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Horse slaughter in Illinois

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Illinois State Representatives	Illinois State Senators

Contact: Chris Heyde 703-836-4300

May 12, 2008

Illinois State Senate Committee to Consider Ban on Cruel Double-Deck Horse Transports

Illinois State Rep. Sacia trying to legalize horse slaughter, AGAIN!

On Wednesday, May 14 the Illinois General Assembly's Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committee will consider HB 4162, sponsored by State Senator John Cullerton (D). This bill, which successfully passed out of the House in February, amends the Humane Care for Animals Act so that 'no person may transport any equidae in a vehicle or trailer containing 2 or more levels, one on top of the other.'

The bill is a result of a horrific accident involving horses in Illinois. A double-deck tractor trailer carrying 59 Belgian draft horses through Wadsworth, IL in October 2007 'blew through a stop light at Route 41 and Wadsworth Road and struck another vehicle,' according to local police on the scene of the accident. The severe crash resulted in more than five hours of suffering for the horses before authorities could free them from the mangled truck. Sadly, nine horses died on the scene, with another six dying later because of injuries they sustained.

Accidents such as this one are not uncommon. Only one year earlier, a double-deck truck hauling 41 horses to slaughter crashed on its way to the Cavel International facility in DeKalb, Ill. This tragic incident resulted in the death of 16 horses. Similar scenarios have occurred elsewhere in the United States.

Illinois has become the leader in protecting equines from abuse and neglect. Last year, the state's General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Unfortunately, although horses can no longer be slaughtered in Illinois, the middlemen working for Cavel - known as 'killer buyers' - continue to buy horses across the country.

The horses are then shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter, often passing through Illinois en route to the Cavel plant in Canada or to plants in Mexico. The preferred method of transporting horses to slaughter remains the double-deck truck, a two-tiered trailer designed for other livestock such as cattle and hogs. Use of theses conveyances to transport horses is cruel and dangerous.

The State of Illinois has made clear its intolerance of the horse slaughter industry by shutting down its sole plant. H.B. 4162 will ensure the companies still buying horses and shipping them through Illinois to slaughter in Canada and Mexico can no longer use the horribly inhumane double-deckers to haul these animals.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please contact members of the Senate Agriculture & Conservation Committee first thing Monday morning (see below for contact information), urging them to support HB 4162, sponsored by Senator Cullerton, and many of his colleagues. You may want to mention the following facts:

Double-deck trailers are designed for livestock such as cattle and hogs, not horses.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has 'reviewed limited data within the scientific literature that suggest 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.'
The US Department of Agriculture is currently in the process of prohibiting the use of double-deckers entirely, as part of their Equine Transport to Slaughter policy.

Additionally, State Representative Jim Sacia (R) - the leading opponent in the Illinois legislature to ending horse slaughter - is still working to undermine the will of the people of Illinois and the Illinois General Assembly. Several months ago he introduced a bill that would legalize horse slaughter again and despite its unpopularity he continues to push for its consideration by the House Drivers Education and Safety Committee (which already rejected his misguided proposal once this year). Please remind each member of the committee (see below for contact information) that the Illinois General Assembly banned horse slaughter by an overwhelming majority just last year, and urge them to reject any bill or amendment offered by Representative Sacia, AGAIN!

Representative Sacia is telling his colleagues that since the Illinois ban, horse abuse and neglect have increased even though he has NO evidence to support this claim. He is giving them false information presented by the 'Horse Welfare Coalition' which was founded and is currently run by the slaughterhouses themselves.
Make sure each office knows that ending horse slaughter has only been good for the horses and the state ban is important. There is no evidence that abuse and neglect increase, but there is documentation from Illinois that abuse decreased after the plant was temporarily closed several years ago.

If you have any questions, please contact Chris Heyde of AWI at (703) 836-4300. Be sure to bookmark http://www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/whats_new.htm for updates on this hearing and other horse slaughter campaign information.

Please share this eAlert with friends, family and coworkers, and urge them to weigh in with the Illinois state legislature to ensure that horses continue to receive the protection they deserve. As always, thank you for your help!

Illinois General Assembly
House Drivers Education & Safety Committee

Please contact the members of this committee and ask them to oppose HB 4489 or any other measure sponsored by Representative Jim Sacia to legalize the slaughter of horses in Illinois. For a full list of the Committee, click here: http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=531&GA=95

Illinois General Assembly
Senate Agriculture & Conservation Committee

Please contact the members of this committee and ask them to support HB 4162, sponsored by Senator John Cullerton, to ban the transport of horses on double-deck trailers. For a full list of the Committee, click here: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=379

Contact: Tracy Silverman, Esq. 703-836-4300
Chris Heyde 202-423-8689

October 3, 2007

Slaughter of American Horses in Mexico is Indefensible - Congress Must Pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act Now

Washington, DC (Oct. 3, 2007) - Now that horse slaughter has effectively ended in the United States, the pro-horse slaughter camp is claiming it was right about the need to keep slaughter an option in the US. They say that our horses are facing a far worse fate in Mexico and Canada than they were when they could be slaughtered in America. This is yet another "red-herring" argument advanced by the pro-horse slaughter side to distract humane Americans from the ultimate goal of protecting all American horses from slaughter via passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 311/HR. 503). This legislation will end the slaughter of American horses here and their export for slaughter abroad.

Because there is no legitimate defense of horse slaughter as a "necessary evil," organizations supporting the cruelty such as the American Farm Bureau, American Veterinary Medical Association and American Association of Equine Practitioners, have promoted various myths to defend the abhorrent practice. First, they told everyone that cruelty would increase without slaughter, but data from California and Illinois proved just the opposite to be true. They told everyone that horse abandonment would be epidemic if slaughter was no longer an option, yet once again the facts and historical evidence deemed this to be untrue. In fact, these two arguments, if taken to have any credibly, would imply that horse slaughter offers a financial reward to individuals who would illegally neglect or abandon their horses if the cruel option of slaughter were withdrawn.

Now these few groups and the remnants of the domestic horse slaughter industry are circulating a new myth - that they were acting on humane principals in fighting a ban on horse slaughter, arguing that it would be worse for the horses to be sent to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. Ironically, this is perhaps the single point on which both sides agree. "The fate of horses being sent to slaughter in Mexico is horrific, however, we are working to stop it while the pro- horse slaughter camp fights to perpetuate the cruelty," says Animal Welfare Institute Deputy Legislative Director, Chris Heyde.

Not only are these organizations actively lobbying Congress to block passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which would prohibit the export of our horses to Mexico for slaughter, but the pro-horse slaughter lobby, which consists of the groups mentioned above and the owners of the Cavel, BelTex and Dallas Crown horse slaughterhouses, fails to mention that the plants (specifically BelTex and Cavel) are actively buying tens of thousands of American horses and shipping them to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. They are actively engaged in a trade which they admit leads to increased animal cruelty.

As leaders in the campaign to end horse slaughter, the Animal Welfare Institute's primary goal has always been passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. "Only with this legislation will we have the tools to stop horses from being exported to other countries for slaughter," states Heyde. "If the American Veterinary Medical Association and other contingents of the pro-horse slaughter lobby are truly concerned about the suffering of American horses at the hands of Mexican slaughterhouse workers, now is the time to join us in working to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act into law."

The Animal Welfare Institute, founded in 1951, is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Our legislative division is leading the national campaign to end horse slaughter and advocating passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. For more information, please visit www.awionline.org and www.saplonline.org/horses.htm.

Legislative update

HB 1711

Date Chamber Action

2/22/2007 House Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Robert S. Molaro
2/22/2007 House First Reading
2/22/2007 House Referred to Rules Committee
2/27/2007 House Assigned to Executive Committee
2/28/2007 House Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. John A. Fritchey
3/1/2007 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough
3/7/2007 House Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Coulson
3/8/2007 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Daniel J. Burke
3/14/2007 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Robert Rita
3/15/2007 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez
3/21/2007 House House Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Executive Committee
3/21/2007 House House Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Executive Committee; by Voice Vote
3/21/2007 House Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Executive Committee; 008-004-000
3/21/2007 House Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
3/27/2007 House Second Reading - Short Debate
3/27/2007 House Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
4/17/2007 House Removed from Short Debate Status
4/17/2007 House Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Standard Debate
4/17/2007 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Eddie Washington
4/18/2007 House Third Reading - Standard Debate - Passed 074-041-000
4/20/2007 Senate Arrive in Senate
4/20/2007 Senate Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading
4/20/2007 Senate Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. John J. Cullerton
4/20/2007 Senate Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Pamela J. Althoff
4/20/2007 Senate First Reading
4/20/2007 Senate Referred to Rules
4/25/2007 Senate Assigned to Public Health
5/2/2007 Senate Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Don Harmon
5/3/2007 Senate Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Jacqueline Y. Collins
5/10/2007 Senate Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Donne E. Trotter
5/15/2007 Senate Do Pass Public Health; 007-000-000
5/15/2007 Senate Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 16, 2007
5/15/2007 Senate Second Reading
5/15/2007 Senate Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 16, 2007
5/16/2007 Senate Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Ira I. Silverstein
5/16/2007 Senate Third Reading - Passed; 039-016-002
5/16/2007 House Passed Both Houses
5/22/2007 House Sent to the Governor
5/24/2007 House Governor Approved
5/24/2007 House Public Act . . . . . . . . . 95-0002