From Deseret News archives:
House OKs horse-slaughter ban
The several hours of House floor debate Thursday revolved around the actual contents of the bill as well as the fact it was coming up at a time when Congress' schedule is short and several bigger items need attention.
The House approved the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, with a 263-146 vote. The measure would ban the transportation, possession and sale of horses for slaughter in the United States for human consumption overseas. All three of Utah's House members voted against the bill.
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, feels that processing of unwanted horses provides a humane alternative to a life of inadequate care and misery, said his spokeswoman Alyson Heyrend. She said all processing must adhere to federal health and safety regulations.
There is also a severe shortage of horse adoption facilities, and with existing facilities operating over capacity, many abandoned horses live a life of neglect and starvation, so owners should have the option to sell to slaughterhouses instead, she said.
Supporters of the bill talked about the historical significance of the horse in the United States and how the animals should not be killed and sold for human consumption.
Opponents, like Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., called it a "solution, a poor one, to a nonexistent problem."
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, of Maryland, said the bill was "about politics, it's about the election of one member in a very hotly contested race in New York," referring to Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y., who introduced the measure. House leadership brought the bill to the floor without going through the usual channels of a committee debate and vote.
The discussion has been going on in the halls of Congress, too, with people like Willie Nelson's daughter, Amy Nelson, on hand to urge members to support the bill.
The National Horse Protection Coalition ran a full-page ad in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, listing numerous celebrities, including Bo Derek to Ellen DeGeneres, as well as national organizations and state groups that support the bill, including the Sound Horse Organization of Utah.
But opponents of the bill, who call themselves "people who own and care for horses and support federally supervised euthanasia," also ran an ad saying "90,000 unwanted horses aren't going away" and asked "Who has the better track record when it comes to caring for animals?" They urged lawmakers to vote "nay" on the bill.
The Utah Cattlemen's Association, the Utah Pork Producers Council and the Utah State Quarter Horse Association appeared in the ad opposing the bill.
