Dept. of Agriculture Approves Horse Slaughterhouse Amid Lawsuit Threat

“PLEASE NOTE – GRAPHIC IMAGES OF HORSE TRAILER ACCIDENTS – AT THE END OF THIS POST. Do not scroll down the post if you do not want to see them! They are just one of many reasons why these companion animals should not be slaughtered for human consumption; would you think it ok to send your family pet dog to slaughter? Horses were not put on Gods green earth for humans to eat, they are our pets; just as much as cats & dogs are!”

“It is pure greed, FFS we slaughter enough animals to satisfy the human hunger for meat. Nobody is going to starve, horses are not part of a normal persons diet. I am totally sickened & disgusted that this heinous act, the killing of Gods noble most beautiful creatures; is once more going to be in action!! I can only hope & pray that those who want to eat any part of a horse, after all the health scares etc. suffer a miserable & painful existence!! PLEASE sign the petitions”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A New Mexico meat plant received federal approval on Friday to slaughter horses for meat, a move that drew immediate opposition from animal rights group and will likely be opposed by the White House.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said it was required by law to issue a “grant of inspection” to Valley Meat Co, Roswell, New Mexico, because it had met all federal requirements. Now, the USDA is obliged to assign meat inspectors to the plant.

The USDA also said it may soon issue similar grants for plants in Missouri and Iowa.

NO HORSE SHOULD END UP ON THE END OF A BUTCHERS HOOK!!

Horse meat cannot be sold as food in the United States, but it can be exported. Attempts to reach Valley Meat Co via a number listed on-line were unsuccessful.

Valley Meat would be the first meat plant to be allowed to slaughter horses since Congress banned it in 2006.

It is not known when the plant will start production, but two bills in Congress want to ban horse slaughter and President Obama has asked Congress to ban it.

The Humane Society of the United States and Front Range Equine Rescue threatened on Friday to sue the USDA, saying horses are raised as pets and as working animals. Because they are not intended as food animals, horses are given medications banned from other livestock, the groups said, questioning if the meat would be safe.

The USDA says it can test for residues of 130 pesticide and veterinary drugs. It also has safeguards to keep horse meat out of the food supply.

Congress effectively banned horse slaughter in 2006 by saying the USDA could not spend any money to inspect horse plants. Without USDA inspection, meat plants cannot operate.

The ban was part of the annual USDA funding bill and was renewed a year at a time through 2011. The prohibition expired in October 2011.

Lawmakers could vote on reinstating the ban in coming weeks when the USDA appropriations bills are debated in the House and Senate. But no date has been set to consider the bills and it could be months before work is completed.

The USDA said it was required by law to issue the grant of inspection because Valley Meat met all federal requirements. At one point, the company sued the USDA for an overly long review of its application. Once it issues a grant of inspection, the USDA is obliged to assign meat inspectors to a meat plant.

“Until Congress acts, the department must comply with current law,” said a USDA spokeswoman.

Valley Meat retrofitted its plant for horses after drought weakened its cattle slaughter business.

Horse meat is sold for human consumption in China, Russia, Mexico and other foreign nations and is sometimes used as feed for zoo animals.

But in the United States, horses enjoy a higher stature, more akin to house pets, than to hogs, cattle and chickens.

An estimated 130,000 U.S. horses are shipped annually to slaughter in Canada and Mexico. Groups have quarreled for a decade whether a ban on slaughter will save horses from a cruel death or lead to abandonment by owners of animals they cannot afford to feed or treat for illness.

Early this year, regulators discovered that horse meat was being sold as beef in Ireland. The mislabelled meat was found in meatballs sold by Swedish retailer IKEA in much of Europe and in other outlets.

IF YOU SCROLL FURTHER – GRAPHIC IMAGES ARE BELOW – VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED 

USDA conducts tests on domestic and imported products to identify the species that yielded the meat. The tests can distinguish beef, sheep, swine, poultry, deer and horse.

As well, USDA stepped up its species testing in April because of the meat adulteration scandal in Europe.

(Reporting By Charles Abbott; Editing by Bernard Orr)

News Link:-http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/29/dept-of-agriculture-approves-horse-slaughterhouse-amid-lawsuit-threat/

This link explains in a little more detail, worth reading:-http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130628-909609.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

HORRIFIC INJURIES OBTAINED WHILST TRAVELLING TO SLAUGHTER HOUSE 

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PETITION: Let’s Put An End To Dog Fighting and Politicians Who Want To Legalize It

“Dog fighting needs to be banned period! We have all seen the evidence this horrific blood sport causes to the fighting dogs & the animals they use to train their dogs, the poor bait animals.  Humans have a voice to say NO Animals do not, if a politician thinks there is nothing wrong with dog fighting; I don’t think he should be a politician, do you??

“Watch the video, listen to this knob head slating the HSUS, remember, he wants to undo all the good things in animal welfare that so many have fought for; then please click the link below to sign the petition!” 

Published on 31 Jul 2012 by ThinkProgress TP

This is an article I read on www.thinkprogress.org

GOP Rep. Steve King Defends Dog Fighting
By Scott Keyes on Jul 31, 2012 at 2:50 pm

If you believe that the United States should legalize dogfighting because we allow humans to fight, fear not. You’ve got an ally in the United States Congress.

During a tele-townhall late last week, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) fielded a question about his opposition to animal rights and recently introduced legislation that would undermine local standards preventing animal torture.

“It’s wrong to rate animals above human beings,” he told the questioner. To make his point, King argued that “there’s something wrong” for society to make it a “federal crime to watch animals fight” but “it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting.”

KING: When the legislation that passed in the farm bill that says that it’s a federal crime to watch animals fight or to induce someone else to watch an animal fight but it’s not a federal crime to induce somebody to watch people fighting, there’s something wrong with the priorities of people that think like that.
King did not say whether it was also hypocritical that society allows people to get married yet not animals.

Of course, there is a very good reason we ban dogfighting and other similar forms of cruelty: animals don’t have a choice in the matter. Manny Pacquiao chooses to step into the ring. Michael Vick‘s dogs did not. Similarly, when a human boxer loses a fight, he is not ritually executed after the fight. The same is not always true in dogfighting.

Unfortunately, King is a longtime advocate for legalizing dogfighting, cockfighting, and other forms of animal torture. Most recently, he fought legislation that would make it illegal to bring a child to an animal fight. He has also set aside his love for states’ rights in order to forbid localities from enacting anti-animal torture standards.

Petition Link:–http://www.causes.com/actions/1670890?recruiter_id=73390439&utm_campaign=invite&utm_medium=wall&utm_source=fb

Colombia – Bogota prohibits the use of animals in circuses

ADI is delighted to announce that the Plenary Council of Colombia’s capital city Bogota has voted overwhelmingly to ban the use of animals in circuses.

The Development Plan of the Capital of the Republic, which is a roadmap for the next four years of Mayor Gustavo Petro’s administration, prohibits all animals in circuses. The plan also includes measures for humane stray control.

ADI congratulates Mayor Petro, the city councillors who made this possible, especially Councilman Roberto Saenz, and the local animal organisations and citizens who worked alongside ADI to achieve this ban.

ADI is in discussion with the authorities to establish what steps will be taken if circuses ignore the ban. Bans have already been passed in Medellin and Pereira.

The ban follows a vote earlier in the month in Congress to end the use of animals in circuses nationwide.

• Make a donation
• View the Development Plan (Spanish)
• Find out more about our campaign in Colombia

News Link:– http://www.ad-international.org/animals_in_entertainment/go.php?id=2682&ssi=10

Idaho’s War On Wolves – Please Sign Petition

We saw it coming. When Congress stripped federal protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies one year ago, we warned that hundreds of wolves in the region would be killed.

It’s especially bad in Idaho. Broken promises and political pandering to anti-wolf extremists has led to the elimination of more than 400 wolves — almost half the state’s wolf population — in just one year.

Starting today, we’re marking the first anniversary of wolf delisting with a series of actions aimed at shining the national spotlight on Idaho’s extreme wolf-killing policies — and the dangers it poses to wolf recovery in the American West.

Take action now: Sign our petition to Idaho Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and urge him to stop his state’s war on wolves — and to treat these animals like wildlife, not vermin.

Idaho officials aren’t stopping as the death toll surpasses 400 — they’re aiming to kill off as many wolves as possible until they drive the population down to 150. Officials have already changed their rules to make it even easier for hunters and trappers to kill even more wolves.

It’s clear that Idaho’s goal is to drive wolves down to the barest minimum of 150 wolves — decimating the state’s wolf population down to minimum numbers.

This is not wolf management. It’s a backwards attempt to once again eliminate an ecologically important predator from the landscape.

Tell Idaho Governor Otter that decimating the state’s wolves is unethical, unscientific and unacceptable in modern-day wildlife management.

Federal officials delisted wolves in the Northern Rockies based on Idaho’s commitment to maintain between 518 and 732 wolves. But the governor broke this promise, leading to Idaho’s policy of killing off hundreds of wolves. This gives new unfortunate meaning to the old phrase of “bait and switch.”

Quite simply, Idaho is refusing to treat wolves as wildlife — pursuing a path of targeting wolves as vermin, using troubling tactics:

• No quota limit throughout most of the state on the number of wolves that can be killed through hunting;
• Allowing hunting for 8-10 months out of the year, which includes through denning season in some areas;
• Increasing the number of wolves that can be hunted, trapped or snared per person;
• Using aerial gunning to wipe out entire packs of wolves to artificially boost game populations;

These extreme policies only feed a frenzy of anti-wolf rhetoric in the state.

Take action now and help us reach our goal of generating 75,000 signatures: Sign our petition to Idaho’s governor and tell him to get it right on wolves.

Wolf recovery is one of the most important conservation success stories in this country. We can’t let Idaho’s extreme actions turn back the clock.
Related articles

• Wolf Torture and Execution Continues in the Northern Rockies: Sample Letter (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)
• Idaho senator withdraws his wolf measure (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)
• Defenders of Wildlife – America’s wolves need our help! (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)

The Shambala Preserve – Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, 2012

At last, one of the missions in my life since I brought A bill titled ‘A Federal Ban on the Breeding of the Exotic Feline for Personal Possession’ in 2009 to my Rep. Buck McKeon was to get it introduced and passed in the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the President! The bill, with a new title, “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act ” was introduced around noon EST on February 29, 2012 in the House of Representatives by Rep. Buck McKeon and Rep. Loretta Sanchez as co-sponsors.

I’m very proud of this important legislation finally on it’s way to becoming the law…I will apprise you when it goes to the Senate to be introduced by Senator John Kerry, and when the Senate # will be in place.

Here is a summary of the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act, 2012

H.R. 4122 Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act of 2012 Bill Summary

H.R. 4122/S.____, the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act,” will ensure that lions, tigers and other dangerous big cats, which are bred to be sold and kept as pets or for financial gain in the U.S. in alarming numbers, do not threaten public safety, diminish global big cat conservation efforts, or end up living in horrible conditions where they can be subject to mistreatment and cruelty. The bill will prohibit breeding and private possession of big cats exempting only qualified, accredited AZA zoos, where they can be properly cared for and restrained. Wild Animal Sanctuaries having given sanctuary and safe haven for big cats who have been confiscated for decades will be asked to take in animals

Read more:-via The Shambala Preserve presented by The Roar Foundation.

Stop Oil Companies from Using Oil Spill Cleanup Costs as Tax Write-Offs – ForceChange

Stop Oil Companies from Using Oil Spill Cleanup Costs as Tax Write-Offs

PETITIONS, POLITICS — BY KRISTIN HARKNESS ON FEBRUARY 1, 2012 4:41 PM

Target: The United States Congress

Goal: Restrict oil companies from writing off oil spill cleanup costs.

Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL) recently introduced an important bill that would prohibit oil companies from writing off the cost of oil spill cleanup. Under current laws, oil companies can pass much of their cleanup costs to the American Treasury, which impacts taxpayers. BP and any other oil company that operates recklessly should assume full responsibility for their actions.

via Stop Oil Companies from Using Oil Spill Cleanup Costs as Tax Write-Offs – ForceChange.

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