What We Can Learn From Secretariat

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/2010/10/secretariat.html
October 7, 2010

What We Can Learn from Secretariat

by Scott Beckstead

The story of legendary horse Secretariat is a classic American tale: Against the odds and defying all skeptics, an underdog became a champion and national hero, inspiring millions. Disney's new movie, Secretariat promises to underscore the special role that horses occupy in the American imagination. It also presents an opportunity to celebrate all that we love about our horses and to think again about our responsibilities to these amazing creatures.

A well-earned retirement

Secretariat spent his life surrounded by a loving owner and millions of adoring fans. His owner rewarded his record-setting performance with a pampered retirement and a long, full life. And while few horses could hope for the luxuries he enjoyed, all horses deserve the opportunity he was given: a chance at a second career. In Secretariat’s case, that meant a long life as a breeding sire.

Other horses, after retiring from the track, have proved they can excel at pleasure riding, competitive show jumping, or competitive dressage.

A second career ... or slaughter?

Sadly, though, too many are never given a chance to prove themselves off the track. As long as horse slaughter remains legal in the United States, the greedy and unscrupulous will make a quick profit off horses.

Race horses, who have been trained to trust people, suffer the ultimate betrayal when they are sold at auction then trucked in terrible conditions to foreign slaughter plants, where they are killed and butchered for consumption abroad. Secretariat’s brother, Straight Flush, was awaiting the slaughter truck when rescued by a benefactor who recognized him as the brother of the red chestnut racing star. One wonders how many thousands of Secretariat’s descendants weren’t rescued from that horrible fate.

From the Derby to the slaughterhouse

Even winning the Kentucky Derby is no guarantee that a horse will be spared the horrors of the slaughter plant: witness Ferdinand, winner of the 1986 Kentucky Derby, who was butchered in a foreign slaughter plant after failing to sire winning foals.

The industry takes steps

Thankfully, the racing industry has taken some important steps to ensure the welfare of race horses. A growing number of tracks and racing associations have adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward horse slaughter, banning any trainer that sells horses for slaughter.


Other industry groups have dedicated resources to finding good homes for retired racers. The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, for example, has created the California Equine Retirement Foundation, dedicated to making sure that every race horse gets a second chance at another career and a good, loving home.

Working toward a happy ending for all

As we celebrate Secretariat’s victories on the big screen, let’s keep in mind that for most race horses, the story does not end at the finish line or the winner’s circle. For too many, the story ends in heartbreak and tragedy.

It is our hope that with the release of this film, the American people will reflect on the effort our race horses make for us in the name of sport and entertainment—and how we will repay that effort when they step off the track for the last time.



Scott Beckstead is The HSUS’s Senior State Director for Oregon and Equine Protection Specialist

The Perfect Time to End the Slaughter of American Horses

The Perfect Time to End the Slaughter of American Horses
Editorial by John Holland


At the moment, the news is rife with stories about the level of equine neglect in the United States, with many of the articles blaming the "unintended consequences" of closing the US horse slaughter plants and calling for them to be reopened. But in reality, we are coming up on a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of this abominable practice once and for all. To understand this apparent paradox, one needs to get past unsubstantiated myths to the real forces at play in the market.
First, one needs to understand that it is completely impossible to blame the current glut of excess horses on the closing of the slaughter plants because the closings simply sent the horses over the Mexican and Canadian borders for slaughter. In 2006, the year before the closings, 142,740 American horses were slaughtered, and that number only dropped by 14% the year the plants were closed. By 2008, slaughter was back to the second highest level in almost ten years.

Next, it is necessary to understand what really causes neglect, and that is unemployment. After years of studying the relationship between neglect rates and slaughter volumes, I had concluded that there was no relationship whatever. Then I looked at the rates of neglect in Illinois in comparison with unemployment in the state. The correlation was striking.

[GRAPH]

Like most such revelations, it should have been expected, but it was still striking. It perfectly explains the mystery of how the number of American horses slaughtered in the US between 1989 and 2002 could have dropped from 377,078 to 77,713 (almost 80%) with no negative impact on either neglect or horse prices.

This correlation also tells us what we can expect as unemployment goes both up and down. At the moment the US is experiencing high unemployment with national rates hovering just under 10%. As predicted from the above graph, this is causing a high rate of neglect.

So why can I say with complete confidence that we are coming up on the perfect opportunity to end slaughter without significantly impacting the horse market?

There is a second factor at work. As the market for horses remains depressed, many breeders are throwing in the proverbial towel. Every day brood mares and stallions are being sold at auction and on internet sites like Craig's List. This is temporarily increasing the supply and further depressing prices.

The result of this further depression in prices is to convince even more breeders to quit producing. Statistics show breeding is down dramatically in virtually all breeds. The Jockey Club, for example, recently predicted the 2011 foal crop will be the lowest since 1973. Similarly, the American Quarter Horse Association's annual reports shows a 15% drop in revenue for new registrations between 2006 and 2009.

This trend will continue until the economy begins to recover significantly, or the market eventually reaches a new balance. Slaughter cannot help reduce the over supply of horses because the horse meat market is also depressed. Although the export of US slaughter horses in 2008 brought the annual slaughter back its level before the plant closures, the subsequent recession caused a 25.8% drop in exports between 2008 and 2009. The reduction in demand for slaughter horses will likely continue as the effects of new EU drug residue regulations begin forcing horses to be quarantined for 6 months prior to slaughter.

But these two trends are about to merge and provide a wonderful opportunity to end slaughter with little or no impact on the market. As the smaller foal crops reach market age, there will be a reduction supply, and when the economy finally begins to recover, it will bring with it more carrying capacity (demand) for horses. With less supply and more homes available, the number of surplus horses will dip to a record low.

Moreover, there will be a move toward quality. In a recent interview, a struggling breeder in Canada complained she had to sell her horses to slaughter because the market was so low, but in the very next sentence she explained "You have to breed 100 horses to get two good ones." Clearly that business model has been a big part of the problem that gotten us to this point, but few "lotto breeders" appear to be surviving the current market.

Only a deep and prolonged recession could have brought us this opportunity and we have certainly been experiencing just that. It would be a tremendous shame if we missed this coming opportunity. Recent auction reports indicate that prices are already beginning to increase.
What is needed is for congress to pass HR 503 / S 727, banning the slaughter and export to slaughter of American horses. This action could be placed in abeyance until a trigger was reached of unemployment dropping significantly (perhaps under 8%). The result would be a smooth transition to a much more humane equine industry.

Horse slaughter is not a "necessary evil", merely an evil. Now is our opportunity to resign this practice to the dust bin of American history.

John Holland is a freelance writer, the author of three books and an industrial consultant in the field of intelligent automation and knowledge engineering. He frequently writes on the subject of horse slaughter from his small farm in the mountains of Virginia, where he lives with his wife, Sheilah, and their 12 equines. Holland is president of the Equine Welfare Alliance and serves as senior analyst for Americans Against Horse Slaughter, an organization composed entirely of volunteers.

Please take this time to set-up a meeting with your Members of Congress
 

 While Congress is home for the August recess, many members of Congress and candidates running for office use this time to host town hall meetings, attend civic events, political rallies, and meet with constituents at their in-district office.

During this time they are out talking to their constituents and this is a great opportunity to remind them how important HR503/S727 "The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act" is to you and to the American people.

A lot is at stake in the November elections. It is important that lawmakers and candidates remember the important role our horses play in our country.  Please ask your Members of Congress to support the passage of HR503 and S727 "The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act".  Any blockage of this legislation will have a devastating effect on our culture as we know it.  EU countries are banning meat tainted by drugs that are commonly given to horses which include, antibiotics, wormers and bute. While horsemeat is not sold in the US, it is exported from Canada and Mexico to the EU and to Japan, where it is considered a delicacy.  Many of the horses that are brutally slaughtered in Mexican and Canadian slaughter houses come from the US.

Help us end the suffering of our American Horses. How can a country that was built on the backs of our horses ignore the people who wish to give them the quality of life they deserve?

Please, Rise Up and make that meeting for the horses!
 

 Thank you for all you do.

Americans Against Horse Slaughter

• Rise Up
• Get Involved
• Join The Movement

Take Action:

1) Request a meeting with your Representative and Senators to discuss "The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act"

2) Most of your Members of Congress will be attending events in your area during this recess. This is a good opportunity to speak face to face in a location convenient for you.

To Find your Members of Congress, please log on here:

Members of Congress

CALLING ON ALL AMERICANS TO STEP UP EFFORTS TO END HORSE SLAUGHTER

Americans Against Horse Slaughter And WFLF/Humanion Films Call On All Americans To Step Up Efforts To End Horse Slaughter

Powerful Policy Makers join Film as speakers and cast in Humanion Film’s “Saving
America’s Horses – A Nation Betrayed”

Congressmen Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, House Representative Dan Burton of Indiana
and Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have all joined the film, Saving America’s
Horses. Producers Katia Louise and Debra Lopez have recently interviewed these
powerful policy makers for the film about their thoughts and positions regarding pending
bills that would protect America’s equines from slaughter and protect our wild horses.


Check out WFLF Humanion Films’ new “Action to End Horse Slaughter” preview clip which includes exclusive statements by these powerful policy makers. Special appearances in this preview additionally include Tippi Hedren of the Roar Foundation and Neda DeMayo of Return to Freedom. This special pre-release preview clears the air on misinformation that has been circulated by pro slaughter proponents. Learn more about what you can do to help end this barbaric practice without further delay.

How You Can Help

Please Contact The Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (Vermont) and all the
Senate Judiciary Committee Members (see list below) and ask them to move S727 out of
committee and on to the floor for a vote to pass The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act.

Next, contact the House Judiciary Subcommittee Members and ask them to move HR503
out of committee and onto the floor for a vote. Members:http://judiciary.house.gov/about/subcrime.html

You can also contact your U.S. representative and your two U.S. Senators and urge him
or her to vote YES on the anti horse slaughter bill by calling the Captiol Switchboard at
202-224-3121

Step up your efforts! Watch the all new exclusive “Action to End Horse Slaughter” preview clip from “SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES – A NATION BETRAYED”  HERE!

BP Connected To Mustang Roundups in the West

(courtesy of The Cloud Foundation)
Media Contacts:


Makendra Silverman
Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 719-351-8187

Anne Novak
Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org
Tel: 415-531-8454


For Immediate Release
BP and Ruby Pipeline Connection Raises Questions About Removal of Calico Wild Horses from Northwestern Nevada

Bloody BLM roundup results in more than 140 deaths of federally protected animals


Colorado Springs, CO (July 10, 2010)—A contract between the $3 billion Ruby Pipeline project managers, El Paso Corp of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and energy giant, British Petroleum, was uncovered this week by ATS News, the investigative journalism arm of number-one "alternative topics" web site, AboveTopSecret.com. The contract reveals how BP stands to reap millions of dollars from the proposed 675-mile pipeline from Wyoming to Oregon. Ruby would destroy areas of pristine wilderness in northwestern Nevada, formerly home to the majestic wild horses of the Calico Mountains. Ruby Project Coordinator Lars Ecklund said during an April 16 meeting, reported on by the Klamath Falls Herald and News: "Don't think we're going to put this pipe in without making a mess . . . It's going to look like Hiroshima. It's going to look nasty.”


The Cloud Foundation first raised the issue of a possible deal between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Ruby in January, 2010 when a letter and documents (September 14, 2009-p. 30) from Ruby Pipeline, L.L.C to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) revealed a link between the pipeline and the removal of federally protected wild horses in northwestern Nevada. Digging a 4-6 foot deep and 8 foot wide trench for a 42” diameter pipe would gravely impact five wild horse herd areas. In a written response to questions posed by the Office of Energy Projects (an agency within the Department of Energy), Ruby project consultant, Dan Gredvig, stated that “Ruby will work with BLM to minimize wild horse and burro grazing along the restored ROW (right-of-way) for three years. Possible management actions would be to . . . reduce wild horse populations following BLM policy in appropriate management areas. BLM wild horse and burro specialists were consulted in developing this management approach.” The document is dated February 23, 2009.





“Back in January when we met with an official of El Paso Corp who denied any connection between Ruby and the wild horse roundups, we had no idea that BP was going to be a major beneficiary of the project,” stated Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation.


The connection between BLM and BP extends to the current Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Lands and Minerals Management, Sylvia Baca, who was hired away from BP in June of 2009 by DOI Secretary, Ken Salazar. Baca is well-known at DOI where she served as an Assistant Secretary from 1995 to 2001. Her duties included development of national policy and management direction of BLM, Mineral Management service and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Baca also served as the Acting Director of the BLM in the late 1990s when allegations were raised that BLM employees had sold wild horses to slaughter and were involved in wild horses from holding facilities going to slaughter. After the publication of hard-hitting articles by AP reporter, Martha Mendoza, an investigation ensued and a federal grand jury was convened. But before the opening gavel was struck, the plug was pulled on the grand jury for unknown reasons. Kathrens had personal conversations with one of the primary investigators in the case and remembers his belief that there was wrong-doing by BLM employees and his disgust at the mysterious closing of the case before one shred of evidence came to light.

In a PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) White Paper released in 1997 on this topic, PEER reported that “On February 19, 1997, the BLM issued a press release announcing the results of an internal investigation ‘which contradicts recent press allegations that wild horses are routinely sent to slaughter.’ Despite this self-proclaimed clean bill of health, the BLM simultaneously announced a series of 20 reforms in the Wild Horse and Burro Program and promised more reforms to come.” Even with the promised ‘reforms’, some of the same employees implicated in the investigation continued working for BLM and at least one is still employed by BLM.

Baca left BLM in 2001 to take a senior management position with BP where her duties included emergency response. During her tenure with BP numerous permits were issued which granted environment waivers—including a waiver for offshore drilling given to the Deepwater Horizon that later exploded, killing 11 workers and continuing to spew ceaseless amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Secretary Salazar hired Sylvia Baca back from BP in June of 2009.

“In light of the revolving door of BLM personnel shuffling between big energy and BLM as well as the possible connection between massive Nevada wild horse removals and the construction of the $3 billion Ruby Pipeline, we believe there is a need for emergency protections for the last of the mustangs on their legal rangeland,” states Kathrens. “Otherwise, generations of Americans will loose their opportunity to be inspired by these magnificent animals roaming our vast western landscapes.”

To date more than 100 wild horses have died as a result of the Calico roundup and processing, and more than 40 mares aborted their late-term foals. Calico has been called the “bloodiest roundup in modern history” by George Knapp, Emmy Award-winning journalist with KLAS TV in Las Vegas. "The public that the Department of Interior and the BLM serve is not the John and Mary U.S. Citizen public, it's the big corporate agriculture and big oil public that gets all the benefits of exploiting our public lands," he said in the ATS report.

The Cloud Foundation is calling for an immediate moratorium on roundups in the West and for Congressional Hearings into the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program which, left unchecked, will remove 6,000 additional wild horses in the next three months at enormous expense to the American taxpayers and the “protected” mustangs.
###

Links of interest:

BP Connected to Wild Horse Roundups?

http://www.8newsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=12769788


The Mustang Conspiracy: Sex, Drugs, Corruption, and BP – investigative report http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/


Deputy Assistant Director Sylvia V. Baca http://www.doi.gov/archive/bio/baca_bio.html

BLM Contacts and the Ruby Pipeline http://bit.ly/cT6e0a

Ruby Pipeline press release http://bit.ly/74789s

‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58

Roundup Schedule- updated July 2010 http://bit.ly/2010roundup

Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm

American Herds Blog http://americanherds.blogspot.com/

Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.
America’s Disappearing Wild Horses
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/resources/wild.html


Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y

Wild Horse and Burro Act http://bit.ly/a7hOeS

Link to this press release online http://bit.ly/BPMustangs

Past Cloud Foundation press releases http://bit.ly/TCFpress

Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation

news@thecloudfoundation.org



The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud's herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.

107 S. 7th St. - Colorado Springs, CO 80905 - 719-633-3842 www.thecloudfoundation.org

The Mustang Conspiracy: Part 2 - BP and The Ruby Pipeline

Go here: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread590146/pg1

Will Consumer Safety Concerns End Slaughter of U.S. Horses?

Courtesy of Laura Allen (Animal Law Coaliton)
http://animals.change.org/blog/view/will_consumer_safety_concerns_end_slaughter_of_us_horses 

The number of American horses that are slaughtered is driven by a demand in some other countries for horsemeat, where it's usually a pricey delicacy. The demand has dropped dramatically over the years from a high in 1989 of 348,400 horses to 134,059 horses slaughtered in 2008. In 2009-2010, demand has dropped even more. In Europe, in particular, demand in the past year has dropped as consumers have learned of the shocking cruelty of horse slaughter in North America.
The demand for American horsemeat may soon plummet and end altogether, especially in the European market. Indeed, the second largest grocer in Belgium and Holland pulled American horsemeat from the shelves.

But there's more good news for our horses and those calling for an end to the slaughter. Beginning July 31, 2010, the European Union will begin enforcing restrictions on the sale of meat from horses that have been given certain drugs and steroids. This means that, where horsemeat is destined for the E.U., Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouses (where U.S. horses are sent for slaughter) must obtain veterinary records of all drugs or medication provided to the horse in the preceding six months. By 2013, all horses to be slaughtered for human consumption in the E.U. must be accompanied by veterinary records from birth that show the horse has never been given banned substances.
This is impossible for American horses.