Over the past few months, six slaughter plants have requested authorization to start slaughtering horses in the U.S. Governor Fallin in Oklahoma, only last week signed a bill that would allow slaughterhouses in Oklahoma to open, even though the majority of her constituents are against horse slaughter. It is ironic that, having pretty much a zero market for horse meat in the U.S., we are continuing to fight to try to stop horse slaughter plants open in the United States, when they are closing in Europe due to tainted horse meat being sold as beef or pork. Surprisingly (please note the sarcasm), horse meat has been found to have dangerous chemicals, probably because the horse was someone’s pet before it was either stolen or sold at auction to a killer buyer.
After three years of requesting that Obama do SOMETHING to stop slaughter from occurring in the United States, the new 2014 budget from the White House finally reinstates the block on the USDA’s ability to inspect slaughter plants in the U.S. Congress still has to approve said budget, but it seems that we may once again have a reprieve.
So what does this mean? Well, with enough public outrage, Congress (finally) introduced another anti-slaughter bill this year- the S.A.F.E. Act- Safeguard American Food Exports Act, HR 1094/S 541. This would stop slaughter plants from opening in the U.S. as well as stop transportation of horses across the borders into Canada and Mexico for the purpose of slaughter. It would be great if this passed, but the White House may be sending a message in defunding the USDA regulators: This is all you get. Considering that it took THREE YEARS for the White House to finally reintroduce this wording into the budget, it doesn’t seem that the current administration is very keen on creating a permanent ban on horse slaughter.
Of course, it is most likely the scandal of finding horse meat in “beef” and the ensuing closing of horse slaughter plants in the EU that was the catalyst for the White House to do anything regarding this issue at all. If this is the case, perhaps if we can use said scandal to get something permanent passed in the U.S. If we continue to voice our opinions, we can get Congress to finally vote on a bill that 80% of Americans want. In reality, how often do they get a chance to vote on something in which so many people agree?
If you are unsure of what is going on with horse slaughter, you can click on the image, which will take you to our commercial, which has aired in California and Oklahoma. We are still raising funds to have it play in other venues- you can send donations to Paypal: donate@hanaeleh.com and note “Commerical” in the notes area. All funds for the commercial will be used to have it play in other areas across the U.S.
