Update Jan. 7, 2011: Remember this law passed last legislative session that allows Colorado taxpayers to check off on their tax returns that a portion of their tax dollars should go to the Unwanted Horse Alliance? Front Range Horse Rescue which is based in Colorado and the Equine Welfare Alliance warn:
"Your 2010 Colorado income tax form provides a check-off category for the ‘unwanted horse fund’. The organization receiving the donated funds is not a horse rescue, takes no stand against horse slaughter, and many of their Board members are pro slaughter (they support bringing horse slaughter plants back to the U.S.). We strongly encourage you to give your hard-earned tax donations directly to legitimate equine rescues instead.
The tough economy has already hurt many rescues; giving your tax dollars to the ‘unwanted horse fund’ means less for the rescues. If you are not in Colorado, we appreciate your relaying this information to your friends or relatives who live in Colorado."
For more on the law that created this tax check off for a private non-profit that supports horse slaughter, read Animal Law Coalition’s earlier reports below.
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Update May 28, 2010: The Colorado state senate concurred in House amendments to S.B. 139, and Gov. Bill Ritter has signed it into law.
Update May 10, 2010: On Friday, May 7, 2010, the Colorado House of Representatives approved S.B. 139 by a vote of 42-23. The bill now goes back to the Senate for approval of amendments.
The bill would allow taxpayers to check on their tax return that a portion of their tax dollars should go to the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance. House amendments would prohibit the check off from going into effect until the executive director of the Dept. of Revenue certifies there are no more than 14 other lines on the state tax return. Another amendment would repeal the proposal entirely in the 4 tax year after it goes into effect.
It’s puzzling why Colorado state legislators would collect tax money to give to a private pro-slaughter organization.
An innocuous sounding name, the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance, but its members are generally pro-slaughter, and the group hopes to influence legislation that would stop cruel horse slaughter.
You know the government is out of control when powerful private pro-slaughter special interests can demand state legislators pass a bill requiring a provision in the state tax return that would allow citizens to indicate they want taxpayer funds to be given to them.
That is what has happened in Colorado. S.B. 139 requires the state tax return to contain a provision that would allow citizens to indicate they want taxpayer money to go to the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance to "assist in its efforts" to "find solutions" for "unwanted horses". The solution being the re-opening of U.S. slaughter houses. A fund would be set up in the state treasury called the "Unwanted Horse Fund" where this money to be distributed to this private corporation would be collected.
The answer to any animals in need of care is not to line the pockets of a lucrative industry that would torture them and sell their meat as a delicacy for considerable profit. However the Unwanted Horse Alliance may disguise itself, as a charitable, a public service, whatever, know that it is a front for pro-slaughter interests.
This is the letter I sent to the Colorado Senate appropriations committee.
SB 139 is a ruse to bring back horse slaughter in the US. We know that the stories about abandon and starving horses are planted in the media to create a need for horse slaughter to be brought back to the US.
You are all elected officials doing the bidding of the American public, not the bidding of special interest groups, which the Colorado Unwanted Horse is a special interest group working for pro slaughter interests.
Your responsibility is to look beneath the surface and find the facts, not take the loudest most expensive and powerful voice in front of you, but find the truth and do the right thing.
The right thing here is simple. Don not allow horse slaughter back into the US.
The right thing is to control breeders by create breeding fees for all breeders. Fees that cover a humane end of life for every horse bred in the state of Colorado. Collect that $350 breeding fee for every horse registered in the state, hold it with that horses breed number attached to it. When that horse needs to be put down for what ever reason, there is a fee held by the state to end that horses life humanely. The state would be collecting $350.00 for each and every horse registered. Impose big fines for horses not registered, collecting more funds for the department that would oversee this task. This task would generate revenue for the state, end the senseless over-breeding and hold breeders accountable for the horses they bring into this world.
The current system of allowing anyone to breed horses with no breeding license and no accountability for what they breed is creating a mess.
I believe that the state could generate quite a bit of money from the breeding license and the breeding fees, more than enough to cover the costs of operating such a program. Place this department into the hands of the brand inspectors and the problem is solved. Colorado become a model state for controlling the horses population and providing a humane end of live.
Owning a horse is expensive, if one can not or will not pay a $350.00 end of life fee when they purchase or breed a horse, they should not own a horse in the first place. This fee will deter those that should not own horses from owning.
Let Colorado be the state to control the out of control breeders, set the standard ands run the unsavory business of horse slaughter out.
Develop a system that works allowing other states to adopt our practices ultimately running the horse slaughter business out of the US all together.
Ban the slaughter of horses…..keep the wild horses on the government lands that were designated ‘by law’ for them……they were here long before we were and they are a huge piece of our history!
We lived in Colorado for four years,i cannot imagine the native people would agree to such a facility being buildt especially the Dumb Friends league.
I have a somewhat different take on the problem..The dramatic drop in the economy, people being homeless and out of jobs is in direct porportion to the numbers of abandoned animals or peoples inability to feed and care for them when they are having trouble feeding their familys…We must all remember..this is only temporary, the economy is already starting to rebound-and unless something else goes horribley wrong-the country will be back to having jobs slowly but surely..There should be no slaughter houses because that is a permanent fix to a temporary ploblem. You must also remember there was a huge effort to rescue the Premarin mares and colts from Canada a few years back, truckloads came into oregon to sanctuarys bought specifically for them, they broke them and sold them at auction so that they would not go to slaughter…and that in turn saturated the market. There are many factors at work..no one would send a registered horse to slaughter for profit..you have several thousand dollars into a colt when he hits the ground..and you sell him to slaughter for-what 100.00??? It makes no sense to me. Business law says you will be out of business and broke in a hurry. In my county, we give a ton of hay as charity to individuals who cannot feed their horses..Hay prices are down by 1/2 this year and the need has not been so big as last year..That being said- I donot want slaughter houses to come back or horses to be shipped across our borders to be slaughtered
March 4, 2010
Senate Appropriations Committee
The Honorable
I am writing to ask that you vote “NO†on Senate( SB 139) for the following reasons:
The reasons for the unwanted population of horses are due to a soft horse market because of the economy. However, prior to the economic downturn there was a supply and demand issue due to over breeding by the breed industry groups, which includes many “backyard breeders†as well. The Unwanted Horse Coalition 2009 survey shows in Chart 2: Horse Breed that was Donated/Sold/Euthanized (consistent with percent of horses registered) clearly shows that the breed industry, particularly one breed (AQHA @ 31%), are primarily responsible for generating the highest number of horses. In contrast, the American Mustang is the lowest at 1%. Although, Chart 2 states that this percentage is consistent with the numbers of horses registered, it does not reflect how many were dispersed due to the fact that they were “unwanted.†This should be further investigated to reflect where the “sold horses†ended up. These numbers could be provided by the State Brand Inspection office, as to how many were sold at the local auction and how many were sold to the horsemeat buyers.
I have a small horse farm in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over the past several years I have witnessed many healthy, young, “blood†horses being run through the local auction. When I inquired as to their State of origin and destination I was informed that many were the stock from ranches in Wyoming and many were bought by the horsemeat buyers. This is clearly a case of over breeding and has perpetuated the “unwanted†horse dilemma that we are addressing. Also, there is evidence to suggest that what is considered an overpopulation of wild horses on the public land ranges is partly due to a co-mingling of ranch stock with the wild horse herds.
Further, the American Mustang category which represents the wild horses and burros currently held in BLM short and long term holding facilities should not be considered in this unwanted horse debate. The reason these horses and burros are in this captive state is due to mismanagement by BLM. It has become so controversial that the public, who owns and pays for these wild horses and burros, is pursuing legal action in Federal Court and new legislation to remedy this situation. The wild horses and burros are not “unwanted.†This is clear by the thousands of phone calls and letters that are being generated by the public to the White House and State legislators asking for a Moratorium on the roundups and to stop the removal of the wild horses and burros from their Federally lawful ranges. The wild horse and burro overpopulation “myth†being perpetuated by the BLM and horse industry groups is unfounded due to the lack of scientifically based census monitoring and their failure to conduct independent scientific habitat assessments on the WH&B ranges. These requirements are mandated in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.
Finally, this attempt by the Colorado Unwanted Horse group to deceive the tax paying public by mis-representing themselves as a horse welfare organization is wrong. If there are donations to be made it should be carried out by a politically neutral foundation to the many non-profit equine welfare organizations in the State of Colorado that truly exist solely for the welfare and benefit of the horses.
Your consideration of my concerns and vote against HB 139 is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Lyn McCormick
Fort Collins, CO.
I am writing to ask that you vote “NO†on Senate( SB 139) for the following reasons:
The economy has created a soft market for the sale of horses; however, prior to the economic downturn there was already an oversupply due to over breeding by the breed industry groups, which includes many “backyard breeders†as well. The Unwanted Horse Coalition 2009 survey Chart 2: Horse Breed that was Donated/Sold/Euthanized (consistent with percent of horses registered) clearly shows that the breed industry, particularly one breed (AQHA @ 31%), are primarily responsible for generating the highest number of horses. In contrast, the American Mustang is the lowest at 1%. Although, Chart 2 states that this percentage is consistent with the numbers of horses registered, it does not reflect how many were dispersed due to the fact that they were “unwanted.†This should be further investigated to reflect where the “sold horses†ended up. These numbers could be provided by the State Brand Inspection office, as to how many were sold at the local auction and how many were sold to the horsemeat buyers.
I have a small horse farm in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over the past several years I have witnessed many healthy, young, “blood†horses being run through the local auction. When I inquired as to their State of origin and destination I was informed that many were the stock from ranches in Wyoming and many were bought by the horsemeat buyers. This is clearly a case of over breeding and has perpetuated the “unwanted†horse dilemma that we are addressing. Also, there is evidence to suggest that what is considered an overpopulation of wild horses on the public land ranges is partly due to a co-mingling of ranch stock with the wild horse herds.
Further, the American Mustang category which represents the wild horses and burros currently held in BLM short and long term holding facilities should not be considered in this unwanted horse debate. The reason these horses and burros are in this captive state is due to mismanagement by BLM. It has become so controversial that the public, who owns and pays for these wild horses and burros, is pursuing legal action in Federal Court and new legislation to remedy this situation. The wild horses and burros are not “unwanted.†This is clear by the thousands of phone calls and letters that are being generated by the public to the White House and State legislators asking for a Moratorium on the roundups and to stop the removal of the wild horses and burros from their Federally lawful ranges. The wild horse and burro overpopulation “myth†being perpetuated by the BLM and horse industry groups is unfounded due to the lack of scientifically based census monitoring and their failure to conduct independent scientific habitat assessments on the WH&B ranges. These requirements are mandated in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.
Finally, this attempt by the Colorado Unwanted Horse group to deceive the tax paying public by mis-representing themselves as a horse welfare organization is wrong. If there are donations to be made it should be carried out by a politically neutral foundation to the many non-profit equine welfare organizations in the State of Colorado that truly exist solely for the welfare and benefit of the horses.
LESLIE ALLEN MESSAGE FOR YOU
“Missourians Against Horse Slaughter
If someone could do this plesae contact Laura Allen with animalllawcoalition.com as I am in the HSUS convention this week and our of commission to a large extent!! Thanks, Leslie
2 hours ago
Missourians Against Horse Slaughter More scary action in MO:
On Friday on a straight party-line vote, the MO House passed SB 844 an Omnibus Ethics bill that includes a provision that can remove your right to be heard. The language causing the anti-slaughter movement concern is:
The act redefines “legislative lobbyist” as one who attempts to influence any elected official other than an elected official in that person’s district.
Under this bill YOU would have to be a registered legislative lobbyist if you DARE to contact any elected official othen than from your own district. NEVERMIND you, the taxpayer, are paying the salaries for the other “public servants”!!!!
http://www.house.mo.gov http://www.house.mo.gov
http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills101/billpdf/commit/SB0844c.pdf