NYRA Moves in Right Direction

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/54374/nyra-adopts-tough-anti-slaughter-policy/print

NYRA Adopts Tough Anti-Slaughter Policy
by Jason Shandler
Date Posted: 12/10/2009 10:54:05 AM
Last Updated: 12/11/2009 9:58:47 AM

NYRA CEO Charles Hayward Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

The New York Racing Association has announced an anti-slaughter policy that introduces harsh penalties to offending horsemen while encouraging them to support horse rescue and adoption initiatives.

The newly created policy, announced in a Dec. 10 release, is as follows:

Any owner or trainer stabled at a NYRA track found to have directly or indirectly sold a horse for slaughter will have his or her stalls permanently revoked from all NYRA tracks. NYRA requires its horsemen to conduct due diligence on those buying horses and encourages them to support rescue and adoption efforts and to find humane ways of dealing with horses unable to continue racing.

“We are fully committed to protecting our sport’s equine athletes,” said NYRA president and CEO Charles Hayward. “This policy sends the message that horse slaughter will not be tolerated and that those participating in this practice, either knowingly or for lack of due diligence, will not be welcome at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, or Saratoga.”

In addition to its stance against horse slaughter, NYRA also supports numerous equine retirement, anti-slaughter, and research organizations, and has made donations to the following organizations within the past year:

• Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation – Mission to save thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter.

• Columbia Green Humane Society - Dedicated to the protection, humane treatment and well being of all animals.

• Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation – Committed to the advancement of research to enhance the health and soundness of horses of all breeds.

• Exceller Fund – Providing a future beyond the finish line, the Exceller Fund works to transition thoroughbred horses to a second career off the track.

Diana Pikulski, the executive director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, added this:

"This policy is important because it makes everybody involved with a horse aware that they need to plan for its retirement and educate themselves about the options.

"It is also significant that NYRA, NYTHA, the NY Riders and The Jockey Club have already donated $100,000 for retirement in NY and committed themselves to developing a long term plan for retirement funding. We have had several follow up meetings to develop that plan and all the parties have participated."

Consider This.....

05.13.09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: John Holland
540.268.5693
john@equinewelfarealliance.org

Vicki Tobin
630.961.9292
vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org

Horse slaughter dream a financial nightmare

CHICAGO, (EWA) – The dream of the AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) and its affiliate the MQHA (Montana Quarter Horse Association) to bring horse slaughter back to the US may have just been dealt what may be its death blow. The blow came not from anti-slaughter advocates, nor public revulsion, nor Congress, but from a horse slaughter industry insider whose op-ed, Meat plant: a cautionary tale, appeared on April 30th in the Western Producer, a subscription-only Canadian online animal agriculture journal.
“Natural Valley Farms died the day the decision makers chose to kill horses”, says Henry Skjerven, an investor and director of the defunct Natural Valley Farms (NVF) slaughter complex in Saskatchewan, Canada. Skjerven tells the story of how NVF, which had originally been built to process cattle during the BSE crisis, ended in a $42 million financial disaster following its decision to kill horses for the Velda Group of Belgium.
The story broke just as the AQHA and Stan Weaver of the MQHA, were celebrating the passage of Montana bill (HB 418).

On April 5, EWA broke the news that the plant had been closed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in December. In his article, Skjerven refers to the plant’s confrontational interaction with the CFIA over the plant’s “composting” and other issues. Unlike beef that can be used in pet food, horse byproducts must be disposed of properly because they contain substances such as the wormer, Ivermectin, which can cause fatal encephalitis in some breeds of dogs.
Blood disposal appears to have been equally problematic for NVF as with other horse slaughter plants. Not only do horses have twice the quantity of blood as cows, but the blood is notoriously difficult to treat. The bacterial agents used in standard cattle digesters fail to provide acceptable discharge levels because of antibiotics often found in horse blood. As a result, pollution follows the horse slaughter industry where ever it goes.
During debate over HB 418, the Montana Senate Agriculture committee dismissed evidence of these problems as anti-slaughter propaganda. Even the testimony of former Kaufman, Texas mayor Paula Bacon was ignored when she told of blood rising into people’s bathtubs in her town. But unfortunately for NVF, the CFIA was not so easily assuaged.
Even Butcher has admitted that any horse slaughter plant that is built in the US will have to be operated by an EU group like Velda because the horse meat market is in Europe and they control it. Now Velda needs a new home, but in his op-ed Skjerven, says, “horse slaughter never brought a single minute of profitability to the company.”

In the end, it may not matter that HB 418 is unconstitutional, nor that a horse slaughter plant in the US could not export its horse meat without USDA inspectors, nor that the industry has committed a thousand sins against horses and the environment. If investors in a horse slaughter plant cannot be comfortable in knowing they will make a profit, there will be no plant built.

If Stan Weaver and the AQHA want horse slaughter they may have to do the killing themselves.


www.equinewelfarealliance.org

YouTube Video Contest $1000

The Contest
Alex Brown Racing is sponsoring a YouTube contest that will run from Tuesday, February 10 to Sunday May 10 2009. We will offer a $1,000 prize, to be sent to the horse rescue organization of choice of the winning entry, as of Noon eastern time, May 10, 2009. All entries are to be completed, posted and approved, by Noon on Friday April 10, 2009.
Entrants must read and be familiar with the document: Deconstructing the Horse Slaughter Issue: Chapter Horse Slaughter.
The Rules
Anyone can enter, regardless of age and country of origin.
Each video is to be 1 - 4 minutes in length.
Each video discusses specific aspects of the horse slaughter issue as noted in the above document, whether it is to agree, reinforce or disagree with the issues noted in the document.
Each video must be without gory details, PG 13 please.
Each video must use the phrase "horse slaughter" in the title, and the video must be tagged with the phrase "horse slaughter". The video should also be tagged with the phrase "ABR Video Contest".
Each entrant (video producer) can produce as many videos as he or she desires.
Each entrant needs to add his or her videos to the ABR YouTube group and e-mail Wendy.
Wendy needs to approve each entrant for the contest prize via adding a comment to the video (see the rule re: no gory details).
To be eligible a video must be completed and posted by end of day, April 10, 2009 and must be new content as of February 10, 2009.
All submissions must comply with Youtube's Copyright Infringement Policy:
"YouTube respects the rights of copyright holders and publishers and requires all users to confirm they own the copyright or have permission from the copyright holder to upload content. We comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable copyright laws and promptly remove content when properly notified. Repeat infringers' videos are removed and their accounts are terminated and permanently blocked from using YouTube." If you have questions about how to comply with this policy, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_copyright.
Determining the winner
The winner will be determined by multiplying the number of comments the video received, by the rating of the video. And then adding the number of views of the video. This calculation will be made at Noon eastern, May 10, 2009
Entries
Horse Slaughter: Our Forgotten Veterans Deserve Better BrookePSU
Horse Play - Saving Horses From Slaughter horseplayri
No More Horse Slaughter horsesrule925
End Horse Slaughter thoroughbredlover3
Another Chance: Saved from Horse Slaughter millertime83
Please Stop Horse Slaughter sandyelmore490
Horse Heroes - Stop Horse Slaughter wendyu1
Media Coverage
Friday Fun: For the Heart, Head & Soul Diva Marketing Blog, February 28, 2009
Youtube Horse Slaughter - $1000 - Open to all - 1 to 4 minutes - Over Due: May 10th, 2009 The Video Contest Community, February 26, 2009
Teaching An Old Horse New Tricks Triple Dead Heat, February 17, 2009
ANTI-SLAUGHTER VIDEO CONTEST MSNBC Board, February 11, 2009
Horse Slaughter Video Contest
Video contest on horse slaughter issue Horsetalk, February 11, 2009
Videos To Stop Killing The Horse Racing Stars Triple Dead Heat, February 11, 2009
Horse slaughter...Have your say Gathering The Wind, February 11, 2009
Bright Future Thoroughblog (bottom of entry), February 11, 2009
Breaking News Texas Horse Talk, February 11, 2009

Equine Vet Speaks Out

Equine Vet Speaks Out Against Horse Slaughter
By Lisa Carter, DVM
http://www.hsvma.org/advocacy/news/equine_vet_speaks_out.html

I am a horse person, a true horse person. I get up every morning at the break of dawn, put on my coveralls, boots, hat, gloves, and winter parka to trudge across the snowy yard to take care of my horses. I feed them, water them, turn them out, clean their stalls, and give them the love that they deserve.
Dr. Lisa Carter and her beloved companion, Black Diamond.True horse people are responsible horse owners—but not all horse owners are horse people. Some people treat their horses like a commodity. They ride and feed their horses, pay for veterinary and farrier care, and brag about them.
The big difference between true horse people and horse owners is the long-term responsibility they take for their horses. True horse people care about their horses, even when they no longer own them or they are no longer "useful."
Taking Responsibility
I currently have a 27-year-old Arabian gelding that I showed competitively on the Class A Arabian show circuit. We won many ribbons and reserve championships. Over time, he became old and arthritic, insulin intolerant, and I was no longer able to ride him.
The easiest manner of getting rid of this responsibility would be to ship him off to an auction house where he would be sold for slaughter. I would make about $200 off the deal and be rid of this high-maintenance horse.
But I am a true horse person. I take the responsibility of horse ownership seriously and know that it is a lifelong commitment. I know that when my geriatric horse's quality of life is gone, I will humanely euthanize him by chemical injection. It is the least that I can do for this wonderful animal.
Easy Way Out
Some horse owners take the easy route to rid themselves of "useless" horses. They send their horse to an auction. He or she is left in a pen for 12-24 hours without food or water, packed up into another trailer (sometimes a double-decker cattle trailer), and hauled hundreds of miles—still without food or water—often incurring injuries during the ride due to the overcrowding.
An American horse enters the kill box at a Mexican slaughter plant.©The HSUSThese horses arrive at a slaughterhouse, which is designed for cattle, in deplorable conditions and are forced into the plant to endure a terrible and painful death.
If they are lucky, they will only be struck in the head once with a captive bolt before their subsequent death. Most are not so lucky. Some very unfortunate horses end up in Mexico, where they are stabbed repeatedly in the neck in an effort to sever the spinal cord. These horses are paralyzed while being butchered, but still fully conscious.
Options are Available
I realize that not everyone has the financial ability to keep a horse that is no longer useful or is in poor health, but shipping a horse off to a slaughterhouse for a quick buck is simply wrong.
There are many options for people that are financially unable to care for their horses—they can relinquish their horse to a rescue organization, sell their horse to a carefully vetted private owner, donate their horse to a riding center, or have a veterinarian humanely euthanize their horse.
What You Can Do
As well as being a true horse person, I am also an equine veterinarian. I cancelled my membership to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) because I do not agree with their pro-slaughter stance. Their position on slaughter mirrors that of big money making organizations like the American Quarter Horse Association, whose members often use slaughter as a quick and easy way of disposing of "useless" horses while making a quick buck.
Currently there is a bill going through Congress, H.R. 503, known as the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, which would make it illegal to slaughter American horses for human consumption overseas, as well as ban the export of horses for slaughter.
I beg all of you, especially true horse people, to contact your Congressman and urge them to pass this bill. Horses deserve to be treated in a humane manner—H.R. 503 will make this inhumane manner of horse disposal a thing of the past.
Dr. Lisa Carter is a veterinarian and avid horse enthusiast and owner.

Found In USNews......

Obama, Congress Should End Horse Slaughter
March 02, 2009 03:25 PM ET Bonnie Erbe Permanent Link Print
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2009/03/02/obama-congress-should-end-horse-slaughter_print.htm

Desperate economic times aren't just bad for people—they're terrible for animals, too. The New York Times ran an eye-opening piece this weekend about the cruelties visited on horses when owners come up short on cash and the courageous humans trying to help the horses. It's worth a read.
Even more eye-opening is a blog entry that's been circulating recently in my part of the horse world (I show in the Maryland hunter-jumper world) about a woman who recently rescued a horse from what's called a killer buyer auction in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The auction is s a disgusting, inhumane locale where blind, bleeding and injured horses are routinely beaten by unfeeling "killer buyers" who sell them for slaughter and "processing" into meat. There is no vengeance painful enough for people who make money in the animal slaughter business, as far as I'm concerned. Here's a link to pictures of New Holland, then read the blog entry below, written by a woman who saved a perfectly rideable, gorgeous young horse from a cruel fate, as the inarticulate, uneducated "meat man" tried to talk her out of it:
Rita and I looked at some other horses, but I couldn't get it out of my mind... The locked eyes earlier, the scared eyes in the kill pen, did I really feed this horse his last treat? I decided I would approach him (the meat guy) again.... He had a smirk on his face this time, but was still very mean....I told Rita my plan was to poke holes in what the horse was worth, by asking it's age, and is he registered, etc.... I walked up to the meat buyer who is standing with the broker who sold him the horse... He laughed at me and said "back so soon?" I said "How old is this horse?" Broker said "5" I asked if he was registered broker said "should be, he got a lip tattoo, he's off the track, they don't race sh*# horses, although this one's crazy, and that's why he's here." The meat dealer then said "You got cash? I said "yes, but not 500.00", he said 400.00" I said "350.00" he said "375.00, let me see it" I took the money out and put it in his hand and he said to me "now look, you gotta go get the horse out of that pen, I ain't goin' in there with all those other crazy horses, and I ain't touching your crazy ass horse, and when this horse hurts you, I don't want you comin' up to me next auction cryin' about it, it's buy at your own risk, and you just did, ( as he shoves the money in his pocket) now go get your horse out of my pen, and good luck to you, cause you're gonna need it!" I then heard him mumble under his breath as I was walking away "crazy ass broad."
This one was saved, but hundreds of thousands are sold for slaughter to Canada and Mexico each year. This inhumane treatment could be ruled illegal. Breeders could be regulated and prevented from breeding more horses than there are caring owners to buy them. Any time money can be made off of animals' misery, the market unfortunately governs. I will continue to write about and expose this ugly underbelly of American society until Congress and the president shut down the slaughter industry.

HR503 is Back!

John Conyers (MI) has introduced this bill to the 111th Congress. It is currently in the Judiciary Committee. As of 6/3/2009, there are 130 co-sponsors to this anti horse slaughter bill. New Jersey is currently represented by:

Robert Andrews (1st district)
Frank LoBiondo (2nd district)
John Adler (3rd district)
Christopher Smith (4th district)
Frank Pallone (6th district)
Leonard Lance (7th district)
Bill Pascrell (8th district)
Steven Rothman (9th district)
Donald Payne (10th district)
Rodney Frelinghuysen (11th district)
Rush Holt (12th district)
Albio Sires (13)

New co sponsors are in italics. All but one of NJ's representatives in Congress are co sponsors.
There is a companion bill in the Senate. Both NJ senators, Lautenberg and Menendez are co sponsors!

Very Good Suggestions for Racehorses

http://www.aaep.org/press_room.php?id=339

AAEP Releases Veterinary Recommendations for Protecting the Safety and Welfare of Racehorses
February 16, 2009


The American Association of Equine Practitioners today issued guidelines for protecting the health of the Thoroughbred racehorse. The white paper, “Putting the Horse First: Veterinary Recommendations for the Safety and Welfare of the Thoroughbred Racehorse,” provides veterinary guidance on many issues challenging the racing industry and the care of the racehorse.

Recommendations within the white paper are focused in four key areas: the racing business model, the veterinarian-owner-trainer relationship, medication, and the public perception of racing. Additionally, changes to the structure of claiming races and medication usage in horses intended for sale at public auction are addressed.

“As an organization with the primary mission of protecting the health and welfare of the horse, the safety of the racehorse is one of our highest priorities,” said AAEP President Dr. Harry Werner. “This is a critical time for the racing industry, and we join the efforts of other groups who are determined to make improvements for the health of our equine athletes.”

Key points in the white paper include:

· Continued identification and implementation of procedures and strategies that will significantly reduce the injury rate of horses.
· Standardization and enhancement of pre-race and post-race veterinary examinations with mandatory cross-jurisdictional sharing of information.
· Universal adoption in all racing jurisdictions of the Association of Racing Commissioners International model medication rules which state that no medication should be administered on race day except for furosemide (Salix®).
· Increased racetrack security to ensure compliance by all racing participants with medication rules.
· Provide complete transparency for the veterinarian-trainer-owner relationship in all aspects of health care decisions.
· Development in all racing jurisdictions of a program for the rehabilitation, retraining and adoption of horses whose racing careers have ended.

The white paper was developed by the AAEP’s Racing Task Force, a group comprised of private racetrack practitioners, regulatory veterinarians and veterinary specialists. Dr. Scott Palmer of Clarksburg, N.J., and Dr. Foster Northrop of Louisville, Ky., served as chair and vice chair, respectively. This group is now a standing committee of the AAEP.

“Our premise is very simple: What is good for the horse is good for racing,” explained Dr. Palmer. “In a unique climate of widespread industry commitment to fix what is wrong with racing, veterinarians have made every effort to put the horse first in that process. It is fair to say that particular recommendations will resonate with some individuals and alienate others within the industry. Nonetheless, we’d like to think that if our horses could read this document, they would be pleased.”

The AAEP intends its white paper to provide guidance and support to those who are working to bring meaningful change.

“On behalf of the AAEP, I express gratitude to Drs. Palmer and Northrop and the other dedicated veterinarians who have worked since last summer to develop substantive recommendations,” added Dr. Werner. “The AAEP looks forward to continued cooperation with all industry stakeholders to ensure the health and welfare of the racehorse.”

The white paper is available here. For more information, contact Sally Baker, AAEP director of marketing and public relations, at (859) 233-0147 or sbaker@aaep.org.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, the AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its nearly 10,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.