Update April 3, 2012: Though the pro-slaughter organization, United Horsemen, cancelled its summit scheduled to take place this week in Oklahoma City, the Summit of the Live Horse proceeded today with an event calculated to raise awareness about the cruelty of horse slaughter and raise support for Congressional bills, H.R. 1196/S.B. 1176, that would ban the grisly practice.
Several attendees described the well-attended event as a "huge success". There was a lot of media present. Watch here for yourself! A big kudos to Simone Netherlands and Respect 4 Horses!
For an overview of the American Equine Summit held in New York, visit R.T. Fitch’s blog.
Update March 29, 2012: While last year the two conferences representing
opposing sides of the explosive Horse Slaughter Debate took place in Las
Vegas, this year’s Equine battleground was set to play out in Oklahoma City
no farther than one city block away from each other.
Although they had been planning it for over a year, spent a lot of resources
and had sold many $150-$300 tickets, the United Organizations of the Horse,
(the Pro- Horse Slaughter faction) announced today that they postponed
their dead horse Summit to January 2013.
"I believe the ground was getting too hot for them in Oklahoma City. 80% of
Americans are against Horse Slaughter, and although they believed
Oklahoma was an exception, it turns out that it is not," states Simone
Netherlands, the organizer of the Summit of the Live Horse Press
Conference.
The Summit of the Live Horse Press Conference is in no way quitting and the
live online broadcast will move forward as scheduled. (See details below.)
"Just because they canceled their conference it doesn’t mean that they will
stop strategizing about how to increase the demand for horse meat, how to
slaughter our wild horses and how to open new horse slaughter plants in the
U.S.," says R.T. Fitch, writer and also one of the speakers of the Press
Conference of the live Horse. Equine advocates from across the nation will participate in a press conference
and live webcast, the Summit of the Live
Horse, aired from Oklahoma
City on 04/03/2012 to address the explosive issues surrounding Horse Slaughter
and Wild Horses and Burros.
The Summit of the Live Horse Press Conference
Holiday Inn, Will Rogers Airport, 4401 SW 15th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73108 at 12 – 1PM CDT on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Late last year, three
lawmakers in Washington, D.C. (Rep. Kingston, Sen. Blunt and Sen. Kohl), legalized
Horse Slaughter in the U.S. by removing language from an Agriculture
Appropriations bill, which had prohibited federal funds from being spent to
inspect horse slaughter plants.
President Obama signed the bill into law and in doing so ignited a
heated anti/pro-horse debate, which crosses all of the socio-economic
demographics of the U.S.
In many states
including Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Montana, Washington and Oregon, the horse
slaughter faction is beginning to lay the groundwork to open horse slaughter
plants for human consumption. In several states, legislators are
sponsoring bills that would turn their respective states into hospitable
environments for foreign investors to open horse slaughtering operations by affording
them potential tax incentives and by violating U.S. citizen’s First Amendment
rights by sheltering the horse slaughter business’ from lawsuits.
"Any responsible horse owner, as well as any concerned tax payer, should be
petrified about what could happen next", says Simone Netherlands, Director of
Respect4Horses and also the organizer of the Summit of the Live Horse
Press Conference.
This press conference
will bring directors and equine experts from the largest animal and horse
welfare organizations together as one united voice for the future welfare of
the American Horse, both domestic and wild.
Participants include, but not limited to, the Humane Society of the
United States (HSUS), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(ASPCA), The Cloud Foundation, Respect4Horses, Animal Rescue Unit and Wild
Horse Freedom Federation.
Will horse slaughter
be coming to your neighborhood? Do we need horse slaughter in
America? Can horse slaughter be made humane? Is horsemeat
toxic? Does horse slaughter solve abuse and neglect? Does horse
slaughter encourage over breeding? Will our wild horses be
slaughtered? Will it stop horse slaughter across our borders?
While at the Summit of the Horse, the
horse slaughter faction will be strategizing for three days about how to
increase the demand for horse meat, how to slaughter our wild horses and how to
open new slaughter plants in the U.S., the Summit of the Live Horse
Press Conference, will utilize the expertise of equine experts and
professionals to answer the above questions and offer solutions and
alternatives.
Panel members will
include:
- Scott
Beckstead, Senior Oregon Director for The Humane Society of the United
States - Carolyn
Schnurr, Director of legislative affairs ASPCA - Ginger
Kathrens, Filmmaker and Director of the Cloud Foundation. - Dr.
Jennifer Madden, DVM - Simone
Netherlands, Horse trainer and Director of Respect4Horses - R.T.
Fitch, writer and co-founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation - Brogan
Horton, Founder of Animal Rescue Unit - Paula
Bacon, former Mayor of Kaufman, Texas
The interactive Summit
of the Live Horse Press Conference will be broadcast on Ustream.tv, April 3, 2012. This service will give
the press conference global coverage and allow anyone to participate in the
question and answer sessions after words. Search Ustream.tv/Respect4Horses
at 12:00 noon CDT to log into the live broadcast to participate. The link will
also be available at www.Respect4Horses.com
For more on last year’s pro-slaughter Summit of the Horse….. And on Dr. Temple Grandin’s role in last year’s pro-horse slaughter summit….
###
Any and all members of the press are cordially invited.
Free tickets to the public
are available by emailing lobby@respect4horses.com
For additional information
call: (928) 308-6718
Footage of last years
conferences :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4hyPDzEbLU&feature=player_embedded