A coalition of equine advocacy groups representing supporters across the United States has joined together to urge members of Congress to move a bill to the floor of the House for a vote.

The bill (H.R. 3355/S. 2732), also known as the Save America's Forgotten Equines (or SAFE) Act, prevents the transport of horses, mules, and donkeys across national borders for the purpose of slaughtering them for their meat or skins, and would permanently ban horse slaughter on U.S. soil.

“Until a ban is in place, every American horse, wild and domestic, is at risk of falling into the hands of the predatory horse slaughter industry,” said Scott Beckstead, director of campaigns for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy.

“We cannot call ourselves a civilized nation if we're still allowing such cruelty to these beloved horses,” said Clare Staples, founder of Skydog Sanctuary, an equine rescue and sanctuary on the frontlines of the fight against horse slaughter.

Ginger Fedak, wild horse and burro campaign director for In Defense of Animals, said, “It is time to heed the will of the American people and mark this well-sponsored, bi-partisan bill up to the full House for a vote.”

The post Equine Protection Groups Urge US Government to Pass Bill to Stop Slaughter of American Horses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Over the last 40 years, Sipp has faced allegations involving insurance scams and dead horses, animal neglect cases, race-fixing stings and regulatory malfeasance. Not all the accusations against him have stuck.

Since the mid 1990s, Sipp has been barred from applying for a racing license in New Jersey due to swirling suspicions of fraudulent practices. So he moved his tack to more welcoming pastures.

For the past few years, the trainer has been dogged by allegations he's knowingly funneled his horses into the slaughter pipeline. Proving these allegations has been trickier, exposing gaping holes in racing's aftercare safety-net.

“There's nothing wrong with auctions,” Sipp told the TDN, when asked of the risks that kill buyers pose. “I haven't done anything wrong in the eyes of Mountaineer,” he added, highlighting the West Virginian track where he currently races.

As Sipp sees it, he's been martyred at the court of public opinion. “Unfortunately, with the internet, anybody can say anything about anybody,” Sipp said. “Look at the way they bash Donald Trump.”

In the early 1980s, Sipp sent out nearly 300 victories in one year. So far this year, he's had just eight. At 78, Sipp realistically has few remaining years to add to his career haul of 2,891 wins. Then earlier this week, Churchill Downs temporarily barred him from racing and training at Presque Isle and its other tracks. The faucet's getting tighter.

Many wonder why it wasn't completely turned off years ago.

“I didn't throw him under the bus”

As long ago as the early 1980s, the name Sipp was mired in ignominy.

In 1993, Bill Finley reported in the NY Daily News how a National Association of Racing Commissioners report detailed 83 rulings against Sipp over a 12-year period, some for minor infractions, though some major, including a 60-day suspension for a lidocaine positive. The report was published in 1982.

Sipp is believed to have collected more violations than any other trainer in the history of racing up to that point, wrote Finley.

One of the more egregious incidents occurred on August 15, 1980, when Sipp allegedly forged a scratch card on another trainer's horse, forcing that horse to be withdrawn–a possible criminal offense.

According to Finley's reporting, Sipp avoided criminal charges by helping prosecutors in a sting operation called “Operation Glue,” in which Sipp and a cadre of New Jersey State Police officers posing as owners offered jockeys bribes to pull horses in a race.

Four jockeys–journeymen riders struggling to make ends meet–eventually took the bait, but the case fell apart in trial. As Finley reported, the nature of the sting left a nasty after-taste among many in the industry, including one of the jockeys charged, Gilfredo Gonzalez.

“What he has done to people and what he has done to animals…he is a disgrace,” said Gonzalez, at the time, about Sipp. “We are all human beings and deserve a second chance, but he has had more chances than a cat.”

Sipp eventually served a 60-day suspension for the forged scratch. But the trainer's run-ins with the law weren't over.

In 1984 as Christmas loomed large, Sipp was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey on charges of inflating insurance claims on nine horses who died in his care over a four-year period.

As a Burlington County Prosecutor's Office statement reportedly read at the time, “in each of the nine claims, the horses died within three days to five months of the insurance application.”

Per Finley's reporting, the investigation allegedly exceeded the scope of just nine horses. Finley cites an affidavit written by an attorney on behalf of jockey John D'Agusto, in which it's written:

“The investigation had been initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and centered around the allegation that Mr. Sipp had killed 41 horses in an insurance fraud scheme.”

Sipp eventually pled guilty to the lesser charges of witness tampering, and on Aug. 1, 1986, was fined $7,500 and sentenced to five-years probation. Not everyone, it appears, agreed with the final sentencing.

Gregg Shivers, the assistant Burlington County prosecutor at the time, reportedly said that his office could have easily proven the earlier charges, but that the plea bargain was driven in part by the anticipated cost of the trial, expected to be one of the most expensive in Burlington County history.

One constant throughout Sipp's troubles is his insistence on innocence. At the time of his 1986 sentencing for witness tampering he denied wrongdoing, arguing that his guilty plea was a result of entrapment.

“People believe what they've read about me,” he told Finley at the time. “I know within my own conscience that I didn't kill any horses and I'm the only person I have to live with.”

To this day, Sipp insists he has a guilt-free conscience. He told the TDN that his suspension for the forged scratch, for example, was an instance of him falling on his sword to protect another.

“We were playing a joke on a guy, and I took the heat for that,” Sipp told the TDN. “The person that actually was involved in that was one of the racing officials, and I didn't throw him under the bus.”

Over the years, Sipp hasn't faced scrutiny only for his racing infractions. Trouble and suspicion have similarly plagued Animal Kingdom, his former 32-acre zoo and pet store in Burlington, N.J., one that over the years housed tropical birds, tigers, lions, and giraffes.

“Deceptive business practices”

By the time of Finley's 1993 NY Daily News article, tragedy had already struck Animal Kingdom when a drunk was gored to death by one of the zoo's bulls. Sipp reportedly faced no charges for the incident.

A 2005 Boston Globe article, however, details how a Burlington County grand jury indicted Sipp in 1990 on charges of “deceptive business practices and attempted theft by deception.”

According to the Globe, Sipp in 1988 allegedly staged a burglary at his pet store of two exotic breeding birds to collect an insurance pay-out. According to Finley's reporting, the case went to trial and he was found not guilty.

The year 2011 was a terrible one for Sipp both personally and professionally.

In April of 2011, Sipp's wife, 43-year-old Bridget, died in a fire at the zoo, running back into a burning building to save her mother, who had already been pulled free.

In October of that same year, another fire tore through the zoo. According to a subsequent Philadelphia Inquirer article, the blaze killed 24 animals, including a mother and baby giraffe. Both fires were ruled accidents.

The same article, however, reports how by that time–January of 2013–Sipp was under investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for alleged animal welfare violations.

According to the Inquirer, citations stemmed all the way back to 2002, when five emaciated giraffes reportedly died at the zoo.

USDA inspectors, the Inquirer notes, were also looking into other more contemporary neglect allegations, including the euthanasia of both an adult hyena with a foot wound and a giraffe that had survived the 2011 fire, along with an ailing lemur found dead in its cage.

By that time, Sipp had amassed more than 200 violations over 12 years, “many for animal neglect and facility maintenance issues,” the Inquirer reported.

Per a subsequent article in nj.com, Sipp reportedly cancelled his license to exhibit animals in 2014.

The same 2014 nj.com article also notes how the USDA had issued Sipp only two official letters of warning and a $469 fine. These letters were reportedly issued in 1995 and 2011, the latter just days before the second fire.

TDN reached out to the USDA to verify the details in these news articles. “I will say that we usually shelve these documents after three years,” wrote a USDA spokesperson, in an email.

As such, the TDN has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the USDA for a record of all citations Sipp received for his operations at Animal Kingdom.

Sipp, however, maintains his innocence from all nefarious events at the zoo.

He said he has no recollection of the five emaciated giraffes perishing in 2002, as reported by the Inquirer. “I don't know where you got this information from, but that's not true,” he said.

Sipp also said that from about 1996 onwards, he was busy with his work as a racehorse trainer and wasn't responsible for the day-to-day running of the zoo.

“My wife ran the zoo and she hired a curator and we had staff…that handled everything,” he said. By the time of certain citations that occurred after the second fire, “I didn't own the zoo at the time. I had sold it,” he added.

According to the 2013 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Christopher Basner and his wife, Anne Butler, briefly took over the zoo in October of 2012, but terminated a two-year contract after just three weeks.

According to the Inquirer, the zoo was back in Sipp's charge when one of the giraffes had to be euthanized “after it was found in the barn too weak to stand.” Sipp was reportedly cited for that incident for failing to provide veterinary care.

“A tawdry image of that industry”

By 2009, Sipp, who had long before muscled his way back into the training ranks, was posting decent returns. That year, his horses won 73 races and amassed more than $650,000 in earnings. But his notoriety had hardly waned.

“In the best-case scenario, he tampered with a witness and is not the type of person who should ever be allowed to take part in a sport that involves gambling and where the integrity of the product is tantamount,” wrote Finley, for ESPN, in 2009.

“In the worst-case scenario, he killed horses for personal gain,” Finley added. “No reasonable person could argue that Sipp should ever have been allowed to race again.”

Some authorities evidently agreed with Finley, for Sipp's attempts to get licensed and to race over the years have resembled a game of whack-a-mole. Take the years following 1993, when his probation on charges of witness tampering had ended and he sought a return to the sport.

While the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission initially granted Sipp a license, Philadelphia Park and Penn National were less welcoming, the latter track steadfast in refusing Sipp access to the facility.

The matter went to court in 1994, when a Commonwealth Court judge upheld the tracks' bans which were based, the Globe reported, on the trainer's history of violations.

As per the Globe, “Judge James Gardner Colins wrote in his 15-page decision, 'a reasonable mind could readily conclude that Sipp's association with horse racing not only taints the image of that industry but also fosters a tawdry image of that industry.'”

Early in 2013, when Sipp attempted to once again enter horses at both Penn National and Parx Racing, both facilities reportedly refused his entries. The trainer subsequently appealed, but the Pennsylvania racing commission upheld the bans.

Whereas in Pennsylvania Sipp's excommunication hasn't been an absolute, that's not the case in New Jersey.

In 1995, the New Jersey Racing Commission (NJRC) asked the state Office of Administrative Law to conduct a hearing into allegations of Sipp's fraudulent racing practices.

In a disposition with the NJRC, Sipp agreed that he “will never apply for any form of racing license in New Jersey, or engage in any activities requiring licensure by the New Jersey Racing Commission,” wrote Leland Moore, a spokesperson for the N.J. attorney general's office, in an email to TDN.

According to Moore, the NJRC has not issued a license to Sipp since. But not all the sport's higher-ups have maintained such a hard-line stance against the trainer.

“There's nothing in the rule book that keeps him from getting a license because he has a past,” Suffolk Downs chief of stewards Bill Keene, told the Boston Globe, back in 2005.

Over the past few years, other racing commissions and racetracks have also routinely welcomed the trainer, despite Sipp's checkered regulatory history continuing to grow.

According to the Thoroughbredrulings website, Sipp has been issued 47 citations since the start of 2005, the vast majority for relatively minor infractions.

Sipp has been found guilty of several medication violations during that time, including for a pre-race TCO2 test at Beulah Park in December of 2008, a Flunixin positive at Presque Isle in June of 2013, a Dexamethasone positive at Mountaineer in August of 2017, and a Phenylbutazone positive at Presque Isle in September of 2020.

The most egregious violation concerned an Ohio State Racing Commission (OSRC) search of Sipp's barn at Thistledown on Aug. 30, 2013.

According to Thoroughbredrulings, the search revealed the following: One apparently used syringe with the needle attached, four unused needles in their packaging, two needles that appeared to have already been used, one opened bottle of Iron Hydrogenated Dextran Injection (Hematinic), one unopened bottle of Iron Hydrogenated Dextran Injection (Hematinic), one opened bottle of Super B Complex Injection (Vedco), and one unopened bottle of Super B Complex Injection (Vedco).

In a ruling dated Aug. 31, 2013, Sipp reached an agreement with the commission. He was suspended five months and fined $500.

The TDN contacted current OSRC executive director, Chris Dragone, to confirm the details. Dragone said that Sipp's file contained information confirming the suspension and fine, but little else about that particular incident.

Once again, Sipp considers himself blameless. Sipp's assistant, he said, had purchased the vitamins from an on-track veterinarian to be used on his own horse, but had mistakenly stored the materials in Sipp's truck, the focus of the search.

“It was my truck he was using, and I knew nothing about him buying vitamins for the horse,” said Sipp. When asked about the iron supplement and syringes, “That was his, not mine,” Sipp replied.

“There's the person you ought to be going after”

Which leads to the past few weeks, and a flurry of activity on social media raising serious ethical questions of Sipp's treatment of three of his trainees who all raced within just four days of each other in late July at Mountaineer Park and Presque Isle.

On July 24, the 7-year-old mare, Come on City (Wiener Walzer) finished down the field in a $4,000 claimer at Mountaineer Park.

Back in 2020, Come on City was sold to Sipp at the Keeneland January sale for $1,500. According to Sue Kenny, former racing secretary for trainer Graham Motion, she had subsequently followed the mare's career due to welfare concerns under Sipp's charge.

According to Kenny, she had asked a Mountaineer trainer to place a claim for Come on City on July 24 on behalf of an elderly couple who wished to retire the mare. The state vet subsequently voided the claim, and so the trainer purchased the mare privately from Sipp for the same price as the claiming tag, said Kenny.

By the time Come on City arrived on Aug. 3 at The Winter Farm in Summerfield, North Carolina, however, the mare was suffering a severe hock infection stemming from multiple open wounds, said the farm's executive director, Holly Carter.

Sipp told TDN that the horse had also been shipped to Presque Isle and another facility beefore Winter Farm, suggesting that the injuries occurred during that period.

According to Carter, the veterinarians who looked at the mare on Aug. 3, “felt like the infection had been there for about two weeks, just by the heat of the swelling and the gunk. It wasn't a fresh wound. That's why we think she raced on it.”

Between the severe hock infection and osselets–chronic degeneration of the fetlock–in the horse's left front ankle, Come on City will likely never be rehomed as a sport horse, said Carter.

Three days after Come on City ran, the 6-year-old mare, Tailadios (Adios Charlie) failed to finish a $6,250 claimer at Presque Isle.

Tailadios' breeder, Jean White, a Florida-based veterinarian, said she was alerted on Aug. 11 via Facebook how Tailadois was in a facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, that markets itself as “finding the slaughter bound horses” in order to secure them “alternative homes.” White subsequently purchased Tailadios from the facility, she said.

Sipp said he sold the horse at a public auction in Ohio called “Smokey Lane” for $950. The person who purchased Tailadios, Sipp added, “is an unscrupulous person” who needs investigating.

“The guy that put her up for ransom, why didn't Churchill Downs contact him? There's the person you ought to be going after,” Sipp said.

“She's thin–not life-threateningly so–but she's got horrible looking ankles,” White said, of Tailadios' condition, adding that the mare is currently undergoing a full veterinary examination while in quarantine.

The same day Tailadios failed to make it past the finish line at Presque Isle, the 8-year-old mare Little Christy (Silent Name) suffered an even worse indignity at Mountaineer Park.

According to Equibase, Little Christy–who cost Sipp $3,500 at the Keeneland January Sale of 2020–was having her third start in three weeks.

In her very final race, Equibase writes, Little Christy “took a bad step and fell in mid stretch being euthanised on the track.”

“I cannot comment on consideration of future permit applications”

On Tuesday, Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), which owns Presque Isle, announced that it had temporarily suspended Sipp, along with “any trainer either directly or indirectly employed by him,” from racing and stabling at all CDI-owned racetracks until further notice.

“The suspension is a result of concerns over the care and treatment of horses in the best interest of racing to protect the safety and integrity of the sport and its participants,” the statement read.

TDN reached out to James Colvin, the director of racing at Mountaineer, about the recent scrutiny on Sipp.

“I have no information for you to discuss on Burton Sipp, the WV Racing Commission has licensed Mr. Sipp and has also investigated him and to my knowledge have found no wrongdoing as to date,” Colvin wrote.

In 2010, the track instituted a policy barring trainers who sold horses at an Ohio sale frequented by known kill buyers. Colvin failed to respond to follow-up questions, including about the track's current policy on horses sold to slaughter.

In answer to a series of email questions, West Virginia Racing Commission executive director, Joe Moore, wrote that the commission's investigations into Sipp have led to “no actionable violations.”

According to Moore, the commission considers “rule violations in all racing jurisdictions as reported in the ARCI database, as well as criminal convictions,” when determining permit application approval, but that no rulings reported to ARCI have prohibited Sipp's licensure in West Virginia.

“Mr. Sipp is currently licensed by the West Virginia Racing Commission,” Moore wrote. “I cannot comment on consideration of future permit applications,” he added.

And where does the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) fit into the equation?

Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, said that currently, the law as written does not give the HISA Authority an “obvious way” to hold responsible parties accountable for horses that end up in the slaughter pipeline.

However, “we started looking more deeply into how we can actually address this,” Lazarus said.

At the same time, said Lazarus, the law “does give us broad authority over equine welfare, and over making sure that horses are protected,” she said, adding that HISA is able to take measures against “actions and conduct that interfere with horse welfare.”

The post The “Tawdry” Tale of Burton Sipp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The impetus for the project was a television feature by ABC's 7.30 program about the gaps in Australia's aftercare system, highlighted by shocking video footage of ex-racehorses being abused prior to being killed in a slaughterhouse. The panel, comprised of veterinarians and government advisors, was supported by an industry working group which included trainers, owners, breeders, and jockey representatives.

The final report laid out 46 recommendations for change, many of which the panel believed could be handled by a new organization it tentatively called Thoroughbred Welfare Australia. Although Australian racing is governed differently than racing in the United States, there were a number of familiar echoes in both the challenges identified by the group and potential solutions.

The report's authors, the Thoroughbred Aftercare Welfare Working Group (TAWWG) tackled head-on the philosophical challenge that divides some in American racing when it comes to off-track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs). TAWWG acknowledges that “many Thoroughbreds will spend the vast majority of their lives outside the industry” and also that in many cases (including the actions of the slaughterhouse workers featured in the ABC piece), acts of abuse or neglect are perpetrated on ex-racehorses by people who are not licensed by racing authorities. Many of those people may end up with racehorses years and multiple degrees of separation after the horses' retirement from racing or purpose breeding. Nonetheless, TAWWG points out, the public does not seem to recognize a change in the racing industry's responsibility towards these horses simply due to their change in careers.

As in American racing, TAWWG and others have found it difficult to come up with micro-level solutions for aftercare challenges because there is not sufficient recordkeeping on current or former racehorses. One of the group's biggest suggestions was that the industry improve traceability of Thoroughbreds, ideally as part of a national system for traceability of all horses. In Australia, as in the States, horses considered by governments to be livestock in some contexts, but not others. For the purposes of traceability, they are not monitored the same way as animals more commonly entering the human food chain like cattle, whose migration between farms and facilities must be traced for food safety purposes. As such, it is difficult to know how many horses retire from racing in need of homes, how many successfully find long-term second careers, how many are slaughtered, how many are ultimately part of neglect cases, etc.

Australian racing authorities, like The Jockey Club, do require check-ins from owners and trainers at different parts of the Thoroughbred's life cycle. TAWWG commissioned a series of surveys to learn more about how accurate this check-in data was, and also to try to gain a sense of how many horses were coming off the track in need of new careers.

In a 2020 study, Dr. Meredith Flash and the Australian Thoroughbred Wellbeing Project at the University of Melbourne took a look at birth records, race records, and retirement records for Thoroughbreds and found that 28 percent of horses of registered horses had not officially entered training by the age of four. Of those, a survey found 38 percent had died, 29 percent had been diverted to new careers, and 24 percent were in unofficial training by an unlicensed trainer. The survey was only answered by a fraction of potential respondents, but the data could indicate as many as 10 percent of Australia's foal crop dies before the age of four without ever racing.

In somewhat more encouraging news however, a separate study found that by the age of eight, 65 percent of racing Thoroughbreds were retired and rehomed. Fifty-nine percent of retirements were voluntary (not due to injury) while 28 percent were due to injury.

Overall, Flash's research found that the median age for retirement was five. Interestingly, there was also an increase in the percentage of the foal crop that raced at three between 2000 and 2016, suggesting improved health and welfare for the foal crop overall. When pulling together available data on breeding activity, Flash and others estimate that 66 percent of each foal crop would require aftercare options. Based on current Australian foal crops, that results in about 8,535 horses each year that will leave the industry in need of rehoming. That figure does not include horses that retire to breeding careers, nor horses that retire from breeding careers later.

The report also tackled the question of whether slaughter was an acceptable end to a Thoroughbred's life. While some members of the industry were accepting of the concept philosophically, TAWWG pointed out that ethical slaughter of horses has specific requirements for facility set-up and handling to minimize stress on the animals if it is to be done humanely. (Slaughter, both for human consumption abroad and for use in animal products, is legal in Australia.)

The report indicated a need for universal welfare standards for horses, to better enable enforcement action from Thoroughbred regulators and law enforcement for mistreatment of horses, including ex-racehorses.

The new group would be charged with establishing a “national Thoroughbred safety net” for any horse who may need rescue from poor welfare situations, working with local, state, and national authorities to create a national traceability register, create diverse opportunities for Thoroughbreds in new career, build a consensus welfare standard, develop training continuing education for licensees to ease a horse's eventual transition to an off-track career, and more. And where would the money come from for such a system? Mandatory fees for breeders ($300 on foal registration), owners ($300 when a horse is registered as a racing animals), trainers (1% of earnings), jockeys (1% of earnings), the breed registry ($1 million to $1.5 million), donations, and sponsorships. Altogether, the report estimated the new organization would have $9.9 million to $10.8 million in funding, based on current numbers.

“Without the contribution of its horses, everything from the major racing carnivals that attract international attention, the 80,000 jobs the industry supports nationwide, through to the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes raised each year, do not exist,” the report's authors wrote. “It is therefore incumbent on the industry to take all reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of its horses, including those that have retired from the racetrack and the breeding farm. Indeed, the very future of the Australian Thoroughbred industry is at risk if lifelong horse welfare is not addressed.”

Access the full report here.

The post Australian Thoroughbred Welfare Report Emphasizes Traceability, Need For New Group To Deal With OTTB Challenges appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The bill was passed in June by the New York State Assembly, a month before previous New York Governor Andrew Cuomo–who at the time was expected to sign it–resigned.

Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. of Queens and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow are co-sponsors of the bill, and it has been met with widespread support from various industry stakeholders, as well as equine safety advocates.

The post Hochul Signs Horse Welfare Bill into Law appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“The gruesome practice of slaughtering horses for food has no place in the United States, and it's well past time for Congress to say once and for all that horsemeat is not what's for dinner,” said Sen. Menendez. “Horses are routinely treated with drugs that are dangerous for human consumption and do not belong in our nation's food supply. Our bipartisan legislation will help put an end to the cruel and inhumane slaughter of horses while protecting families from toxic horse meat and safeguarding the reputation of the U.S. food industry worldwide.”

“Horses hold a special place in our history and culture, and the practice of slaughtering them to satisfy foreign appetites simply does not reflect the admiration we have for these animals,” said Sen. Collins. “In an effort to protect horses, this legislation would deter the transport or purchase of horses for human consumption.”

“The overwhelming majority of Americans oppose horse slaughter for human consumption and the ASPCA is working resolutely to solve equine welfare issues on the ground, but we cannot fully succeed while the slaughter pipeline remains open,” said Nancy Perry, senior vice president of Government Relations for the ASPCA. “We thank Senators Menendez, Graham, Whitehouse, and Collins for their leadership on this bill, and urge Congress to pass the SAFE Act to finally end this cruel, unnecessary practice and provide protections to American horses and the people who love them.”

The SAFE Act was previously excluded from the infrastructure bill that passed the senate last month. Earlier this year, U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., introduced the SAFE Act (H.R. 3355) in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has not yet voted on the aforementioned infrastructure bill.

The post Bill Banning Horse Slaughter Reintroduced in Senate appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

(If you're not familiar with this issue, you can learn more in our previous reporting here.)

In case you're a new reader, the slaughter pipeline is the legal practice where “kill pens” across the U.S. buy, hold, and transport horses to slaughter. It's a lucrative but unimaginably cruel business. Tens of thousands of horses, donkeys, and mules are shipped across U.S. highways and sold by the pound each year. Their journey and slaughter are particularly shocking. Unlike cattle, it's difficult to stun or sedate horses, so some are still conscious when they're strung up. Many slaughtered horses were young, healthy, and adoptable. Some were pregnant. Some were straight off their last race. Kill pen buyers are not picky.

Paulick Report readers know — and hate — all this. But what they may not know is that there is yet another chance to make the slaughter pipeline illegal. House Resolution 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (yes, the infamous $3.5 trillion Infrastructure Bill) is now back in the House of Representatives and it holds that chance.

While the Infrastructure Bill was debated in the House in June, Representative Troy Carter of Louisiana offered a simple amendment that promised to finally end the horse slaughter pipeline in this country. His amendment, which became Section 4406 “Transportation of Horses,” passed the House with bipartisan support. However, the bill's text, including the horse amendment, was stripped when it arrived in the Senate. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey stepped in and offered an identical amendment, but it was never voted on.

So after two noble, but failed efforts, Congress now has another chance to stop this horrible practice and do something Americans agree on.

But Congress' plate is full of urgent business and protecting horses has never been a priority. Make it one this time by contacting your representative and urging him or her to offer an amendment to ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses, or to support such an amendment if offered by a colleague. Not sure who your representative is? Check here https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

–Kathy Stinson Hessmer
Volunteer at Circle A Home For Horses
Virginia Beach, VA

If you'd like to submit a letter to our editorial staff, please click here. 

The post Letter To The Editor: It’s Not Too Late To Shut Down The Slaughter Pipeline In The U.S. appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The amendment, which would effectively ban horse slaughter in the United States if it becomes law, was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Troy Carter (D-LA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and John Katko (R-NY). The amendment was supported by a number of U.S. Thoroughbred industry organizations, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). The NTRA will be advocating for the inclusion of this amendment as part of any final infrastructure bill passed by Congress.

The measure is supported by leading animal welfare groups, including the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), the Animal Welfare Institute, the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation – members of a coalition that worked with the sponsors and members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to strengthen the language of this new amendment.

American horses have not been slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S. since 2007, thanks to overwhelming public opposition and a federal restriction on funding. However, a loophole in the law allows tens of thousands of equines to be trucked across U.S. borders each year.

The post U.S. House Passes Amendment To Effectively Ban Horse Slaughter appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The amendment, which would effectively ban horse slaughter in the United States if it becomes law, was sponsored in the House of Representatives by Troy Carter (D-LA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and John Katko (R-NY) and was supported by a number of U.S. Thoroughbred industry organizations, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). In a press release, the NTRA said it will advocate for the inclusion of the amendment as part of any final infrastructure bill passed by Congress.

The post Amendment Banning Transportation of Horses for Slaughter Passes House appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Led by U.S. Representatives Troy Carter, Brian Fitzpatrick, and John Katko, the amendment will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, H.R.3684. If passed into law, it would effectively ban horse slaughter in America. An estimated 30,000 horses are exported from America to be slaughtered each year, many of which are former racehorses or Thoroughbred breeding stock.

This endorsement is just the latest act in a series of pledges made by the PHBA towards equine welfare. The organization also supports the John Stringer Rainey Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, and has a strict anti-slaughter code of ethics.

The SAFE Act, named for the late South Carolina philanthropist and former director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, is legislation that would permanently end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in the United States and abroad. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States are among those supporting its passage.

At the time of the SAFE Act's introduction, PHBA executive secretary Brian Sanfratello said, “The SAFE Act is one of three items we are working on. The others are Pennsylvania-specific anti-slaughter legislation, similar to the SAFE Act, that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone who causes or transports a horse into the slaughter pipeline, as well as a PHBA code of ethics, with sanctions for anyone who is a member or registers horses with our organization and is found to be in violation of the Pennsylvania anti-slaughter measures.”

The PHBA's Anti-Slaughter Code of Ethics, which acknowledges it opposes slaughter in general but is focused on the safety and welfare of the Thoroughbred, states that it is a condition of PHBA membership that every applicant signs a pledge not to knowingly cause a Thoroughbred horse to be slaughtered. Violating the rule results in being sanctioned by the PHBA with a $1,000 fine for the first violation, a $5,000 fine for the second, and a fine as well as complete revocation of membership for five years after the third.

The post Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association Endorses Amendment On Horse Slaughter appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) announced its endorsement of an amendment that would ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses across both state lines and over country borders. The amendment, which was led by U.S. Representatives Troy Carter, Brian Fitzpatrick, and John Katko, will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, H.R.3684. Scheduled to be on the House floor in coming weeks, it would effectively ban horse slaughter in America.

The organization also supports the John Stringer Rainey Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, and has a strict Anti-Slaughter Code of Ethics. The SAFE Act, named for the late South Carolina philanthropist and former director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, is legislation that would

permanently end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in the United States and abroad.

At the time of the SAFE Act's introduction, PHBA executive secretary Brian Sanfratello said, “The SAFE Act is one of three items we are working on. The others are Pennsylvania-specific anti-slaughter legislation, similar to the SAFE Act, that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone who causes or transports a horse into the slaughter pipeline, as well as a PHBA code of ethics, with sanctions for anyone who is a member or registers horses with our organization and is found to be in violation of the Pennsylvania anti-slaughter measures.”

The PHBA's Anti-Slaughter Code of Ethics, focused on the safety and welfare of the Thoroughbred, states that it is a condition of PHBA membership that every applicant signs a pledge not to knowingly cause a Thoroughbred horse to be slaughtered. Violating the rule results in being sanctioned by the PHBA with a $1,000 fine for the first violation, a $5,000 fine for the second, and a fine as well as complete revocation of Membership for five years after the third.

For additional information, contact Brian Sanfratello at 610-444-1050, or email at brians@pabred.com. Visit the PHBA's web site at www.pabred.com.

The post PHBA Endorses Amendment on Horse Slaughter appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post