House Leadership Renews Push to Reinstate Horse Slaughter in US | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Source: Equine Welfare Alliance PR

Chicago (EWA)– EWA has learned that Mr. Douglas A. Glenn, Director, Office of Financial Management, Department of the Interior, has notified his department in a letter dated 22 February, that the GAO (Government Accountability Office) has been tasked to study any changes in the state of equine welfare in the US from 2010 to the present.

The request to the GAO was made by the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee and the Chair of House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration.

Attached to the letter was a statement of the scope of the work to be performed, including addressing four questions:

What is known about changes and trends in the U.S. horse market since 2010?
What impact, if any, has the prohibition on USDA funding for horse slaughter inspection had on horse welfare and on states, local governments and Indian tribes?
What is known about the number of abandoned and unwanted horses in the U.S. and associated environmental impacts?
What is the current capacity of animal welfare organizations and shelters to accept and care for unwanted and abandoned horses?

Source: House Leadership Renews Push to Reinstate Horse Slaughter in US | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Animal Protection Groups Commend Bill to Ban Dog and Cat Meat in the United States | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Source: International Humane Society PR

“This story walks hand-in-hand with our discussion on Wild Horse and Burro Radio last night” ~ R.T.

Bill also shines a light on brutal trade in China and South Korea

Little Ricky, a dog rescued from the Yulin dog meat festival in 2015, plays in U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings’ office in Washington, DC. Kevin Wolf/AP Images for HSI

U.S. Representatives Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., Dave Trott, R-Mich. and Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., have introduced legislation to ban the dog and cat meat trade in the United States, earning applause from Humane Society International, The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund. The bill, the Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition Act of 2017, would amend the U.S Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the slaughter and trade of dogs and cats for human consumption, and would provide penalties for individuals involved in the dog or cat meat trade.

HSI is one of the leading organizations campaigning across Asia to end the dog meat trade that sees around 30 million dogs a year killed for human consumption. It’s a trade that subjects dogs to horrifying treatment and raises serious human health concerns for traders and consumers alike, all for a type of meat that relatively few people eat on a regular basis. Similar problems face an untold number of cats. In the United States, the dog and cat meat industry is limited. The new bill will prevent domestic trade and imports, and serve as an important symbol of unity with countries and regions such as Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan that have dog meat bans in place. […]

The entire article at its Source: Animal Protection Groups Commend Bill to Ban Dog and Cat Meat in the United States | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

SB139 passes the Kentucky State House Ag Committee 15-0-0

Posted on Mar 8, 2017 by VGrF

FRANKFORT, KY — Despite the news about the existence of SB139 going viral with people all across Kentucky contacting the State Legislature opposing the measure, this morning the bill passed out of the State Agricultural Committee unanimously with a vote count of 15-0-0.

SB139 endangers what protections horses currently have in Kentucky against cruelty and abuse by lowering their status from a domestic animal to livestock. It also opens the door to horse slaughter in Kentucky should that return to US soil.

This move is strongly supported by the agricultural and horse racing communities in Kentucky who already treat horses with shocking disrespect.

The next step is to send it to the full Kentucky State House for a vote. If SB139 passes there the bill will be sent to the Governor to sign into law.

Kentuckians, please continue to speak out against this bill. […]

Entire article posted at the Source: SB139 passes the Kentucky State House Ag Committee 15-0-0

FOUR ISPMB ‘HALLELUJAH HORSES*’ HEADING FOR FULL CELEB STATUS | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

by Elaine Nash as published on FaceBook

Animal Planet Here We Come

As I posted earlier, we saw 10 mares off on their several-month long journey to Alaska yesterday. Six of them will be going to the Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks. The other four have an even more exciting life ahead of them because they have been adopted by Dr. Dee Thornell, who’s featured as ‘Dr. Dee’ on the Animal Planet show, Alaska Vet. In addition to being a celebrity vet who flies to remote Alaskan villages to help animals of just about every sort, she is a horse driving enthusiast and well known national competitor. Dr. Dee asked me to select four big, beautiful bay mares from our herds for her, so they can be trained to become a competitive four-in-hand team. She hopes to show people all over the world that mustangs are very versatile, athletic, fast, and fun to show off!

Before heading north, the four big bay mares (real beauties!) will join the Chena Hot Springs Resort horses in WY for needed care, gentling, and training (and probably foaling) before heading up the AlCan highway this spring or summer to their new home with Dr. Dee!

CONGRATULATIONS, LADIES!
We’ll look forward to seeing you four on TV and cheering for Dr. Dee’s Hallelujah Horses!

Previous episodes of Alaska Vet can be seen at http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/dr-dee-alaska-vet/.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ISPMB.Adoptable.Horses/

WE STILL NEED LOTS OF HELP to get the rest of these horses cared for, placed, and transported by March 26th, our deadline. Still many horses to get out of there! Here’s how you can help:

DONATE: www.ISPMBHorseRescueMission.org

ADOPT:
Lots of nice, healthy horses still available. We also need adopters for dozens of BLIND HORSES, SENIOR HORSES, and STALLIONS (If adopting stallions, ask about the gelding subsity of $100. provided by the National Equine Rescue Network.)
https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdXEVFZhWzY6qKuPr…/viewform

TRANSPORT:
We need as many adopters as possible to arrange for and transport your own horses. Time is of the essence at this point, and there’s not time nor manpower to arrange for a lot of individual Fleet of Angels transports for you at this point.

We also need teams of drivers who have large trailers (40′-ish) that are capable of hauling 15-20 horses at once, and who can take load after load until the end of the month.

*Hallelujah Horses is the nickname given by Fleet of Angels to the 810 horses impounded and seized from ISPMB (Int’l Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros) in South Dakota. Fleet of Angels was given custody of all the horses, so each horse could be properly evaluated, treated and cared for, adopted, and transported to a safe new home. www.FleetOfAngels.org

Source: FOUR ISPMB ‘HALLELUJAH HORSES*’ HEADING FOR FULL CELEB STATUS | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Kentucky legislature setting the stage for the slaughter of horses with SB 139

FRANKFORT, KY — Kentucky is marketed as the Horse Capital of the World, the State with “unbridled spirit”, as seen in its logo.

Tragically, this unbridled spirit does not extend to the safety, well-being and benevolent treatment of the horses it so proudly hails as an integral part of its history, economy and culture.

Kentucky is renowned for its lack of animal protection laws and that extends to its horses. According to some, Kentucky ranks in the bottom five in animal welfare but most recently there have been claims it is at the very bottom.

Here are two examples involving racehorses. There are many more.

1. There is nothing on the books that governs how many times a racehorse can be whipped or for how long before it becomes cruelty or abuse, a Churchill Downs veterinarian smirked several years ago.

2. When PeTA exposed horrific acts of cruelty exposed in a shocking undercover video Kentucky horseracing officials were asked to review it, and claimed they saw nothing wrong.

Now the Kentucky State legislature is laying the groundwork to bring horse slaughter to Kentucky.

Entire article posted at its Source: Kentucky legislature setting the stage for the slaughter of horses with SB 139

Feel Good Sunday: Short & Sweet, in more ways than one | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

“We have a brief but funny one for you on this day of rest, folks. Nothing will give you the chuckles over your morning coffee or Bloody Mary like a herd of wild minis’ stampeding through a barn with a dog in the lead, ya just gotta luv it!

Have a great day with family and friends, be they two legged or four, and we will jump back into the fray in the morning. Keep the faith.” ~ R.T.

Source: Feel Good Sunday: Short & Sweet, in more ways than one | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

BLM Violates Own Wild Horse Welfare Standards | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Source: The Cloud Foundation

Roundup Incident Sparks Outcry

photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – On February 12, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a helicopter roundup of wild horses at Cedar Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) in Utah. The Cloud Foundation (TCF) and advocates across the country contend that BLM’s actions at the roundup violate standards in their own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP).

Eyewitness, Mosie Trewhitt, a professional horse trainer, photographed the incident of a lone pinto mare being driven by a helicopter. The mare could not keep up with her band but the helicopter kept pushing her. Then a wrangler joined the pursuit and both helicopter and wrangler chased the mare on a dead run along a barbed wire fence line. The wrangler tried to rope her numerous times and was finally successful. The mare lurched and flipped over or tried to jump the fence. She became entangled in the barbed wire, and ended up on the other side of the fence.

The mare escaped, dragging the rope behind her and has not been seen since the incident according to BLM who also contend she was uninjured. Trewhitt’s blog, Voices of the Herd, documents the incident with vivid photographs. Fears persist that this mare who appears to be pregnant may be strangled by the rope or suffer from infection due to an obvious gash on her right rear leg.

Read the entire article at the Source: BLM Violates Own Wild Horse Welfare Standards | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

‘Skin Trade’ Donkeys ‘Waiting to Die’ at ‘Horrific’ Markets | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

by Rachael Turner as published on Horse and Hound

“There’s about 700 donkeys coming here to wait to die. There’s no food, there’s no water…”

The ‘horrific’ conditions facing donkeys in markets in Tanzania have been highlighted by welfare groups.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Alex Mayers and Thomas Kahema, founder of The Tanzanian Animal Welfare Society, recently visited a donkey market in Tanzania believed to be serving the skin trade.

Read the entire article at the Source: ‘Skin Trade’ Donkeys ‘Waiting to Die’ at ‘Horrific’ Markets | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

I-Team: Federal agency spends more than $100M to kill predatory animals | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

“Wildlife Services is a welfare program for ranchers, and on top of all the other ones where the government comes in, they do aerial gunning, they use traps and snares…They use all kinds of horrible poisons to kill animals.”

Click Image to View Video

LAS VEGAS – DISCLAIMER: Some of the images in this story may be disturbing.

Nevada Lawmakers are debating a plan that would remove hundreds of thousands of dollars from a program that targets predators such as coyotes, mountain lions, and bears. The money is raised from hunters when they obtain their licenses, and it goes into programs that kill predators which prey on trophy animals such as deer or big horn sheep.

But the state program is a drop in the bucket compared to a little known federal agency that spends more than $100 million in public funding per year to kill animals.

The I-Team discovered that Nevada is a bloody battleground for coyotes and other predators. An obscure federal agency called Wildlife Services, which was created in the late 1800’s, spends huge sums each year to shoot, trap, and poison predators, such as coyotes, foxes, lions, bears, and birds. […]

Read the entire article at the Source: I-Team: Federal agency spends more than $100M to kill predatory animals | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Under the Skin: How ejiao threatens the common ass | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

The dark side of holistic medicine …

By Merritt Clifton editor of Animals 24-7

“…donkeys fall into a unique and difficult niche: that of a species formerly kept almost exclusively in poorer parts of the world as a work animal…”

Click Image to Download Report

BEIJING––Can demand for a commodity that constitutes only one ten-thousandth of the global market for traditional Chinese medicine really pose what Donkey Rescue World blogger David C. Duncan calls “an existential threat” to barnyard animals as abundant worldwide as donkeys?

This is not about highly endangered tigers, rhinos, elephants, or even pangolins, all eight species of which were once listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species as “species of least concern,” but since July 2014 are all considered “vulnerable” or “endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. […]

Read the rest of the article at the Source: Under the Skin: How ejiao threatens the common ass | Straight from the Horse’s Heart