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Ban Cruel Horse Transports
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February 20, 2008
Dear Humanitarian:
On Thursday, February 21, the Illinois General Assembly House Driver’s Education & Safety Committee will consider HB 4162, sponsored by State Representatives JoAnn Osmond and Robert Molaro. This bill amends the Humane Care for Animals Act so that “no person may transport any equidae in a vehicle or trailer containing 2 or more levels, one on top of the other.”
A double-deck tractor trailer carrying 59 Belgian draft horses through Wadsworth, IL in October 2007 “blew through a stop light at Route 41 and Wadsworth Road and struck another vehicle,” according to local police on the scene of the accident. The severe crash resulted in more than five hours of suffering for the horses before authorities could free them from the mangled truck. Sadly, nine horses died on the scene, with another six dying later because of injuries they sustained.
Accidents such as this one are not uncommon. Only one year earlier, a double-deck truck hauling 41 horses to slaughter crashed (pictured above) on its way to the Cavel International facility in DeKalb, Illinois. This tragic incident resulted in the death of 16 horses. Similar scenarios have occurred elsewhere in the United States.
Illinois has become the leader in protecting equines from abuse and neglect. Last year, the state’s General Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Unfortunately, although horses can no longer be slaughtered in Illinois, the middlemen working for Cavel—known as “killer buyers”—continue to buy horses across the country.
The horses are then shipped to Mexico and Canada for slaughter, often passing through Illinois en route to the Cavel plant in Canada or to plants in Mexico. The preferred method of transporting horses to slaughter remains the double-deck truck, a two-tiered trailer designed for other livestock such as cattle and hogs. Use of theses conveyances to transport horses is cruel and dangerous.
The State of Illinois has made clear its intolerance of the horse slaughter industry by shutting down its sole plant. HB 4162 will ensure the companies still buying horses and shipping them through Illinois to slaughter in Canada and Mexico can no longer use the horribly inhumane double-deckers to haul these animals.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please contact members of the Drivers Education & Safety Committee TODAY (see below for contact information), urging them to support HB 4162, sponsored by Representative Osmond, Representative Molaro, and many of their colleagues.
You may want to mention the following facts:
Double-deck trailers are designed for livestock such as cattle and hogs, not horses.
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has “reviewed limited data within the scientific literature that suggest increased rates of injury associated with the use of double-decked conveyances for transporting horses.”
According to the AVMA, “sources, such as the National Agriculture Safety Database and various manufacturers producing trailers specifically for horse transport recommend heights of 7 to 8 ft as being necessary for the safe and comfortable transport of horses (i.e., adequate headroom for the horses to stand comfortably with their heads in normal position); it appears difficult, if not impossible, to meet such recommendations via the use of currently configured double-deck trailers, particularly for taller horses.”
The US Department of Agriculture is currently in the process of prohibiting the use of double-deckers entirely, as part of their Equine Transport to Slaughter policy.
Additionally, State Representative Jim Sacia (R)—the leading opponent to ending horse slaughter—is still working to undermine the will of the people of Illinois and the Illinois General Assembly. He has introduced a bill that he intends to amend, which would legalize horse slaughter again. This bill is scheduled to be heard tomorrow as well.
Please remind each member of the committee that the Illinois General Assembly banned horse slaughter by an overwhelming majority just last year, and urge them to reject any bill or amendment offered by Representative Sacia.
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Heyde of AWI at (703) 836-4300. Be sure to bookmark
http://www.awionline.org/legislation/horse_slaughter/whats_new.htm for updates on this hearing and other horse slaughter campaign information.
Please share this eAlert with friends, family and coworkers, and urge them to contact members of the House Driver’s Education & Safety Committee in support of HB 4162, too. As always, thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President
For over 57 years, AWI has been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. Please join us in our ongoing campaigns to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Sign up for AWI eAlerts to receive the latest news on what you can do to help us protect all animals: http://www.awionline.org/joinus.
Illinois General Assembly
House Drivers Education & Safety Committee - Members
Chairman John D’Amico (D)
284-S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8198
(217) 782-2906 FAX
Representative Michael P. McAuliffe (R)
242-W Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8182
(217) 558-1073 FAX
Vice-Chairperson Kathleen A. Ryg (D)
231-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0499
(217) 557-1934 FAX
Representative Jack McGuire (D)
239-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8090
(217) 557-6465 FAX
Representative Rich Brauer (R)
1128-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0053
(217) 782-0897 FAX
Representative Susana A Mendoza (D)
200-1S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-7752
(217) 782-8917 FAX
Representative Rich Brauer (R)
1128-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-0053
(217) 782-0897 FAX
Representative Bill Mitchell (R)
238-W Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-8163
Representative Mike Boland (D)
243-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-3992
(217) 782-5201 FAX
Representative Harry R. Ramey, Jr. (R)
213-N Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 558-1037
(217) 782-5257 FAX
Representative Dan Brady (R)
200-8N Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-1118
(217) 558-6271 FAX
Representative Mary E. Flowers (D)
251-E Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-4207
(217) 782-1130 FAX
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