As the consequences of a nationwide equine slaughter ban unfold, a former U.S. House Ag Committee leader reports the industry soon may saddle up for another go at Congress.
A federal General Accountability Office (GAO) report on the status of the U.S. horse industry, due to Congress in March, may help fuel a new push toward policies that grant producers and others options for or at least assistance in euthanizing old, ailing, or otherwise unwanted horses.
“Everyone who has a dog in that hunt should contact the GAO to tell them what’s really happening to the horse industry,” urged former House Ag ranking Democrat Charlie Stenholm, a lobbyist who represented equine processors during their unsuccessful 2006 fight to preserve operations.
During the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting last week, Stenholm said equine interests would approach lawmakers only when armed with “a bill that has a chance of passing.” He believes that time is near, thanks largely to support generated by the United Organizations of the Horse (UOH).
The coalition has challenged celebrities for supporting the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. UOH founder Sue Wallis argues that “what happens to the (horse) carcass in terms of how it is disposed of or how it is utilized is entirely the right, prerogative, and responsibility of the owner.”
The problem of unwanted horses resulting from limited disposal options is gaining media attention and outcry from local officials who “understand unwanted horses are a little more expensive to deal with than unwanted dogs and cats,” Stenholm noted.
“Who has to take the responsibility for a horse that’s turned loose on a community, on a country road, even in a semi-urban community?” he posed. “The counties.”
Stenholm said equine “protections” have dramatically reduced markets “for a horse someone else doesn’t want.” Domestic economic losses related to slaughter prohibitions have “far exceeded” $2 billion, he said.
He challenged the constitutionality of a slaughter ban spearheaded by “a handful of very wealthy horse owners.” The Senate OK’d GAO’s study as a compromise to a proposed ban on shipping horses to Canada or Mexico for slaughter.
U.S. horse markets are being surveyed on current policy impacts. “Then there will be a major effort to get 218 (House) votes, 60 (Senate) votes, and a presidential signature,” Stenholm said.
