Tuesday’s Horse

:: The cattlemen’s network website reports:

The Livestock Marketing Association (LMA) is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider an appeal of a lower court decision effectively banning horse slaughter for human consumption in Illinois . According to a friend of the court brief LMA filed February 22, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals “failed to address the adverse impact” on horse welfare when it upheld an Illinois law that closed a plant in DeKalb, IL, last year. The brief suggested “tens of thousands” of horses that have reached the end of useful lives will die of neglect or be slaughtered outside the U.S., where plants are not subject to the Humane Slaughter Act.

LMA represents more than 800 livestock marketing businesses across the country. The organization’s communication to the court pointed out the Illinois law creates an unconstitutional burden upon the interstate commerce conducted at livestock markets, some of which supplied horses to the DeKalb plant.

Several beef groups, including KLA, helped fund the preparation and filing of the brief. Others were NCBA, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association.

Source: www.cattlenetwork.com

:: Andrea Zimmerman for the Rockford Register Star reports:

Eight months after an Illinois law closed the nation’s one remaining slaughterhouse for horses, a Pecatonica lawmaker wants to reopen it.

Horses in Illinois and across the country are in a “despicable, deplorable situation” without these facilities, which process horse meat for human consumption, Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica, said. And he hopes to introduce legislation this week that would end the ban.

The move could renew years of contentious debate over whether the slaughter of horses is humane.

Sacia argues that without U.S. facilities, which were regulated and overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, horses targeted for slaughter are now shipped to Mexico and Canada, where humane conditions are questionable at best. And he believes U.S. slaughterhouses serve another important purpose.

The number of horses nationwide has almost doubled since 1986, from 5 million to 9.5 million, according to the United Nations, which tracks commodities worldwide.

Source: Horse abuse debate could heat up again

:: Lee Holman for the Daily Gazette reports:

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new state task force has a goal of making sure retired racehorses don’t end up in a slaughterhouse in Canada or Mexico.

“Is shipping them for slaughter our only option?” asked Jessica Chittenden, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. “I hope not,” she said.

State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker and state Racing and Wagering Board chairman Daniel Hogan announced the New York State Task Force on Retired Race Horses on Monday in Albany.

The task force, created by an act of the state Legislature, will investigate the creation of employment opportunities for retired racehorses. The task force will also investigate the feasibility, cost and benefit of installing artificial turf at race courses. Many people believe artificial turf is easier on the horses’ legs.

Only 15 percent of all racehorses are successful, Hooker said in a prepared statement. The future for the remaining 85 percent of the racehorses is uncertain.

and further:

The task force members include horse owner Jackson Knowlton of Saratoga Springs, an owner of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide; Karin Bump, equine professor in Madison County; Grace “Jean” Brown, a standardbred farm director in Orange County; Fiona Farrell, an equine attorney in Stillwater, Saratoga County; William Hopsicker, a thoroughbred owner in Oneida County; Margaret Ohlinger, an equine veterinarian in Ontario County and Alice Calabrese Smith, president and CEO of the Humane Society of Greater Rochester.

The task force will hold its first meeting on Friday in the state Department of Agriculture and Markets office in Albany.

Source: Panel weighs fate of retired racehorses, Task force will explore alternatives to slaughterhouse