H.R. 305 Passes House Committee
Update July 29, 2010: The House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has passed H.R. 305 by voice vote. Attached below find the committee background and markup on the bill. Also attached find Animal Law Coalition's letter to the Committee.
It's on to a vote in the full House!
The bill, H.R. 305, was introduced by Representatives Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL) and Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced the bill at the start of the 111th Congress. H.R. 305, known as the Horse Transportation Safety Act, would ban the use of double decked trailers for all horse transport.
What You Can Do
Find your U.S. Representative and urge your representative to support H.R. 305, the Horse Transportation Safety Act, which bans use of double decked trailers to haul horses and promotes highway safety for everyone.
You can reach your Representative through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.
More about the proposed law
There is a USDA regulation banning the use of double decked trailers to transport horses to slaughter. 9 CFR 88.3 But the USDA has also said it does not have the resources to enforce the regulation, giving the industry a virtual green light to continue using double decked trailers to haul horses to slaughter. Also, the law allows horses to be hauled in double decked trailers to destinations other than slaughter houses. So, horses are routinely hauled long distances in double decked trailers to some destination close to the slaughter house. Once there, they are then transferred to another vehicle which takes them to the slaughter house.
Double decked trailers can have ceiling heights as low as 5'7". (The industry standard for vehicles to transport horses is 7'-8'). According to the USDA, an equine can be 8 feet tall when standing on all four legs and close to 12 feet tall when rearing.
The bottom deck of a double decked trailer has 3" I Beams every 12" on center to support the top deck.
Steep and narrow ramps with metal floors cause the horses to slip and fall, causing injuries. Horses are forced to jump down into a narrow opening leading to the bottom deck; they are often injured as a result.
Because of the low ceiling heights horses cannot raise and lower their heads and necks for balance. Horses routinely throw their heads and rear, unlike cattle, hogs, goats or sheep for which these double decked trailers are designed. Horses suffer headm neck and back injuries because of the low ceiling height, the 3" I beams, and overhead ramp storage.
They are held on these trailers in this way for long periods. Many suffer serious injuries during these arduous journeys to slaughter, stumbling, falling and are trampled and even killed.
Sometimes the upper deck collapses, leaving horses injured and terrified or dead. There have been a number of accidents involving over full double decked trailers: On May 18, 2010, a cattle trailer hauling horses to a feedlot in Texas crashed on the Turner Turnpike in Oklahoma. Eleven of the 30 horses being transported died.
In October 2007, a double-decker tractor trailer carrying 59 Belgian draft horses through Wadsworth, Illinois, crashed, badly mangling the trailer and trapping many of the horses. Fifteen of the horses died as a result of the accident.
In 2006, a double-stacked trailer hauling 41 horses to a slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Illinois, crashed, killing 16 horses.
USDA has stated that, "We do not believe that equines can be safely and humanely transported on a conveyance that has an animal cargo space divided into two or more stacked levels."
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has said studies suggest "there are increased rates of injury associated with the use of double-decked conveyances for transporting horses." According to the AVMA, "sources, such as the National Agriculture Safety Database and various manufacturers producing trailers specifically for horse transport recommend heights of 7 to 8 ft as being necessary for the safe and comfortable transport of horses (i.e., adequate headroom for the horses to stand comfortably with their heads in normal position); it appears difficult, if not impossible, to meet such recommendations via the use of currently configured double-deck trailers, particularly for taller horses."
State laws
Some states have taken action to stop the use of these trailers to haul horse to slaughter. Double decked trailers have been banned in Pennsylvania, 18 Pa.C.S. § 5511(e)(E.1); Massachusetts, ALM GL ch. 129, § 46, and New York, NY CLS Agr & M § 359-a, as a means of hauling horses; they have been banned in California, Cal Pen Code § 597o, and Arizona, A.R.S. § 3-1312, § 28-912, when used for hauling horses to slaughter. In Vermont double decked trailers are banned when hauling more than 7 horses. Vermont.
13 V.S.A. § 387.
Just last year, Rhode Island banned use of double decked trailers for hauling horses to slaughter.
The trailers are allowed but their use is regulated in Connecticut, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 22-415, Conn. State Agencies § 22-415-2-3; Virginia, 2 VAC 5-160-10, et seq., Minnesota, Minn. Stat. § 346.38 and Maryland, Md. Agriculture Code §3-902. Enforcement of these laws, however, often requires testimony from experts.
But state laws only apply to travel within the state. A strong national law is needed to stop the use of double decked trailers to haul horses across the country and into Mexico or Canada where they are slaughtered.
This won't stop horse slaughter, but it will make it more expensive to do it.
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| HR305committeemarkup.pdf | 242.93 KB |
| HR 305.Ltr_.House_.Trans_.Infra_.Committee.7.28.10.doc | 32 KB |
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The horse is part of
The horse is part of American heritage, having played a major role in our historical growth and development. Post industrial revolution, horses now contribute significantly to the enjoyment of generations of recreation enthusiasts in America.
Generations ago, our forefathers designated the horse a "favored" animal which means they are not raised for food, not eaten in our culture, commonly given a name and accordingly are taxed differently than traditional food animals.
However millions of American recreational horses have been secretly purchased and slaughtered for the foreign markets. And because of the lack of disclosure on the part of the agents for the foreign owned horse meat industry, people's horses can and have been stolen and their pets purchased without disclosure or under false pretenses. This practice has contributed to crime and consumer fraud.
Would America exist today if it were not for "Brown Beauty", the valiant and noble mare who made history when she tirelessly carried Paul Revere on her back for his famous midnight ride?
As Americans we cannot passively sit back and allow our noble horse to become a casualty of free trade. Horse slaughter is an affront to our culture.
Extensive independent polling shows that voters think it is illegal to slaughter a horse for human consumption; however when informed that it is not, 88%-93% think that it should be.
In l972, Congress enacted the Wild Horse and Burro Act which designated the wild horse as part of American heritage deserving protection against those who would cruelly slaughter them for food. It is inconceivable that the American people or their elected representatives would have wanted any less protection for our domesticated recreational horses?
A recent precedent was established with HR4868 which prohibited the import, export or sale of dog and cat fur. The ban was incorporated into a miscellaneous trade package. Likewise, "the people" want the import, export or sale of American horses for slaughter for human consumption prohibited. The total gross export is less than $30 million dollars a year.
As a voter, I want to inform my representatives regarding this issue and to respectfully urge those seeking re-election to "just say neigh" to horse killers.
Keep America's horses in the stable and off the table.
Tainted Horse Meat
As far as I am concerned, diners abroad who are ridiculous enough to eat horsemeat can take their chances with the tainted and poisonous meat. As any horse owner or handler knows, horses in this country are not for the most part , raised for slaughter (unless of course said horse happen to be unluckly enough to be one of the tens of thousands of over produced Quarterhorses bred in this country every year. )
As an owner I know full well of the many preparations from fly spray to de-wormers which plainly state "NOT TO BE USED IN ANIMALS MEANT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION." And to think , Europeans feed this crap to their children as 'health food'.
For years Quarterhorse breeders in this country have used the 'scatter shot' method of breeding , in the dim hope of producing a super star, knowing full well their outcasts could be easily sold to the Belgian slaughterhouses. The once proud and useful breed has surely suffered as a result, both literally and genetically. I would personally not give 25 cents for 99.9% of the modern American Quarterhorses bred in this country today. The breed is on its knees at this point, and not just because of their rampant leg, hoof and arthritic difficulties.
Horse slaughter is a gross and debasing practice. Eventually the over producing and over breeding will stop in this country, things will right themselves and we can go on as usual. THe numbers should decline , naturally. Hopefully the export to Canada and Mexico will end soon, which will be the first step in this process of natural selection. Once that happens, then again, the horse in the US will be bred for sport, pleasure, and not meat. I fore see an overall uptick in the quality of these animals once we rid ourselves once and for al of these convenient 'dumping grounds'. ANd for anyone who makes a living with horses and sees fit to ship them - I wish you nothing but ill will and bad luck. Because you deserve it.
Double Deckers
people need to say something please or do something to stop this.
No More Hauling Horses to Slaughter!
We have a cattle slaughter in Augusta and its disgusting to have one of these unsafe speeding trucks pass you on the road. It horrifies me to think American horses have to go thru the same ordeal when they are hauled to Mexico and Canada to be killed. We need to make it end now.
Horse transportation
You need to let your common sense overtake your greed. Take your family for a trip in one of these trailers where you cannot stand up. You need to stop being a politician for a few minutes and see how the other half lives - these animals deserve better.
This is exactly the way to
This is exactly the way to target the slaughter industry. By making their trade more expensive to operate. If you can't stop horse slaughter immediately, think of all the ways to legally impede everything, from transport to illegal work.
Markup
Janet Ferguson says. . .
There is a webcast of a Markup on July 29th 2010 at 11:00 a.m. from the Committee's website. I wonder if they will be considering this bill in that session (tomorrow).