Horse Slaughter Bill, LD 1075

I agree. Does anyone remember the days of the "hay tax" legislation and the effort it took to resolve it many years ago? Here we go again. There are already far too many horses with owners who are having difficulty affording them in these tough times. There are not enough safety nets for horses already in need of assistance. More will surely follow if feed and bedding become even more expensive. Will this force more off to slaughter or left to slowly starve? Just a thought that bears some research. Just see how difficult it will become to get good hay at an affordable price (if at all) when farmers have to keep separate accounts and take the time to figure and collect and pay tax to the state on hay sold to horse owners. Many farmers back then just stated they would not sell hay to horse owners because it was too much work and who can blame them. This was a bad idea before and is a bad idea now.

L.D. 1075 ?An Act to Prohibit Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption? Written by Robert Fisk Wednesday, 30 March 2011 March 29, 2011 To Whom It Concern: RE: L.D. 1075 ?An Act to Prohibit Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption? L.D. 1075 had some unintended language that was understandably troublesome to many in the horse community. All objectionable language has been removed: registration of horse for export, a registry of ownership for purposes of export, the penalty of $5,000 for failing to register, and the reclassification of horses from ?livestock? to ?companion? animal. We are aware of what the unintended hardships would be on horse owners, and although those sections were meant as some accountability and enforcement, we are satisfied the penalty provision will be a sufficient deterrent. An amended bill reflecting those deleted sections will be presented by the sponsor Rep. Knight who has admirably withstood the displeasure coming from the bill?s original language. We apologize for creating an unnecessary angst among horse owners. The bill?s original intent, as it is now, was to address the slaughter of horses. No animal that has served mankind so long, so well, so nobly in so many capacities as the horse deserves such a fate. To most horse owners in Maine horses are pets or beloved companions. And unlike cows, goats and chickens, horses are not bred for human consumption. It is a supreme injustice for a horse to have to endure being slaughtered. The entire process, including the slaughter auction, the method of transportation, the feedlots, the slaughter --- everything up to and including their death -- is inhumane. Unbeknownst to most in the state, Maine has a business that transports 1,000 to 1,500 horses each year, most that are adoptable, to two slaughter houses in Quebec, Canada. A concern has been what to you do with the horses that are saved from slaughter, particularly those that are being severely neglected. We believe effort should be made to assist rescues, help owners in caring for their horses, and to in general increase the ability to re-home unwanted horses. If all else fails and/or the animal is in poor condition then euthanasia should be used. To that end we are proposing a euthanasia clinic for horses and an increase in composting of the carcasses. We have a group of veterinarians currently working on a model. And given the many veterinarians supporting this (amended) bill, they feel there is no reason why such a clinic cannot be created. In conjunction, the goal is also to reduce the number of unwanted horses. A portion of the horses that go to slaughter are transported into Maine thus the legislation in itself will reduce the 1,000+ annual slaughter number. And although most are already full, we have a good network of horse rescues in Maine. Furthermore, we now have the recent formation of the Maine Equine Welfare Alliance, a group dedicated to helping horse owners struggling to provide for their animals and saving as many as possible from abuse, abandonment and neglect. We believe all these factors can decrease the number of unwanted horses while we also provide greater accessibility to humane euthanasia. With the amended bill removing all the onerous portions for horse owners, we have a broad coalition who will now support the ?only? intent of this legislation --- to end Maine?s complicity in the practice of slaughtering horses.

Apparently the writers of this bill went overboard when they were putting it together. The fact that they have 'listened' to the people who took the time and effort to contact them is encouraging. BUT, these people have left a huge open gap in the bill ... Horses that are going to slaughter for purposes other than 'human consumption' ... There are places that process horses for purposes other than the table ... Hello people!!! Also, Bill Green will be doing a segment on horse slaughter tonight (Monday Apr 4) at 6PM. This could be very interesting and open even more cans of worms ....

There is no federal law banning horse slaughter. What is banned is the commercial sale of horse meat. If horse slaughter continues, ALL horse owners will be forced into a passport system. EU regulations require a passport system for US horses within 3 years and we are heading into year 2. A passport system ensures horses have been raised from birth as food animals and are safe for human consumption. If you want to avoid state laws and tracking forced on all owners, get behind the federal legislation to ban horse slaughter. The new bills for the 112th session should be introduced soon. In the meantime, Maine should be applauded for stepping up and recognizing that US horses are not food animals but bred and raised for other purposes. You would be hard pressed to find a horse in the US that hasn?t received bute and yet, they are still going to slaughter. Bute is banned in all food producing animals by the FDA and the EU. A common wormer, Ivermectin is also banned in horses intended for food. There are dozens of horse medications that are banned in horses intended for food as well as countless bute compounds available on the internet. Note to Sarah ? well said!