The United Organizations of the Horse has unveiled its Humane and Optimal Restoration and Sustainability of Equines (H.O.R.S.E.) Act, which would guarantee humane and responsible management for both domestic and wild horses.
The H.O.R.S.E Act includes several key points including humane euthanization; strengthening enforcement of regulations for horses being transported for processing; and better management and population control of feral wild horses and burros to ensure the sustainability of wild horses, native wildlife, and the protection of our public lands for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.
Representatives from state horse councils, breed associations, trade organizations, and equine related nonprofit organizations traveled to Washington D.C. to introduce the concept to U.S. Senators and Representatives, federal agency directors, and the horsemen and -women gathered for the American Horse Council's Annual Meeting. The actual bill language for the H.O.R.S.E. Act is currently being drafted, and will be available shortly after the 4th of July.
"Everyone agrees," says Frank Bowman, Horsemen's Council of Illinois, "that the humane care and management of horses from birth to death is of the utmost importance." The H.O.R.S.E. Act ensures that horses that are to be euthanized for any purpose-mercy or processing-that euthanization, (literally a "good death" that is quick, painless, and as stress-free as possible) should occur in a manner that is approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Association of Equine Practitioners-the veterinarians who know and understand equine behavior and physiology.
"The point we try to make," says Sue Wallis, Wyoming State Representative and one of the founders of the United Organizations of the Horse, "is that once that 'good death' occurs, that all legal, moral, and ethical obligations to the well-being of that animal cease. What happens to the carcass in terms of how it is disposed of, or how it is utilized, is entirely the right, prerogative, and responsibility of the owner. I am proud that the proposed H.O.R.S.E. Act includes provisions that will protect the rights of owners who never want to see their horse go to processing, and safe guards to make sure that doesn't happen, as well as protecting the private property rights of those horse owners who want or need to recoup the monetary value of an unusable horse."
People across the country are beginning to realize the horrific unintended consequences of the complete destruction of a market for lower-end horses, and a ban on horses processed for the export market. The last U.S. horse processing facility was closed through state action in 2007. Currently the only market available for unusable horses are those that are big enough, healthy enough, and close enough to the border to be worth the trucking to either Canada or Mexico. All U.S. horses that cross either border for processing only go to European Union inspected facilities where the entire process is strictly controlled to ensure humane handling, and humane euthanization prior to processing. Please see the Journal of Veterinary Medicine, http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/mar09/090301h.asp, for documentation of this fact.
Both Canada and Mexico use horse meat for human food, a nutritionally high quality source of protein (twice as high in protein, and 40% less fat than beef), as do all of Asia, most of Europe, and South America. China is the largest consumer, followed by Mexico, then Europe with Italy, Sicily, the Scandinavian countries and France and Belgium close behind. About 1% of U.S. horses have been utilized for human food in recent years. Nonetheless, with the total loss of a market for mares, weanlings, yearlings, dangerous horses, horses in poorer condition, or horses who cannot be ridden or used in some manner, the value of all horses nationwide has plummeted 30% to 80%. Equine business owners that have spent their entire lives working to improve their breed, or advance their sport, have seen their assets disappear.
Horse rescue, retirement, and recovery organizations are full and overwhelmed; with no market and no options horse owners who are losing their homes and jobs because of the economy are resorting to desperate measures like trying to euthanize their horses themselves with often traumatic experiences for themselves and more suffering for the horse, or turning horses out to fend for themselves where they invariably starve and die a long, painful death. Dave Duquette, the founder of the United Horsemens Front, a nonprofit that has allied itself closely with the United Organizations of the Horse, has been documenting both the unprecedented scope of equine suffering, and the "gross perversions of the truth" being spread widely by radical animal rights groups like the Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (HSUS/PETA). "These groups have made it clear," says Duquette, "that their goal is to end all human interaction with animals, and to end animal agriculture."
The United Organizations of the Horse was formed in response to the growing number of public policy challenges facing American horses, their owners, and horse-related organizations. "Our main objective is to be a voice for horse owners at every level, and to every audience...we strive to be a voice that is capable of coherently and articulately communicating to a misinformed and emotionally manipulated American public, and to policymakers," said Sue Wallis. The United Organizations of the Horse seeks to unify all like-minded equine associations and individuals in support of its mission-to promote the humane care and management of horses, and the continued viability of the equine community in the United States of America.
To learn more visit their website, http://www.UnitedOrgsoftheHorse.org and subscribe to their free e-newsletter.