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Keep the issue alive!
Special to The Augusta Free Press
The many letters to The Augusta Free Press concerning the slaughter of American
horses for human consumption abroad is indicative of the support this bill enjoys
from the American public, and in particular, the support of Virginians.
I have been aware of Bob Goodlatte's opposition to this bill for more than two
years. From the beginning, Goodlatte showed a complete lack of understanding
of the language of the bill. For example, in December of 2002, Goodlatte sent
me a letter stating that horses intended for slaughter are already protected under
the The Animal Welfare Act. After obtaining a copy of the bill, I was shocked to
read on the very first page a declaration that horses intended for slaughter are
specifically excluded from this bill.
How, I asked, could the head of the House Agriculture Committee be so
misinformed? Giving him the benefit of the doubt that he was being represented
by an incompetent staffer, I wrote back to the congressman supplying him with
the facts. I received no response.
In April of 2004, Mr. Goodlatte stated on the public airwaves that he was opposed
to HR 857 because it would hurt pet-food companies. Once again, Goodlatte showed
his ignorance of the subject. Major pet-food companies in the U.S. have not
used horse meat in their products for almost 10 years.
Further opposition to the bill was presented by Mr. Goodlatte when he aligned
himself with the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Quarter
Horse Association. Both of these groups stated that horse neglect and abuse would
increase if horse slaughter was banned. Further research on my part indicated that
there were no stastistics of any type in any government division to support this
hypothetical.
These groups also proposed that the disposal of horse carcasses would tip the
environmental balance of the United States. I then contacted support Michael Scott
of EPA in Washington, D.C., who told me he knew nothing of the bill, and that
the AVMA had never contacted his office.
The AVMA also opposed the HR 857 because the bill would not allow for electrocution
of horses if it were passed. Shocked that the AVMA would even advocate such a
horrific method of death for a horse, I discovered that nowhere in the veterinary
field, not even in research, is electrocution still used. Rather, this was a method
used many years ago that has become obsolete in the wake of newer euthanasia methods.
I could only conclude that the AVMA and the AQHA were opposing this bill for reasons
they needed to keep secret. My suspicions were validated when I discovered that the
AQHA was opposing the bill in Washington without the knowledge of their 250,000 members.
To this day, these members have never been polled concerning their support or opposition
to the American Horse Slaughter Protection Act.
Congressman Goodlatte obviously shares the same attitude of arrogant leadership when
it comes to his constituents. In spite of bipartisian majority support in the House
of Representatives, in spite of the support of seven out of 11 Virginia representatives,
in spite of the support of the largest breed organization in Virginia, the Virginia
Thoroughbred Association, and in spite of the public-opinion polls that show overwhelming
support for this bill, Bob Goodlatte maintains that he alone knows what is best for
American horses.
Mr. Goodlatte may never change his personal position on this bill, but by what defintion
of fairness does he arrogantly and defiantly refuse to allow this bill onto the House
floor for a vote? At a June 28 town meeting, Mr. Goodlatte told a standing-room-only
crowd that since no member of his committee had asked for a hearing on HR 857, his
hands were tied. What he intentionally failed to mention, was that it would be
inappropriate for a member of his committee to ask for hearings, because none of them
had introduced the bill in the first place. That distinction belongs to Congressman
John Sweeney of New York, who has asked for hearings and been denied them by Bob
Goodlatte.
On July 5 at the Bridgewater town meeting, Bob Goodlatte admitted that the bill asks
for no federal funding to care for the horses that would no longer be slaughtered,
even though this is an excuse for opposition he offers at every unchallenged opportunity.
I cannot follow Mr. Goodlatte around the state of Virginia exposing him for the liar he
is regarding HR857. I can only appeal to the readers of this paper to please contact
Goodlatte's office with your declarations of support for the bill, and to echo that
support to senators Allen and Warner. Just because one Republican congressman is
capitulating to the special-interest money of the slaughter industry does not mean
that the Senate arm of our government cannot make ammends for his disturbing behavior.
Anne Russek resides in Natural Bridge.
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