarantee”, “could not be considered reliable”, “inadequate”, “no supporting evidence”, “standards are not industry practice”, and focuses on concerns about traceability and certification.
Bluntly labeled “Not satisfactory” were the “identification and movement of horses”, “controls of veterinary drugs”, and “residue controls and certification.” In other words, without focusing on humane slaughter issues, EU inspectors found handling is in many ways deficient.
Calling kill buyers’ sworn statements ‘affidavits,’ the report admits, “horses from the US were accompanied by the signed Affidavit (EID) of the last owner, covering the medical treatment during the last six months, which in many cases was a horse dealer. Nevertheless, no official guarantee was received by the CFIA from US authorities that this guarantee was verified and could be considered as reliable.”
Inspectors note that, “No statement in the US Health Certificate is required or provided as to the former use of the horses, their treatment with veterinary drugs, in particular with regard to certain substances having a hormonal or thyreostatic action or to beta-agonists.”
Regarding John Radosevich:
“Hi Sharon, We need your help to get the word spread about an organization called United Organization of the Horse. we are going to get the government out of the horse business by by presenting our core principals about our belief that personal property rights are the basis for our freedom before we loose it. Please go to the Westerner.com and read our article in today’s post, May 17,2009. I am one of the first members and Sue Wallis is our main leader. drjohn
Posted by: Dr John E Radosevich | May 17, 2009 2:48 PM”
What?! Sue Wallis is his “leader”?? Ironic he refers to anyone else as a “weasel” .
(oh, and by the way, Dr Radosevich, it’s “lose” – not “loose”)
KMG,
Thank you for this post about Dr. John. It is very revealing.
And, Dr. John, it is “principles” not “principals”
In a recent survey four out of five cannibals said they would prefer to eat Sue Wallis… or so I was told. (The survey taker never returned.)
That’s a GOOD one! However, I would imagine that Ms. Wallis would be more toxic than all of our horses put together.
1-1-2012 Many of these comments are insane and only reflects the greed of our American society, including special interest politicians, for the all mighty dollar bill at the expense of any creature. The Agri Industry (ranching) and associated governmental agencies can’t even guarantee the safety of traditional food animals for human consumption. Yet, these lazy fat corporate cash cow political thugs are set in motion to include our companion animals, Equus caballus-North American Native Species, into their bloody wealthy bank accounts, most likely avoiding paying any taxes thru their untouchable corporations. Our equids friends are not food animals and it is dim-witted to believe that they could even begin to feed the hungry. It’s all about greed. IMO, the sacred Agri (ranching) industry can only manage to get most of their food animals to market, irregardless of their health. If they can load, off to slaughter they go! You people who are too cowardly to list your names with your comments, get off the backs of America’s horses!!!!! No slaughter of our horses!
Thank you Steve for your well appreciated article.
Betty Kelly, M.D. (retired pediatrician)
Carson City NV
Dr.Betty-Isn’t it great we live in a land where you can speak your mind and get paid for your expertise;if we didn’t,you’d be SOL! IRregardless!
Another, you are twisting my words. I didn’t not say the majority of horses were raised for sport or pleasure. I said the majority of horses going to slaughter are performance horses.
The property rights argument is about as lame as it gets. The owners are not sending their horse to slaughter, they are selling their horse. When slaughter ends they will retain the right to sell their personal property so they are not losing any property rights.
When are you going to get it. Food safety is not an opinion. It is a law. Either they are raised as food animals from birth or they are not. While the young may not have had many meds, I’m sure they were wormed. Most horse wormers are also banned. The market for horse meat demands the animals are raised as food animals. They require passports. If a horse reaches six months of age and doesn’t have a passport, they can never go to slaughter. We can’t even trace a horse back to its owner let alone what meds they have been given.
Oh, you pulled out the pro slaughter manual of talking points. Surely you aren’t going to inject the slippery slope. Ending horse slaughter is NOT a first step to ending livestock slaughter. You guys are going to do that all on your own. The callous disregard for food safety in horses by the beef industry now has everyone questioning the safety of our own food supply. Was that the unintended consequence of horse slaughter that the pro folks keep babbling about? Our organization is an equine organization. The majority of us are meat eaters so again, you use a lame argument. Do you see anything on our website about not eating meat or any animals other than horses? Doesn’t the word Equine in our name tell you it’s a horse organization only? The slippery slope serves one purpose; to scare meat producers over to your side. You still haven’t comprehended that calling horses livestock does not make them a food animal.
Self serving position? You have that reversed. You know as well any anyone that killing horses is not going to improve the horse industry. It will benefit the foreign meat industry. Killing horses is not going to put money in the pockets of consumers so they can afford to buy and care for horses. Killing horses is not going to put money in the pockets of consumers so they can attending races and place bets or attend equestrian events. The only thing that will improve the viability of the horse industry and every other industry in this country is an end to the financial crisis in this country. Horse slaughter is self-serving. It is lining the pockets of a foreign meat business. It is not helping American taxpayers, it does not help the communities where plants are located and in fact, costs them by devaluing their property and tremendous costs to clean up the wastewater and litigation to get the plants to pay their fines. More wasted tax dollars and a handful of jobs that will be held by Americans. And let’s not forget the added benefit of being able to abuse animals without consequences.
The PMU industry died because the drug produced is killing women. They’d rather live with hot flashes than be dead.
BTW-thank you for holding us in the same sphere as HSUS. We must really be getting to you.
Dear Mrs Tobin,
So much to respond too..so little time, for now I’ll respond to your comment of associated death to Premarin consumption….having done a fair bit of research on this product it appears that the remedy to the side effects was to cut the dose in half..there are many reports of the success of this product and the contributing improvement to the quality of life of a multitude of Women…in fact many Women interviewed made the claim that they would rather be dead than to have to endure the symptoms such as the “Hot Flashes” that you mentioned.
Also in my research(which proves continued quality of life benefits) I found a statistic offered by ALF (Animal Liberation Front)
I quote ” In 2011 alone over 3 Billion Dollars worth of Premarin was sold” that does not sound like a response to a product that is Killing Women by the scores. Also…Estrogen collection does in fact still occur…however from what I have heard but cannot verify yet, the bulk of the industry has moved to countries that welcome positive economic activity and subsequent stimulation of that countries economy.
In regard to your openly admitting of HSUS like agenda…thank you very much for finally coming out of the closet so to speak. And no your not getting to me or my peer group at all..I/we just refuse to believe all the false information your group generates and the advocating of wasting such a valuble resource.
I/we are very appreciative of this Magazine and the Editor for allowing me/us to offer opposing points of view and information that I/we think the public has a right to know, So as that they may make an informed decision on the issue’s of horse management from birth till death and after the fact usage there of.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Another, there you go again twisting my words. Where did I say we or HSUS have an agenda? HSUS advocates for all animals so we couldn’t possibly have a “like” agenda. They are advocating for humane treatment of our food source animals, not the end of it. We are not advocating for humane treatment of slaughter horses, we want it flat out banned. We don’t want another American horse slaughtered on our soil or on foreign soil. Is that clear enough for you? So no, our agendas are not the same. To be under attack by the horse haters is a badge of honor. Why is that the pro folks oppose every piece of legislation that would improve conditions for animals and are even trying to remove the meager protections they have? That sure says a lot about having a “humane” slaughter plant. You guys don’t the know the meaning of humane.
We are not wasting a valuable resource. Tainted horse meat is not a valuable resource. It is a violation of food safety laws.
Of course you don’t have time to answer. Must be the allergic reaction to facts….
Regards,
v
Vicki-In response to your post on 1/4/12 @ 7:31-How dare you insinuate that the thousands of livestock producers across the U.S.,be they cattlemen, horsemen, or swine producers care not about humane treatment of animals.It’s obvious you’ve never pulled a calf,dried it off and helped it nurse for the first time;helped a sow farrow,or tried to get a colt to nurse a maiden mare hell-bent on rejecting her colt,or made your ranch payment w/a load of choice steers you raised.No Vicki,it’s YOU THAT CAN’T DIFFERENTIATE between humane,practical animal husbandry and the thought of slaughter that accompanies being in the livestock industry.And by the way,when and where did anyone advocate for less humane standards? I know you are quick to defend the HSUS,but their true agenda is no secret,no need to go there.
Denise Verret was right,use the old lobbyist trick long enough ’til it becomes fact.Well Vicki,it ain’t working this time…
Skip, I have no idea where you saw a post from me that said all livestock producers don’t care about humane treatment of animals. But since you brought it up, please explain how kicking, hitting baby calves in the head with a pick-ax, kicking, hitting animals with hammers, trying to get downer animals up that are in agony, throwing chickens around like balls, stuffing pipes down animals throats to force feed them to twice their size and on and on, is humane? We aren’t talking about cows giving birth. They treat them like they are tin cans and can’t feel pain. You call that practical animal husbandry? I call that abuse. If we did that to our animals we would be arrested.
We have several members that are beef producers and they are sickened with what is happening in the meat industry and openly oppose horse slaughter. They all feel that horse slaughter is giving the meat industry (that is the US meat industry that produces our food) a black eye. The callous disregard for food safety in US horses has everyone questioning the safety of our own food supply. We see dozens and dozens of posts from slaughter supporters saying cattle, pigs and sheep are loaded with meds so it’s okay with horses. They could be just saying that to justify horse slaughter for lack of any facts to justify their stance but one has to wonder.
Can you please not bring HSUS into every discussion?
Dear Mrs. Tobin,
I take offence to your comment of associating me as a horse hater…I understand “Horse Management” because I understand livestock and the place they belong in our society, that does not make me a horse hater. If anything you are the one who does not care for horses in a general economic and health management perspective.
Tainted Horse Meat..? how do you prove that condition..? If the meat was/is tainted/contaminated don’t you think it is highly likely that the contamination would manifest itself in some horse meat consuming human…? Please provide us with medical documentation of an individual or group poisoning and not speculation or circumstantial possibility.
Usually in the food industry/product recalls occur when contamination is discovered/proven …can you give me an example of a horse meat recall based on pharma sponsored toxic residue in say the last 10-40 years..? I would think that with 100,000 plus horses going to kill every year in Mexico and Canada as well as the U.S. (prior to loss of inspection) along with your “nearly all” or 96% figure of 10 Million head of contaminated horses we would have seen or heard of a massive product recall. Please provide this information as I/we really would like to learn of this occurrence.
As far as Humane goes…I suppose humane has many definitions according to the opinion of each individual human.
As far as I and my peer group and possibly that of the editor(not sure) we think an example of humane death is a gunshot to the brain of a horse…it matters not if the horse is standing in the pasture or in a high sided chute and I might add..the quicker the better. That is humane…what happens to the carcass after matters not, other than proper use.
Finally…I/We think your agenda and HSUS are nearly the same…HSUS people have made the statement that they would stop all animal agriculture, as well the leader of the HSUS is in fact a Vegan so it does seem very likely … one example of the reasoning for associating your group(EWA)with HSUS would be the position your group took against PMU(Animal Agriculture) and the marketing of the foals from that program…as I mentioned before.. those young horses were in fact raised for human consumption until groups like yours objected and harrassed the producers as well as Wyeth…that objection resulted in the forced remarketing and redirecting of the foals(possibly 50,000 or more per year) into the “sport horse market” a place they were never bred to be(could this be the group of breeders you speak of that are/were accused of over breeding ? interesting question as you and your groups forced the activity of redirection), I might add that a high percentage of these horses are in fact the lower end of the spectrum of the horse world…the kind that do eventually prove(bred for slaughter) that they are not worthy of the limited disposable income that your group keeps speaking of and the resulting economic consequence.
All of these circumstances along with your current questionable toxic campaign make many groups and individuals question your true long term intentions…. your position that horses are not raised specifically for food when in fact historically they were and in fact were not ever contaminated with sport/pleasure pharma products until EWA intervened…..you appear to speak 2 different stories Mrs. Tobin….however the resulting effect/injury to the over all horse industry is the same….less horse based activity and usage which smells and sounds a lot like HSUS Agenda.
Hopefully I answered enough of your question Mrs. Tobin
I have a question for you Mrs. Tobin…if you triumph in reversing inspection funding…closing the borders for export slaughter and at the same time the U.S. Economy continues to decline……………..what will you(personally) and your organisation(EWA) do(after say 10 years) to offset the resulting economic liability of a potential accumulation of nearly 1 Million Horses that no one wants or can afford to feed and properly care for in a proper livestock management perspective…? Will you offer to financially/physically assist in the killing/removal of this group/class of horses? or will you provide homes and proper care for this population of no use horses..? or will you demand that the Government pay for the economic liability and livestock management consequences of this potentially legislated agenda..?
I sincerely hope you take the time to answer these very specific questions.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
Anotherhorseman – your are again being redundant. I certainly realize your passiion and your obvious connection to the industry of horse slaughter. However, you have asked a rather silly question, again, and again, and again. I’ll alswer for Ms. Tobin, not as an advocte of her position, but simply because the answer is so simple. Your question restated is: “what will you(personally) and your organisation(EWA) do(after say 10 years) to offset the resulting economic liability of a potential accumulation of nearly 1 Million Horses that no one wants or can afford to feed and properly care for in a proper livestock management perspective…?” The answer is quite simple. There will not be an excess of horses if breeding is limited only to those horses needed and wanted by the majority of horse owners who are the recreational horsemen plus and the fraction of horse owners who use them in their work. Now please, no more redundancy. Spare me. I have to read these things and I have better things to do than absorb an accumulation of the same spurious argument over and over again.
The Editor
Dear Editor,
I thank you for taking the time and Journalistic perspective to allow posting of my knowledge and perspective.
In regards to my question to Mrs. Tobin….it is not silly in perspective to the reality of livestock breeding and management in general.
The gravity of the situation has in fact been acknowledged by an exceptionally qualified member of EWA, Laura Allen(who I and many of my peer group respect), In previous posts she has mentioned that the only way to control breeding of horses is to have a Quota system embraced by the horse industry. In light of the fact that I also advocated this type of program I doubt that an affiliation of me to the slaughter horse industry can be assumed. I will at this time again state that I am not a member of a lobbying firm nor am I an owner or participant in the direct operation of any horse processing plant.
What I am is a Agricultural Producer and Marketer who has spent a lifetime building a business for my family to survive and prosper on…as well I am a promotor of Agricultural Products and the Agricultural way of life that many people depend on for sustenance and value added economic activity.
I and my peer group do believe that the questions put to Mrs. Tobin need to be answered in great detail and with all honesty. Her words will be read with great interest and her actions in that regard will tell the tale.
Best Regards
Anotherhorseman
You may understand horse management but you don’t seem to understand food safety. How do I prove that condition? Very easily. Find the TBs going to slaughter. Get their lip tattoos and then pull their racing vet records. You will note that every horse has had phenylbutazone, many Clenbuterol and they’ve all been wormed (usually Ivermectin). Then, go the EU, CFIA or FDA website and you will note that all those drugs are banned. So there is your proof. You have horses that have had one or more banned meds that have entered the food chain. If the meat is from an animal that has a banned med, the meat is tainted. It’s black and white. No grey area. I would suspect that if there were vet records on all performance horses you would find the same.
If you want more proof of banned substances in US horses, pull the two recent EU FVO inspection reports. Two of the residues they found are Clenbuterol and Ivermectin and the paperwork accompanying the horses stated they were drug free.
Again, the most common drug is bute. Bute is a carcinogen so a person eating horse meat is not going to get sick overnight like with food poisoning. Carcinogens take years to build-up in your system before developing cancer. At that point, how do you trace it back to anything?
Why can’t you just accept the food safety laws and follow them?
Oh, please stop with HSUS. HSUS isn’t trying to bring down animal ag; maybe PETA is but we do not work with them or associate with them. We avoid them like the plague. We have one goal. To end horse slaughter. Why do you have to associate us with anyone? What does that have to do with food safety in US horses? Your attempt to sway the discussion away from the topic is amusing. If you want to bash HSUS go over to Berman’s site and bash away. You seem to forget that bashing someone doesn’t make the facts change. The fact remains that our horses are not safe for human consumption and until they can prove they are safe with a passport, they should not enter the food chain. Our meat industry does not produce horse meat. The horse industry does not produce horse meat so how is ending horse slaughter going to bring down the ag industry? That’s as lame an argument as property rights or that the closure of the plants caused abuse and neglect when the same amount of horses are being slaughtered.
In answer to your last question, where is the mention of owner responsibility? Why should anyone be responsible for anyone else’s animals? Since the pro slaughter have done nothing since the plants closed to help, how about getting them to do something? How about working with us on programs we’ve already implemented? How about educating quarter horse breeders on responsible ownership/husbandry – you know – you breed them, you bring them into the population, you care for them? How about helping out the rescues? How about taking the millions they are spending on lobbying for horse slaughter and use that to start hay banks, in-place rescue, low cost euthanasia, gelding or provide assistance with vet services? Nobody knows what the number of horses will be. You have to deduct the stolen horses and horses bought under false pretenses and horses that will be kept by their owners.
Slaughter counts dropped from over 400,000 to under 100,000. With your math, there should be 5,844,347 horses wandering our streets right now.
Horse Meat Recalls??
So Anotherhorseman you want to see horse meat recalls or someone dead before you will believe horse meat isn’t safe. Being in the beef business I can educate you a bit about recalls. They come about due to pathogen contamination such as e coli. E coli can spread rapidly and can kill many people. One carcass found to have e coli contamination in the plant can cause the whole days kill to be destroyed.
Drug residues do not spread and do not cause recalls.
As for asking to find someone dead before you admit there might be a problem, that might be a risk not everyone wants to take. If you are that kind of a risk taker I’ll lend you a six shooter with one bullet so you can have some fun.
Vicki
Special Thanks – Equine Welfare Alliance
Organizers: Dr. Ann Marini, Equine Welfare Alliance and Animal Law Coalition.
Special Thanks: Humane Society of the United States [HSUS]. American Society …
http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/00-IEC_Agenda.pdf – Cached – Similar
How can you say that you do not work closely with HSUS. when you google equinewelfarealliance/hsus her is the site you come up with
Also you keep saying all horsemeat is tainted and never post the amount like anotherhorseman asked you to do. The other thing is your statement about Permarin and anotherhorseman mentioned the consumption was $ 3 billion in 2011, how can that be it was killing women that was using it? It must be that you do not have a answer, the editor calls every pro telling them they are reduntant when we ask for proof. That is assinine, two sets of rules, the pro can keep sayng the same thing and NEVER be called reduntant. When we ask for proof, we are called reduntant!! Thanks JOE
You are called redundant because most of your information is factually incorrect and you are promoting something that is against American law. Sorry.
The Editor
Joe, see my post above to Another for your answers. Perhaps you don’t understand how search engines work. You can also google equinewelfarealliance/Sue Wallis (I got 50,100 entries on that) and our site or another site will come up that has that combination of words. We certainly are not working with Sue Wallis. Search engines work off key words or phrases so searching anyone or anything that is mentioned in anything on our site will bring up sites that have that combination of key words. If I take your post and add it to our website and then search equinewelfarealliance/joe, the search engine will bring up that page.
If you are referring to our conference and HSUSs involvement, yes, HSUS was at our conference and provided breakfast on Monday morning. ASPCA also contributed. We thanked both of them but you seem to have missed ASPCA.
As far as Premerin, here’s one article of the hundreds you could have got yourself by doing a google search. This has a little bit about the dangers of the drug, the deaths and Wyeth losing the law suits. I grabbed the first one from the search. I think that should put that subject to bed. http://weeksmd.com/2008/02/premarin-and-prempro-wyeth-loses-law-suits/.
Okay, Skip. I will clarify even though you knew what I meant. Horses are not food animals in the US. Is that better? They are not bred, raised or regulated as food animals. That makes them a non-food animal in our country. The meat would be illegal in the US. The government would never allow the sale of meat in our country that came from an animal that wasn’t raised as food. Sorry, but every barn I’ve walked into has a tube of bute. I didn’t say every horse has a bute but it sure is in the upper 90 percentile.
You can spin it however you want but the US horses going to slaughter have received bute. It has been proven and you can prove it yourself. The majority are performance horses. Race horses have vet records and I challenge you to find records of race horses that haven’t had one does of bute in its life. Are you saying Rodeo horses aren’t treated for their injuries and they just let them suffer? Or do they just send ‘em off to the kill buyers? Most horse owners worm their horses every six weeks or so. Ivermectin is also banned in horses intended for food. You can read the EU FVO reports from US horses slaughtered in Mexico and Canada. Ivermectin was one of the banned drug residues found along with falsified paperwork stating the horses were drug free. Look at Presidio. Not one horse had a coggins report that matched the horse.
So tell us why they are falsifying EIDs, health affidavits and coggins if the horses are safe for human consumption?
Vicki-Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post on 1/4/12 @ 4:33 am.
There’s no need to explain/clarify what you meant,I get it…food animals are food animals,regardless of their geographic location and just because horses aren’t “bred,raised,or regulated as food animals” does not preclude them for use as a food animal,only in EWA’s eye.
Instead of reciting warning labels,equating usage w/sales,and intimating that every barn has bute in it(lots of barns out there Vicki,I’m sure you’ve been to them all),how ’bout factual data for once? C’mon Vicki,you might as well accuse everyoe who owns a gun/ammo of potential murder or of someday going out and killing an animal,using that analogy.
Everyday,you and I eat food that has been treated w/an herbicide or pesticide-fact of life,Vicki;there’s no doubt that 5cc’s of Atrazine or Roundup under the tongue would make you sick or even kill ‘ya-spread out over 40 acres minimizes the sickening/killing effect.Not a stretch, but a simplification for the common-sense challenged.
Lastly,you’ll have to ask the owners/truckers(that EWA claims),who turned 5000+ rejected horses loose on rural Texas roads,why and where their paperwork is.
No, Skip, you don’t get it. If they aren’t raised according to food safety laws, it does preclude them from going to slaughter for human consumption. That’s not our opinion; that’s the law. EWA doesn’t set food safety laws. The FDA and the EU do. One dose of a med that is banned and the animal cannot enter the food chain. There is no grey area.
Should I twist your words – are you saying we should start looking into the safety of our traditional food sources?
The sales comment was another poster. And I believe the quote was that one pharmaceutical company sold enough bute to give every horse in America one dose. That’s only one company.
Where did I say every barn has a tube of bute? Why do you continue to twist my words? We don’t know one horse owner that hasn’t given their horse bute and we work with tens of thousands of horse owners across the country. The Horse did a survey and over 96% of the respondents said they had given their horses one or more of the banned meds. The EU inspections confirmed this revealing banned substances in US horses going to Canada and Mexico.
Quit making false statements and attributing them to EWA. We never said any horses were turned loose on rural Texas roads. We did not disclose the locations. We said south western states. PLURAL. Is Texas the only southwestern state in the US? You answered your own question. There is no paperwork. The USDA/APHIS doesn’t have paperwork on the majority of horses going to slaughter. There is no transport program. The kill buyers run it without any oversight from USDA/APHIS. The USDA/APHIS doesn’t even slap the inspection stickers on the horses. All this is in an OIG report from when the plants were open so it has nothing to do with the plants closing. Corruption from the top on down.
So I ask you again, why are the EIDs and heath certificates being falsified if our horses are safe for consumption? I have another group of forms coming in the mail in a few days from an auction in Montana. All blank forms with no information. The evidence is mounting and instead of being outraged, you condone it.
Vicki-Your response on 1/5/12 @ 6:50 to my post earlier is incredible to say the least!
To the readers and to you, Vicki, I direct you to the headlines on 12/19/11,page 7 of this very venue-EWA DROPS EXPLOSIVE BOMB ON ABANDONED HORSES MYTH ;reading the very 1st paragraph pretty much sums up my assertation (that you so vehemently deny).Spin that one Vicki,practice makes perfect…
The press release says “Southwestern US” in the opening paragraph. It does not mention rural Texas anywhere.
So yes, I am denying that we said that horses were abandoned on rural roads in Texas. The only mention of Texas was the plant in Kaufman and the dead horses at the Presidio feed lot.
Once again, you are wrong.
Editor
I question your response that you keep answering for Vicki. You do not give her enough time to respond to her comments made in her posts..
Just why does anotherhorseman have to contact FDA for the answer. FDA did not make the statements/comments. Vicki/EWA DID.. You are being assanine.. Joe
Veterinarians.com says this:
John E Radosevich
876 Grange Rd
Wheatland, WY 82201
P: 307-322-5178
Oh, this explains EVERYTHING….why am I not surprised
Good Gravy!!! The guy isn’t a qualified MD??????????
Must be drinking too many NCBA, Farm Bureau and AVMA kool-aid cocktails….or the flue is blocked on his wood stove during those cold WY winters (lack of oxygen).
EWA is showing America that those of us opposed to the slaughter of American Horses for human consumption is something we do not want! Keep up the great work EWA!
Ohmygod! Wyoming?
Wheatland WY? Isn’t that where Josh From Hell Hellyer lives? Wheat land isn’t that big. Wonder if these two are related????
I just googled his name before I saw your comment and came to this conclusion (which I also posted above in a reply to someone’s comment) after looking at several things that turned up from my search:
I believe that Dr. John Radosevich is a veterinarian in Wyoming
~who has contracted in the past with the BLM,
~and is a supporter of Humane Watch, along with Rep. Sue Wallis.
I would wager that he is part of sweet Sue’s slaughter possee.
It might come as some surprise to you but I actually trust the FDA to look after my health and the health of others. You need to be lobbying them, not the participants of this forum. As far as the overwhelming majoority of folks who come to this sige goes, I think if the FDA says it, then they trust what they say. You are in a very, very, tiny minority, Anotherhorseman.
And FDA, USDA and Congress need to work out the loopholes, lack of funding and regulatory enforcement, bad tax laws (both ways) and influence of corporate agricultural as lobbyists.
When it comes to political influence, Anotherhorseman (and it pains me to use that name because he is NOT a horseman by my standards) may be in the populace minority called public opinion; he is, however in the DC influence majority…money talks.
BTW, the proslaughter posting here ARE lobbying. And I don’t trust anything the government says.
and, I read further in the comment just above my first one in this thread, that he is from the same town in Wyoming as Josh Hellyer, the abusive helicopter pilot employed by the company Sun-J, which BLM contracts to conduct helicopter roundups of wild horses…the pieces of this puzzle are very easy to assemble once they are visible…and now I’m thinking of the Rock Springs Grazing Association, an association of cattle ranchers in southern Wyoming who have sued the BLM to remove all the wild horses in that area, or they will zero out the herds…hmmm what does that mean, what are they going to do with all the wild horses they “zero out” – I’m thinking…capture and sell to slaughter is what I’m thinking, I mean why waste all that perfectly good meat, right? Something tells me the BLM wouldn’t be too concerned. Hmm, the pieces of the puzzle… Rock Springs and Wheatland aren’t that far removed from each other – 4 hours – both in southern Wyoming – AND WOW, LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND in this article>> Senate Confirms Abbey to Lead BLM By David Frey, 8-07-09 from the publication New West Politics
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/senate_confirms_abbey_to_lead_blm/C37/L37/
Dr. John said in a comment to the article:
By dr john radosevich, 8-07-09
“I hope he has the gumption to do what needs to be done with the feral horse issues. The BLM is authorized to euthanize excess horses and he can still get it done before HR 1018 Kicks in.Harry Reid has been shown the cost of these horses and damage to the public lands that can occur if the HR 1018 is passed and he is starting to get the message that you can’t save everything to the excess that a few groups want.” This good veterinarian who undoubtedly has many cattle ranchers as clients wants wild horses to be sent to slaughter. That’s almost certainly what he meant by the euphemism “euthanize.” What an ugly puzzle this is.
You have repeatedly argued for and advocated doing something that is illegal in the United States. We have repeatedly told you that we have no further interest in your position until the FDA changes its position regarding the use of bute and other dangerous chemicals in food animals. Your comments should be directed toward the federal Food and Drug Administration, not this forum, not Ms. Tobin, and not the recreational horsemen who own most of the horses in the United States and don’t plan to sell them for food according to polls showing 70 percent or more opposition to your positions.
The Editor
I have no puzzlement as to the Sen Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader as of 01-06-12. He is a equine killer, wild and domestic through and through. I have no idea why the good old doc is questioning Reid’s position; unless the doc is really that ignorant or just hell bent stupid. I vote for both.
Doc Radowhatever….check Reid’s record. He is definitely on your slaughter side. But just an FYI….they will come after livestockers next.