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CHICAGO, (EWA) – The European Union (EU) and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have announced that the rules on slaughtering horses for human consumption are about to change radically due to concerns regarding contaminated horse meat.
The new EU rules will become effective in April 2010, requiring that either slaughtered animals have complete health records showing they have not received banned substances or a 180 day quarantine for the horses. Claude Boissonnealut, head of the CFIAs red meat programs, has indicated that Canada will likely abide by the 180 day quarantine, as mandated by the EU.
Equine welfare advocates have warned of the contamination of American horse meat for years. Substances banned from food animals range from toxic wormers to phenylbutazone (PBZ), the “aspirin” of the horse world, and even include fertility drugs that can cause miscarriages in women. “PBZ is a known carcinogen and can cause aplastic anemia (bone marrow suppression) in humans”, says Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) member Dr. Ann Marini, MD/Ph.D.
But the list of contaminants is not limited to conventional drugs. “Some of the garbage ‘treatments’ that are given to performance horses included iodine-peanut oil injections along the spine, anabolic steroids, cocaine, amphetamines, opioids and even snake venom”, explains Dr. Nicholas Dodman, DVM at Tufts University.
The new rules will mean that horses coming from auctions and other sources in the US will have to be kept drug free on a feedlot for half a year. Producers estimate that feeding horses that long will more than double their cost, making them less competitive with horses from other sources. And that is likely to be only half their problem.
EWA member Christy Sheidy, of Another Chance 4 Horses, routinely rescues slaughter bound horses from Pennsylvania’s New Holland auction. Sheidy warns, “Outbreaks of diseases like strangles and shipping fever will be inevitable in these quarantine feedlots. Left untreated, many horses may die before they can be slaughtered.” Treating the horses would restart their quarantine time.
In recent years, European authorities have cracked down on horse meat producers within the EU, requiring a “passport” system that specifically documents whether a horse has received such substances. Owners must state that their horses are intended for horse slaughter.
USDA statistics show that in 2008, the US exported 56,731 horses to Mexico and 77,073 horses to Canada for slaughter, resulting in the second highest slaughter total since 1995. Diners abroad have no idea whatsoever what dangerous chemicals they are eating in the American horsemeat that is shipped from plants across our borders.
In an interview with EWA, Henry Skjerven, a former director of the Natural Valley Farms slaughter operation in Saskatchewan, Canada, said: “Unfortunately, North America, US and Canada, were never geared for raising horses for food consumption. The system as it stood when we were killing horses was in no way, shape or form, safe, in my opinion.”
Skjerven went on to say, “We did not know where those horses were coming from, what might be in them or what they were treated with. I was always in fear - I think that it was very valid - that we were going to send something across there [to the EU] and we were simply going to get our doors locked after we had some kind of issue with the product.”
Skjerven’s plant began killing horses in September of 2007 for the Belgium’s Velda Group following the closing of their Cavel slaughter plant in DeKalb, Illinois. Natural Valley’s horse slaughter plant was closed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in January of 2009, for health issues.
Unlike Canada, horses going to Mexico are killed in two types of slaughter plants. The three largest plants export the meat to the EU and will fall under the same new rules. Mexican authorities have yet to announce whether their smaller plants, that provide meat for domestic consumption, will be required to follow the new rules.
“We don’t need to eat horses. Horses are for riding, jumping and doing a whole lot of great things. They’re not food”, concluded Skjerven.
Comments
I am soooooo happy to be reading ,yea, for all of those beautiful creatures,
Finally this cruelty is going to be brought to a halt. This may put a stop to the over-breeding in this country. If there is no handy place to dump their excess animals like slaughter auctions it won't pay them to breed. I hope this will put all of them out of business for good. And the killer buyers will be history. This is the best news I have heard in years. Like we have also said, nobody
was interested in putting the cattlemen out of business, the horses was what we were trying to save.
It's about time that people finally wised up to the fact that eating horsemeat is eating poison. No telling what effects this will ultimately have. For our horses I am so happy that people finally realized the truth. I will be contacting all my European friends and have them send support to the EU members who have made this decision and to spread the word that American horsemeat is poison on a plate.
There was never any "unwanted horse" crisis, it has been manufactured by pro-slaughter agricultural businesses all along in order to serve their own agendas. And did they care whether the meat was toxic? Of course not. Were they aware? You bet they were.
The more the public learns about the horse slaughter industry, the better. The truth is finally coming out, it is long overdue.
It is about time the truth comes out. We don't need anyone else eating our horses if we don't eat them. Time for some justice for our horses. I wonder how many people had died in Europe for eating their meat....that was their choice though.
I think that this will only cure half of a problem; If the horses cannot be sent to canada, they will be shipped to Mexico where the conditions are terrible and the cruelty unimaginable. I think that there is a place for horse slaughter, and if it were allowed in the US there would be fewer horses starving to death because no one can feed them. It is an outlet for unwanted horses which are causing a huge problem in the US. As soon as people stop breeding everything with 4 legs and a vagina, the unwanted horse problem will go down, but that's not going to happen.
The fact that horses can not be slaughtered here makes it easier for people to over breed because they do not have to face the consequences of their actions.
Not to mention that the United states has much more strict regulations regarding the humane treatment of animals. If it is going to happen, and believe me it will, I would rather know that it was done in the most humane way!
There will always be horses at risk of being slaughtered. However this is certainly a plus, assuming it happens, for putting the slaughter to a crawl. It'll also put the theft of horses to nearly an end also. Thank You EU for the necessary rules that'll put an end to much of the horse abuse in our country!! Happy Happy news for our horses!!!
Unfortunately, what this means is a harder push for slaughter to re-open in the U.S. and for owners and plants to lie on the forms required. Worse yet, we all know Mexico won't comply and they are the most horrific form of slaughter and their culture, in general, for the treatment of horses in any venue is horrible.
This will also open the way for "breeding horses for food" farms.
As an horse lover, owner, advocate, I wish this were the good news most think it is. As a realist, I'm always surprised at how low humans can sink to use animals to support their own greed.
Hi Folks,
This story has been linked to all over the world!
Let me say NorthStar is right to worry, but US plants will not be opening soon under these circumstances, because it would be a bad business decision. Despite all the talk this year, there was not a single business plan I know of to build a slaughter plant in the US, even before this crackdown.
These people do not go down easily, but this is a devastating development for them. It will also affect the three big plants in Mexico that slaughter for EU consumption.
What we need to do is to use this as a spring board for getting the slaughter of horses or their export to slaughter stopped before anyone gets a meat horse breeding industry started. This should stop most slaughter as it stands, but we do have to go further to make sure we have seen the end of it.
We must remember to give back all that we take from our precious Earth Mother,Horses are Sacred to all life here connecting us to mother Earths Womb and all her children.Just as you protect your child, you must remember to protect the spirit of the Horse,Native Americans believe that they guide the spirit over the Bridge to Forever.Chiefs would not change worlds without there favorite warrior pony guiding there spirit across the milky way thru the dark rift.We must return to our elders ancient wisdom,and return to the Heart
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