Not bad for the Bismark Tribune!

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http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2005/10/23/news/local/104308.txt

Is this the end of horse slaughter?
By TOM RAFFERTY
Bismarck Tribune
Not all horses spend their final days basking in the sun while strolling across lush green pastures.

Each year thousands of horses in the United States are slaughtered and become food for people overseas or carnivores in zoos.

Whether it's a practical, cruel or humane way to euthanize horses can be debated, but Congress is on the brink of killing horse slaughter in the United States.

As early as next week, a committee of representatives and senators could agree on the agriculture appropriations bill, HR2744, which includes amendments that strip the United States Department of Agriculture of funding to inspect horse meat in the country's three horse slaughterhouses.

The legislation is not an outright ban of horse slaughter, but slaughterhouses are concerned that it will lead to their demise.

Jim Bradshaw, a spokesman for two Texas companies that slaughter horses, Dallas Crown Inc., of Kaufman, and Beltex Corp., of Fort Worth, said if the amendments pass, horse slaughterhouses could be doomed.

"We think unless they allow us to pay for our own inspections, it probably will be the end,"Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw said companies in Texas have paid for inspections of exotic meat such as ostrich and water buffalo, and that the Texas plants already pay USDAinspectors' overtime costs.

Besides the two Texas plants, the only other horse slaughterhouse is Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill.

According to the National Horse Protection Coalition, about 65,000 horses are slaughtered for their meat each year.

None of the meat is consumed by humans in the United States. Countries in Europe and Asia are some of the main importers of horse meat.

Chris Heyde, a spokesman for the National Horse Protection Coalition, said the amendments will only end horse slaughter for a year because they are part of an appropriations bill. However, House Resolution 503, dubbed the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, would provide an outright ban.

Heyde said his hope is that the agriculture appropriations bill will pass this week with the amendments intact, and that the HR503 will pass later.

"Those amendments were a way to show the overwhelming support in Congress for ending horse slaughter,"Heyde said.

The amendment passed 269-158 in the House and 68-29 in the Senate.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, all North Dakota Democrats, voted against the amendments.

Dorgan, who is on the conference committee, said if the amendment is the same in both versions of the bill it probably will stay in the bill.

Dorgan said he grew up around horses and realizes that the added expense of euthanizing horses on the farm is something that many ranchers don't want to bear.

Conrad said the legislation is misguided because slaughtering horses is one of the most humane ways to euthanize a horse.

"It was one of those things that was well-intentioned, but Ithink is impractical and could possibly lead to worse treatment of horses that are injured or sick,"Conrad said.

Pomeroy, who has said the legislation is a "back door"way to ban horse slaughter, is concerned that if the market for horse meat is eliminated, the value of horses will decrease.

When horses are no longer wanted, owners have the option of killing and burying them on their own land, having a veterinarian do the euthanizing, or selling the horse at an auction where they can be purchased for slaughter.

Wade Moser, executive vice president of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, said if people don't have the option to sell their horses for slaughter, people might be more inclined to let their horses run loose and starve.

"They don't now because there is a salvage value, but what will you do when there is no market?"Moser said.

Kist Livestock in Mandan auctions horses once a month. A worker at Kist said in August that about 200 to 250 horses are sold each month, but they don't keep track of how many are purchased for slaughter.

Bradshaw said people can get $500 to $600 for slaughter horses, instead of having to pay possibly hundreds of dollars to dispose of a horse.

Bradshaw said many horses will go to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered if the bill passes, although horse advocates say that is untrue.

Heyde said the amendments also prohibit the export of horses for slaughter.

Heyde said banning horse slaughter won't ruin the price of horses because the slaughter buyers are out to get the cheapest horses they can.

"Slaughter is really not an integral part of the system,"Heyde said. "It's kind of a last-minute dumping ground."

According to the organization Just Say Whoa!! To Horse Slaughter, federal law requires horses to be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually with a device called a captive bolt gun, which shoots a metal rod into the horse's brain.

The organization's Web Site, http://www.justsaywhoa.org, says some horses are improperly stunned and may still be conscious when they are hoisted by a rear leg to have their throats cut. Information on the Web site also states that some horses are stolen to be sold at auction and that slaughterhouses prefer healthy horses over sick and old horses.

Bradshaw said a common tactic of animal activists is to scare people with slaughter stories.

"In any urban setting, people have no idea where the bacon comes from, where the beef comes from or where the chicken comes from,"Bradshaw said. "I guess they think it is manufactured in the back of a Safeway."