Even the most sanguine of American carnivores would cavil at the idea of barbequing Trigger or Silver or Scout...and yet the traffic in horse flesh flourishes in the USA...and in Hawai’i. There are only three abattoirs licensed to slaughter horses in the US - all on the mainland; in addition, live horses are sent to Europe and Asia for slaughter. The suffering endured by horses sent by truck and ship is horrible–the containers are meant for cattle and not horses and many arrive with broken legs –their fate to be butchered and sold as meat in Italy, Belgium and Japan. The “pet food” industry no longer uses horse flesh due to consumers chooing not to buy it.
The Hawai’i Nexus:
Animal Rights Hawai’i received a tip that horses are being sold and slaughtered at Gunstock Ranch in Kahalu’u, owned by Max Smith. The whistle blower witnessed the slaughter of two horses and a cow, whose corpses were then sold to a couple who were catering a funeral. One of the horses was named “Ehu.”There is a permanent slaughter rack at the ranch and cattle are slaughtered and sold frequently. This is in violation of the federal Humane Slaughter Act (HSA) which requires livestock destined to be sold as meat in Hawai’i to be killed at a federally inspected facility.
ARH has filed a complaint with Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, and we have contacted Representative Ed Case, one of the sponsors of federal legislation to prohibit the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the export of live horses for slaughter abroad. Congress recently passed and President Bush signed into law, a temporary ban on horse slaughter from March through December, 2006. We hope that a permanent ban will be passed in the next session.
Who should know better?
Max Smith, who leases the land under Gunstock Ranch from the Mormon Church, is a former State Veterinarian and a former state meat inspector. Whilst violating the HSA, he was not shy about bellying up to the taxpayer funded trough From 2000 to 2003, he received $27,892.00 from the federal govt. for "disaster subsidies" (source: http://www.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=011190374)
What you can do
Contact our senators and representatives and ask them to keep fighting for a complete ban on horse slaughter for human consumption. Also, contact Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and demand that Smith be prosecuted for his blatant and cruel contravention of federal law.
- Representative Ed Case: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Representative Neil Abercrombie: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Senator Daniel Akaka: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Senator Daniel Inouye: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
- Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it