Hey look.. another article!
Jul. 29th, 2005 11:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sitaangelBy Diane Strand
The MidWeek
The Sweeney-Spratt amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives
Appropriations Bill passed 269 to 158, and it may end horse
slaughtering in DeKalb and Texas, therefore, nationwide.
The amendment means the USDA will not be funded to perform plant
inspections for horse slaughtering. Yet, meat must be inspected by
the USDA before it can be exported from the United States.
Therefore, it would not be possible for the Belgian company Cavel
International to continue its operations, which provide horsemeat
for human consumption to some countries—Italy, France, Belgium,
Holland, Mexico and Japan—where horsemeat is considered a delicacy
and can sell for about $15 lb.
Horse protection activists see the amendment as a victory.
Meanwhile, Jim Tucker, Cavel's general manager in DeKalb, was in
Washington D.C. recently to lobby for his company.
He said the Congressional action is, in effect, an attack on the
meat industry in general, because the USDA inspects other products
for human consumption which are exported to other countries.
The bill is now in the Senate, said Ill. Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-
Hinckley. "The question now becomes, `Can the company do its own
testing?' Sweeney tried to ban horse slaughtering and couldn't get
it through committee, so he added it to the appropriations bill.
That was considered appropriate because it covered funding."
Pritchard asked, "What does that say about all the other inspection
services that government funds? I think it has application to all
forms of government inspection services—for cattle, hogs and grain."
He said it would set a dangerous precedent.
In its recent newsletter, the Utah Humane Society urged its members
to support the Sweeney-Pratt Amendment and argued, "Last year,
almost 66,000 American horses were slaughtered in just one of the
three foreign-owned, U.S.-based facilities located in Texas and
Illinois."
They noted the potential of the Sweeney-Pratt amendment and urged
humane society members to contact their legislators to support HR
503.
A coalition of thousands of animal rights supporters has been
working both nationally and in the Illinois legislature to shut down
the industry.
In Illinois, H.B.3845 was sponsored in the Illinois Legislature by
Rep. Robert Molaro, R-Chicago, but was eventually defeated,
primarily by legislators and others supporting the meat industry in
DeKalb County.
The bill was opposed successfully by DeKalb County's Sen. Brad
Burzynski, R-Sycamore, and State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley. The
bill would have amended the Illinois Horse Meat Act, declaring it
unlawful for "any person to slaughter a horse, possess, import into
or export from the state, or sell, buy, give away, hold or accept
any horse meat." It also would have forbidden buying, possessing or
selling a horse with the intention that it be used for human
consumption.
DeKalb's slaughterhouse experienced a fire of unknown origin in
March 2002 but later reopened. At the time it was reopened, Paul
Rasmussen, then DeKalb director of community development, said the
company had met all city requirements and needed no further permits.
The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, based in Washington,
D.C., reports that each year, thousands of horses are slaughtered in
this country. In 2002, according to USDA records, 42,312 horses were
killed for human consumption alone. Thousands more are shipped out
of the country for slaughter elsewhere.
Animals such as cattle, hogs and sheep are killed for meat in this
country with public acceptance—though other animal rights supporters
oppose their use also.
The MidWeek
The Sweeney-Spratt amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives
Appropriations Bill passed 269 to 158, and it may end horse
slaughtering in DeKalb and Texas, therefore, nationwide.
The amendment means the USDA will not be funded to perform plant
inspections for horse slaughtering. Yet, meat must be inspected by
the USDA before it can be exported from the United States.
Therefore, it would not be possible for the Belgian company Cavel
International to continue its operations, which provide horsemeat
for human consumption to some countries—Italy, France, Belgium,
Holland, Mexico and Japan—where horsemeat is considered a delicacy
and can sell for about $15 lb.
Horse protection activists see the amendment as a victory.
Meanwhile, Jim Tucker, Cavel's general manager in DeKalb, was in
Washington D.C. recently to lobby for his company.
He said the Congressional action is, in effect, an attack on the
meat industry in general, because the USDA inspects other products
for human consumption which are exported to other countries.
The bill is now in the Senate, said Ill. Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-
Hinckley. "The question now becomes, `Can the company do its own
testing?' Sweeney tried to ban horse slaughtering and couldn't get
it through committee, so he added it to the appropriations bill.
That was considered appropriate because it covered funding."
Pritchard asked, "What does that say about all the other inspection
services that government funds? I think it has application to all
forms of government inspection services—for cattle, hogs and grain."
He said it would set a dangerous precedent.
In its recent newsletter, the Utah Humane Society urged its members
to support the Sweeney-Pratt Amendment and argued, "Last year,
almost 66,000 American horses were slaughtered in just one of the
three foreign-owned, U.S.-based facilities located in Texas and
Illinois."
They noted the potential of the Sweeney-Pratt amendment and urged
humane society members to contact their legislators to support HR
503.
A coalition of thousands of animal rights supporters has been
working both nationally and in the Illinois legislature to shut down
the industry.
In Illinois, H.B.3845 was sponsored in the Illinois Legislature by
Rep. Robert Molaro, R-Chicago, but was eventually defeated,
primarily by legislators and others supporting the meat industry in
DeKalb County.
The bill was opposed successfully by DeKalb County's Sen. Brad
Burzynski, R-Sycamore, and State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley. The
bill would have amended the Illinois Horse Meat Act, declaring it
unlawful for "any person to slaughter a horse, possess, import into
or export from the state, or sell, buy, give away, hold or accept
any horse meat." It also would have forbidden buying, possessing or
selling a horse with the intention that it be used for human
consumption.
DeKalb's slaughterhouse experienced a fire of unknown origin in
March 2002 but later reopened. At the time it was reopened, Paul
Rasmussen, then DeKalb director of community development, said the
company had met all city requirements and needed no further permits.
The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, based in Washington,
D.C., reports that each year, thousands of horses are slaughtered in
this country. In 2002, according to USDA records, 42,312 horses were
killed for human consumption alone. Thousands more are shipped out
of the country for slaughter elsewhere.
Animals such as cattle, hogs and sheep are killed for meat in this
country with public acceptance—though other animal rights supporters
oppose their use also.
