Tell USDA to deny ALL horse slaughter plant applications

Originally Posted: April 17, 2012

Tell USDA to deny ALL horse slaughter plant applications

FROM ASPCA

ACTION

Tell U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to reject any application to operate a horse slaughter facility in the U.S.

Horse slaughter proponents are taking steps to open horse slaughter plants in the United States. Unless citizens object, horses may soon be commercially slaughtered in our communities for human consumption overseas. There is already a slaughterhouse in New Mexico being considered for government approval to slaughter horses.  

Sign an online petition:
http://capwiz.com/aspca/issues/alert/?alertid=61214086 

And/or better yet, make direct contact:

Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
phone (202) 720-3631
fax (202) 720-2166
AgSec@usda.gov 

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

According to a national poll conducted in January 2012, 80% of Americans are strongly against horse slaughter. Americans do not raise horses for food or eat horse meat. Horse slaughter will benefit only foreign-owned corporations who profit by catering to overseas specialty markets. These corporations have no regard for the welfare of our nation’s horses or the communities we call home.

Horse slaughter plants are not clean/green enterprises. They are an economic and environmental nightmare: polluting local water supplies, lowering property values and filling the air with a foul stench. Five years after the closure of a horse slaughter plant in Kaufman, Texas, the community is still trying to recover from the damage that the plant caused.

Finally, horse slaughter is not humane and it is not euthanasia. The USDA found that more than 92% of all horses sent to slaughter are in good condition! Many horses sent to slaughter would have gone to good homes or sanctuaries had they not fallen into the hands of “kill buyers” who outbid potential adopters. Before the last U.S. horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, USDA investigative documents revealed routine brutality at these facilities. Those same horrific practices will resume if horse slaughter plants reopen on U.S. soil.  

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Thank you for everything you do for animals!