Oklahoma: Don't Legalize Horse Slaughter
- by: alicia graef
- recipient: Oklahoma Legislature
Despite the scandal surrounding horse meat in the EU and the fact that over 80 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter and the consumption of horse meat, Oklahoma is pushing two bills that would legalize horse slaughter in the state for the first time in decades.
SB375 would repeal the state's existing law that prohibits anyone from possessing, transporting, selling or consuming horse meat, which would make killing and eating horses legal in the state for the first time since 1963. It will also require livestock dealers to purchase horses going to be slaughter.
HB 1999 would make horse slaughter legal in the state, as long as the meat is not sold in Oklahoma, but only to other states or outside of the U.S.
Not only are the transport and slaughter procedures used for horses considered inhumane by citizens, industry professionals, animal protection groups and a number of professional organizations, including Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, but perpetuating this cruelty at the expense of the taxpayer, which will only benefit foreign owned businesses during an economic downturn, is reprehensible.
Neither of these bills benefit horses or the state. Please sign the petition asking Oklahoma lawmakers not to allow horse slaughter in the state.
As someone who loves horses and is concerned with animal welfare, I was disgusted to learn that Oklahoma is pushing two bills that would allow for horse slaughter in the state.
Not only are the transport and slaughter procedures used for horses considered inhumane by citizens, industry professionals, animal protection groups and a number of professional organizations, including Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, but perpetuating this cruelty at the expense of the taxpayer, which will only benefit foreign owned businesses during an economic downturn, is reprehensible.
Almost as offensive is the idea that you would expose local communities to the negative aspects of slaughter from environmental problems to the negative stigma that hurts other businesses.
Additionally, as horses are not raised for human consumption, they are regularly given a host of drugs and medications that pose a serious risk to human health and are clearly labeled that they are not to be used in animals that will be eaten. A study published in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology highlights the fact that at least one of the drugs regularly given to horses, Phenylbutazone (bute), is not only toxic to humans, but a known carcinogen. There is currently no way to trace whether or not horses that end up in the slaughter pipeline have been given these drugs.
Since President Obama signed the 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill with no provision preventing the USDA from inspecting horse meat, Americans have continued to stand against this barbaric industry wherever attempts to revive it surface and we will continue to do so.
Despite what proponents say, slaughter is not a solution. I sincerely hope you will not allow SB 375 and HB 1999 to pass.
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