Maine Farm Bureau Opposes the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

Augusta, Maine, September 12, 2006 – The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 503, will amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equine to be slaughtered for human consumption.  “This legislation is misguided and will actually be counterproductive to the goal of providing humane treatment of horses,” stated Jon Olson, Executive Secretary of Maine Farm Bureau.  Maine Farm Bureau asked Maine’s legislators to oppose this bill.

The problem of unwanted horses is a serious one.  An unwanted horse is generally one that is infirmed, dangerous or whose owners are no longer capable of providing for its care.  To prevent the neglect and suffering of unwanted horses, euthanasia at a processing facility is oftentimes the best ethical and humane option.

In 2005, approximately 103,000 horses were sent to processing facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.  Currently there are not enough rescue or adoption facilities to house even 20 percent of these horses should the processing industry be forced to close due to legislation.  The introduction of these horses into the rescue/adoption network would put a huge financial strain on the facilities and quite possibly lead to inadequate care for the animals.  The legislation, as introduced, does not provide any government funding to care for the unwanted horses left behind by the closure of the processing industry.

There is also a lack of regulatory oversight for the existing facilities in the rescue/adoption industry.  There are no adoption standards of operations in place to ensure adequate care of the horses placed in these facilities and the issue is not addressed in the proposed legislation.

Maine Farm Bureau believes horses are the personal property of the horse owner.  For this reason, it is the duty of the horse owner to determine the best method of relinquishing ownership of their horse so long as the animal is treating humanely and with dignity and respect.  All legal and humane options for terminating ownership of horses should be available to the horse owner when such a difficult decision is made.