WASHINGTON – A coalition of animal protection organizations and citizens who live near horse slaughter plants today filed suit in federal court in Washington to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture from carrying out a plan to allow the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in Europe and Asia – a plan that subverts a recent federal law to be implemented in March that was written to halt horse slaughter.
The groups charge that the USDA is violating language enacted as part of the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Act, as well as the Federal Meat Inspection Act, by allowing three foreign-owned horse slaughterhouses to implement a new "fee-for-service" inspection program after Congress cut federal funding for inspections of horsemeat. The bipartisan Congressional effort to de-fund horse slaughter inspections passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 269 to 158 and in the Senate by a vote of 69 to 28; it is scheduled to go into effect on March 10.
The groups filing the suit in U.S. District Court include The Humane Society of the United States, Animal Welfare Institute, The Fund for Animals, Society for Animal Protective Legislation, Doris Day Animal League, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and American Humane Association. They are joined by citizens who are impacted by reduced property values, the pervasive stench, and the horses' cries as they enter the kill chute.
"The USDA's subversion of the law to appease the economically marginal and widely reviled horse slaughter industry is a blatant abuse of executive power, a violation of federal law and an insult to the American people," said Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president and CEO. "Americans want horses treated with dignity and respect, not served up on a plate in Belgium or France. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is rewriting the rules as if the views of the Congress and the American people don't even exist."
The groups filed the lawsuit after the USDA announced last week that it will allow three European-owned slaughterhouses located in Texas and Illinois to continue butchering tens of thousands of horses each year. Horsemeat is not sold or consumed in the United States, yet an estimated 90,000 American horses are slaughtered in this country for food or shipped to Canada or Mexico for the same purpose every year. The meat from former racehorses, family ponies and other horses is frozen, packed and exported for human consumption in European and Japanese restaurants.
"Horses have carried our leaders into battles, pulled our wagons into the untamed West and turned soil in our fields," said Chris Heyde, SAPL deputy legislative director. "Following their faithful service to humankind, these majestic and intelligent animals should not be killed just so diners abroad can feast on their flesh – it is unpatriotic to send our country's horses to such a cruel and unnecessary death."
The legislative history of the appropriations amendment clearly indicates that Congress intended to halt horse slaughter. In a letter sent to the USDA after the slaughterhouses sought the agency's approval for the fee-for-service program, 40 members of Congress wrote, "The agency must cease inspection of horses for slaughter. Failure to do so constitutes willful disregard of clear Congressional intent on the part of the USDA. The agency has absolutely no authority to circumvent a Congressional mandate and effectively rewrite an unambiguous law at the request of the horse-slaughter industry."
"Granting this petition sets a damning precedent," said Holly Hazard, executive director of the Doris Day Animal League. "In circumventing the clear intent of our legislators to cease certain federal programs and simply buying the services of the executive branch without any policy directive from Congress, special interests will thwart democracy."
In light of this end run around Congress's clear mandate to halt the slaughter of horses, animal protection groups have highlighted the need for a permanent ban on horse slaughter for food and are working actively for passage of H.R. 503 and S. 1915, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, introduced by U.S. Representatives. John Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC), Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY) in the House and U.S. Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in the Senate.
The plaintiffs are represented in the case by Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal, a public interest law firm in Washington, D.C.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with more than 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS protects all animals through education, advocacy, litigation, investigation, legislation and fieldwork. The non-profit organization is based in Washington, D.C. and has representatives across the country. On at the web at www.hsus.org.
The Society for Animal Protective Legislation is the oldest non-profit organization in the United States specifically dedicated to the passage and promotion of federal, international and local legislation to promote animal welfare, including the protection of domestic and wild horses. More information is available at www.saplonline.org.
Founded by Doris Day in 1987, the Doris Day Animal League is America's leading lobbying organization dedicated to focusing attention on legislative issues involving the humane treatment of animals. For more information on the Doris Day Animal League and its work to end horse slaughter, please visit www.ddal.org
Founded in 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane organization established in the Western Hemisphere and today has 1 million supporters. The ASPCA 's mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides national leadership in humane education, government affairs and public policy, shelter support, and animal poison control. The NYC headquarters houses a full-service animal hospital, animal behavior center, and adoption facility. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York's animal cruelty laws and is featured on the reality television series Animal Precinct on Animal Planet.
The American Humane Association is the oldest national organization dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Through a network of child and animal protection agencies and individuals, the American Humane Association develops policies, legislation, curricula, and training programs to protect children and animals from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Visit www.americanhumane.org to learn more.
