WASHINGTON -- In a room full of adults, Brittany Wallace, 17, stood out for her emotional appeal Wednesday for legislation that would prohibit the sale or transport of horses across states or to other nations for slaughter and processing for human consumption. Brittany, an equestrian rider, attended a news conference in which Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced the new...
WASHINGTON -- In a room full of adults, Brittany Wallace, 17, stood out for her emotional appeal Wednesday for legislation that would prohibit the sale or transport of horses across states or to other nations for slaughter and processing for human consumption.
Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. (left) with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., as they introduce legislation to ban the slaughter of horses for food consumption.Photo by Matthew Lehner
Brittany, an equestrian rider, attended a news conference in which Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., announced the new legislation that comes following reports that the Department of Agriculture will approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico. At the same time, European officials are investigating how horse meat was mixed into frozen food that was supposed to contain only beef or pork.
Brittany, a Massachusetts resident, told the gathering of reporters and animal rights advocates about her long-time horse Scribbles. After 4 ½ years under her care, Brittany's family sold the horse to another family who promised to care for it and allow the teen-ager regular visits.
But one day, while scanning her Facebook page, she noticed the picture of a bloodied brown bay mare that had just been rescued from the director of the Omega Horse Rescue project in Pennsylvania. It was in pen of horses that had been sold for slaughter.
A scar under her tail confirmed that the horse was Scribbles, and soon Brittany was reunited with the animal.
"When Scribbles was little, I taught her lots of tricks, including how to bow," Brittany told reporters and others at a Capitol news conference. "When I went to see her (after the rescue from the slaughter pen), she bowed right there and kept bowing over and over and she also kept licking me. She knew she was lucky not to die."
Landrieu, a regular rider like Brittany, said horses aren't intended for human consumption.And moreover, horse meat can be dangerous, given the drugs so many horses are given, particularly racehorses, to keep them from going lame and to give them energy.
"The issue of tainted and toxic food has the American people's attention," Landrieu said. Eighty percent of Americans oppose the slaughter of horses for food, according to polls cited by Landrieu.
During Wednesday's news conference, Nick Dodman, co-founder of Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, said he knows of race horses who raced one day and one day later were determined no longer fit for racing and sold for slaughter.
That's a real health issue, Dodman said, because so many race horses are given powerful drugs that would pose significant health issues for humans who consumed their meat.
The bill banning export of horses is sponsored by Landrieu, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., along with Reps. Pat Meehan, R-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
The Valley Meat Company, which sued the Department of Agriculture to force the agency to set up an inspection system so it can begin slaughtering horses, in New Mexico, said that there's no reason for Congress to intervene.
The company's suit said it has set up a regime to test for drugs ingested into the horses at its facility that should allay any health concerns. All it needs, the company's lawyers said, is a USDA inspection process.
Landrieu said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsak doesn't have enough money to meet the agency's existing obligations, and shouldn't be responding to pressure from the horse slaughter industry to set up a new inspection regime.
"If Secretary Vilsak spends the little money that he has starting new programs when we can't support adequately the programs we have, I think he's going to hear form some of the (Congressional) appropriators," said Landrieu, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The USDA put out a statement Wednesday saying it had no choice but to move forward with inspections but hopes Congress will re-impose a previous ban on slaughtering horses.
"The Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Act, Congress lifted the ban established in 2006 that prevented horse slaughter in the United States. While there are currently no establishments authorized to slaughter horses, several companies have requested that FSIS reestablish inspection. These companies must still complete necessary technical requirements and FSIS must still complete its inspector training, but at that point, the Department will legally have no choice but to go forward with inspections, which is why we urge Congress to reinstate the ban," the department statement said.
Chris Heyde, deputy director of the Animal Welfare Institute, said Landrieu and the other sponsors of her legislation are right to fight for a ban.
"The only individuals advocating for horse slaughter are those who profit from the suffering of these amazing animals," he said.