Arkansas Residents and Others Too

[4jpainthorses]

We received this email from the AQHA today. You Arkansas residents please contact Senator Mark Pryor, your own senator and any other senators. We need this for the horse industry.

ACTION ALERT



Dear Arkansas AQHA Members:



Before the August recess, Senator Sam Brownback offered an amendment to the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill which would provide for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of the status of horse welfare as it relates to the closing of horse processing plants in the United States . This amendment passed the Senate’s version of the Ag Appropriations bill.



The GAO study would specifically examine issues such as:



1) How the horse industry has responded to the closure of U.S. horse slaughter facilities in terms of both the numbers of horse sales, exports, adoptions, or abandonments

2) The implications these changes have had on farm income and trade; the extent to which horses in the United States are slaughtered for any purpose

3) Any impacts to State and local governments and animal protection organizations;

4) How the USDA oversees the transport of horses destined for slaughter in foreign countries such as Canada and Mexico ; and,

5) General conclusions regarding the welfare of horses as a result of a ban on horse slaughter for human consumption.



The Committee language directs the GAO to issue its report by March 1, 2010.



Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas has been appointed as a member of the Conference Committee that will reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of this appropriations bill. PLEASE CALL OR FAX Senator Pryor’s office and ask that he support retaining this language directing the GAO study this issue in the Final Conference Report. You may reach Senator Pryor’s office by phoning (202) 224-2353 or FAX (202) 228-0908.



A GAO study of the closure of horse processing plants and the effect on horse welfare is widely supported by the horse industry and horse owners. Currently, there is little hard data on this issue. Such a study could provide valuable information to Congress and the horse industry as it deals with the unwanted horse issue before passing legislation further burdening horse owners and any unfunded mandates on states or local municipalities to enforce new laws.

[cinch]

I know Senator Pryor is very receptive of hearing from Arkansasans and you will get a response from his office.
But 4j, I don't know what to say because I haven't seen the impact that other's say they have. Of course, I don't visit sale barns.
I do see thin and starving horses from time to time but they belong to people that claim to want them and don't admit to not feeding them. They are not going to haul them to the slaughter house.
I just can not see this as a cure all simply because I don't see all these dead beat owners rushing to the slaughter house with their half dead horses.

a good start would be if perhaps vets could discount casterations and sale barns would require stallions to be gelded, at the very least all the unregistered ones.

[Festus]

Thanks and I will be contacting him as well.

[westmar]

Great 4J-we do need a study to find out what has gone on in the industry. California would be one great place to start since they have absolutely no where to take their unwanted horses and cannot lawfully transport them out of state for slaughter.

I have heard that people will take a load of horses out of state for 'shows', and the horses never come back.

Since early September I have taken in over 25 head of unwanted horses.

You're gonna love this-I take in horses for free-no questions asked except to make sure the person has a legal right to give the horse away in a signed Bill of Release of Ownership to me-Well-I now have one abandoned at my place....I had picked up the horse for a guy that needed to move it, brought it home for a couple days so he could make other boarding arrangements, and now he will not return my calls....go figure.

He could have easily just signed the horse over, given me ownership instead of playing games. That way I could be looking for a home for the horse.

Now I have to chase his butt down with a boarding bill, which I am sure he cannot pay. If he does not pay he can sign the 'bill of sale' or his choice will be that I will call the State Brand Inspector and he will be fined and in trouble for abandoning the horse. PLUS, I can go after him in civil court----I can make it a big mess for him and I know where he works.

I will be clear as to my intentions, bet he will sign the horse over.