Kinship Circle | Letter Campaigns

10/2/08: Call/Write To End Horse Slaughter For Good

SOURCE OF INFORMATION / BACKGROUND

•  Action Needed NOW on Federal Horse Slaughter Bill
•  No Country for Horses
•  Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act Will End Horse Slaughter

A one-eyed pony, center, huddles near another pony at the Shipshewana horse auction. The auction trades driving, work and saddle horses, as well as loose horses, which are often bought for slaughter. Horses Spared in U.S. Face Death Across the Border, www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11horse.html

Every 5 Minutes An American Horse Is Slaughtered For Human Consumption
www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/death_clock.h tm

CONTACT INFORMATION + SAMPLE LETTER

CONTACT INFORMATION • Print/Send This Letter

The Honorable Representative _____________________________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510

To identify your federal legislators and find contact info, try:
Congress.org: www.Congress.org
USA House of Representatives: www.house.gov
Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

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SAMPLE LETTER • Print/Send This Letter

Dear Representative __________________________________:

As your constituent, I ask you to cosponsor and vote YES on H.R. 6598, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. This legislation bans the knowing and intentional possession, shipping, transporting, purchasing, selling, delivering or receiving of a horse for slaughter.

Court rulings closed America's last equine plants in Texas and Illinois. Still, racehorses, trail ponies, companion and wild horses are among those sold to killer-buyers at auctions. To reach faraway slaughter plants, horses travel in trucks built for smaller animals. Footage from Humane Society of the U.S. shows horses beaten and jammed into trailers in 100-degree heat. They arrive weak, dehydrated and injured. Some are dead by journey's end.

Horses are more excitable than other animals killed for food. Thus, their slaughter is especially horrific. Captive bolt pistols used to stun these long-necked animals often don't work, leaving horses thrashing in pain. At Mexican plants, each horse's neck is pierced with a "puntilla knife" until the spinal cord severs. Alert horses bob their heads as the blade stabs them around the withers. Finally, they collapse — paralyzed, but not dead. Some horses remain conscious as their bodies are dismembered.

H.R. 6589 identifies horse slaughter as animal cruelty under Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Opponents argue that equine slaughter is needed to "save" surplus horses from neglect and starvation. In fact, even more horses now go to kill plants across U.S. borders. This increase in slaughtered U.S. horses has not reduced known cases of horse neglect or starvation.

Violent slaughter should never be an alternative to remarketing, rescue, adoption or humane euthanasia. Horse slaughter and euthanasia are not the same thing. The first is vicious; the second is merciful.

Why are our horses still sent to kill floors in Canada and Mexico? Please cosponsor and vote YES on H.R. 6598, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.

Thank you,

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SAMPLE PHONE CALL • Print/Send This Letter

SAMPLE PHONE CALL TO YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS:

Hi, I am a constituent of Rep. [INSERT YOUR REP'S LAST NAME]. I am calling to ask [HIM or HER] to cosponsor and vote YES on H.R. 6598, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. This bill will end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in other countries.

More of our horses than ever before go to kill plants across U.S. borders in Canada and Mexico. Family companions, racehorses, wild horses and others are violently killed with knives or guns. Some horses remain conscious as their bodies are dismembered.

Please cosponsor and vote YES on H.R. 6598 — so we can end the cruel horse slaughter industry once and for all.

EASILY PERSONALIZE AND SEND COMMENTS NOW

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DISCLAIMER: The information in these materials is verified with the original source. Kinship Circle does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or for the consequences of its use. Nothing on this website is intended to encourage illegal action in whatever country you are reading it in. Kinship Circle does not engage in, nor support, any form of harassment or unlawful activity. Nothing in this action alert serves to promote such conduct.

Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the validity of email addresses. During a campaign, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Email addresses obtained from government or other official websites may be outdated or incorrect.