HORSEPOWER WORKS TO END SLAUGHTER PIPELINE

HORSEPOWER

People Organizing for the Well-being of Equines and their Rights

                   MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT

                            S. 2163 / A5109

                             Addabbo / Glick

HORSEPOWER, Inc strongly supports the above noted bill, AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law to prohibit any person from slaughtering a horse where such person knows or has a reason to know that such horse will be used for human or animal consumption; prohibits any person from possessing, selling, or importing a horse or horseflesh if such person knows or should have known that any part of such horse or horseflesh will be used for human or animal consumption, and provides penalties for violation.  

S.2163 / A. 5109 comes at a time when the debate rages in Washington DC, to permanently ban the practice of horse slaughter and close the loophole that allows for the transportation of horses to Mexico and Canada for exactly those purposes.  While horse slaughter facilities are no longer allowed to operate in the United States (since 2007 due to provisions included in the annual appropriations legislation, prohibiting the use of federal funds to inspect them), such directives only apply on an annual fiscal year and must be renewed every twelve months by Congress.  In 2021, New York outlawed the sale or transport of thoroughbred and standardbred horses for the purposes of slaughter, a strong first step, however, this follow up legislation will make implementation of the original law more effective, as it is difficult for officers stopping a trailer headed to the border to determine what breed each equine is. 

Strong support for such an Act exists.  According to the Animal Welfare Institute, “Americans overwhelmingly support an end to horse slaughter for human consumption (recent polls from Kentucky, Texas and Utah respectively show that 82, 72 and 69 percent of those questioned oppose the practice). A recent national poll found that almost 70 percent of Americans support a federal ban. In California, a 1998 ballot initiative (Prop. 6) banning horse slaughter for human consumption passed with 60 percent of the vote.”  This bill once passed will, once again, result in New York serving as a leader in outlawing the practice of loading dozens of horses on trailer, with no rest, no food, no water, for long journeys, only to be met with a barbaric, inhumane, and extraordinarily painful slaughtering.

Equines have, for centuries, benefitted the world and served to advance humankind.  It is impossible to think about our lives today without gratitude for their service and usefulness and wonderment at their astonishing speed, agility, power, and gracefulness.  Yet for all their value and the joy they bring to us, equines and their kin often suffer from inhumane treatment by the very industries they benefit.  HORSEPOWER, Inc urges passage of S.2163 / A. 5109.