Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal signed HB 122 into law March 9 of this year. The law provides the Wyoming Board of Livestock with three options to deal with abandoned, stray, feral or abused animals which enter into their jurisdiction. The Board may take the animal to public sale, which was the only option prior to this legislation, or may now send the animal to slaughter or destroy the animal.
The Board of Livestock will be working in conjunction with The United Organizations of the Horse (UOH) to carry out the law.
Wyoming State Representative Sue Wallis (a.k.a. “Horse Slaughter Sue”) is the Executive Director of the UOH.
The first option of taking the horses to public sale will almost automatically put them in the slaughter pipeline, sending them to Canada or Mexico to be killed where it will be exported overseas. People who eat horse meat, such as Europeans and Japanese, will be exposed to any toxins and potentially carcinogenic drug residues contained in it. Or the State may send them directly to its planned horse slaughterhouse so that prison inmates, people in elderly care facilities, and other State maintained facilities, not to mention “the needy,” may be similarly exposed to poisonous horse meat.
To the Governor and state legislators who passed this heinous law we leave you with this quote by Caroline M. Betts, PhD Econ:
The flesh of ‘unwanted horses’ is acknowledged to be toxic when consumed by humans. And who among the politicians, equine practitioners, and veterinarians lobbying to prevent a ban on the slaughter of American horses – in the name of equine welfare – would wish to be responsible for the deleterious impact for human welfare associated with promoting the slaughter of toxic horses?
Quote Source: “The Economic Reality of Scarce and Toxic Horses” >>
Other Sources: TheHorse.com and ChronofHorse.com.
Further Reading: “When Horse Slaughter Comes to Town”, serialized here in five parts:
| Part 1 | Environmental Impact |
| Part 2 | Economic Growth and Community Images |
| Part 3 | Legal Implications |
| Part 4 | Opposition to Horse Slaughter |
| Part 5 | Alternatives and Solutions |
Tuesday's Horse 
Horse meat is unfit for humans to eat.
Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 48, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 1270-1274
Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk
Nicholas Dodman, Nicolas Blondeau, Ann M. Marini
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6P-4YF5RB0-1&_user=10&_coverDate=05%2F31%2F2010&_alid=1317753422&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=5036&_sort=r&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=4&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2f8a2c55a559e5963d0f1e02b682319c
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – prohibited as well Phenylbutazone, known as “bute,” is a veterinary drug only label-approved by the Food & Drug Administration for use by veterinarians in dogs and horses. It has been associated with debilitating conditions in humans and it is absolutely not permitted for use in food-producing animals. USDA/FSIS has conducted a special project to for this drug in selected bovine slaughter plants under federal inspection. An earlier pilot project by FSIS found traces less than 3% of the livestock selected for testing, sufficient cause for this special project. There is no tolerance for this drug in food-producing livestock, and they and their by-products are condemned when it is detected. Dairy producers must not use this drug in food-producing livestock and if it is found, those producers will be subject to FDA investigation and possible prosecution.
http://www.saanendoah.com/prohibiteddrugs.html
Horse Owner Survey Shows NSAID Use Trends
by: Edited Press Release
April 30 2009, Article # 14073
In a recent survey, 96% of respondents said they used nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to control the joint pain and
inflammation in horses, and 82% administer them without always
consulting their veterinarian. More than 1,400 horse owners and trainers
were surveyed to better understand attitudes toward NSAIDs, in a project
sponsored by Merial, the maker of Equioxx (firocoxib).
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14073
99 percent of horses that started in California last year raced on bute, according to Daily Racing Form. Bute is banned in the United States and Canada for horses intended for the food chain. That’s a permanent ban.
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What makes anyone think Horsemeat is poisioness? During WWII the US Government butchered Horses and sold the meat to the public to eat. My Mother knew when she got Horse meat from the store because it was stringy. The meat does not cut as Beef does when you procede to eat it. People in Europe have eaten it for centuries and not died. You people are NUTS. DON’T MAKE UP STORIES WHEN YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. Just because it is Horse meat it is not poisioness. I have raised Horses for almost 40 years and I want them treated humanely. We have people turning them out because they can not take care of them. There needs a place to properly take care of them or process them humanely. We need Proper run Horse Slaughter. We have too many Old and injured horses that can not be fixed. This is the answer to that question. You people have dropped the price of Horses out the bottom because of not using your head and think how to humanely take care of them. Don’e let them suffer just because you do not want them slaughtered. signed For the horse.
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Donna, we back everything we state with sources. Please read them to prevent yourself from making rash and uninformed statements. There is a lot at stake, not only for the welfare of the horses, but also the people in your state.
The European Union ruled last year that slaughter horses from America must be quarantined for six months before they enter the human food chain because of numerous drug residues potentially harmful and carcinogenic to people. The Wyoming state horse pro-slaughter movement knows (1) if they open a horse slaughter plant, a similar quarantine system would be directed by the EU if they intend to sell the horse meat overseas; (2) per the USDA it is illegal to export horse meat from America because they have refused to fund the inspections necessary to allow it. Wyoming is looking to circumvent both of these issues, therefore looking for a place to market its toxic horse meat within the State. They have chosen state-maintained facilities. It is clear from this Wyoming intends to exploit those who have little or no outlet to defend themselves. But organizations like ours are watching, and ready to take action.
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What part of “toxic” don’t they understand? Feed horsemeat to prisoners, the elderly, the needy, and those at “other state maintained facilities”, which I assume will include mental health facilities? These people are essentially powerless to refuse what’s thrust upon them. Feeding them horsemeat would be abusive, premeditated, and lots of other things class action lawyers dream of!
Watch out, slaughter states, Erin Brockovitch may be headed your way!
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