ALC Update: H.B. 1747, a bill to promote horse slaughter has been assigned to the Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee.
Though it has not been announced, the committee is expected to take up the bill on Wed., April 14, 2010. Please find members here (just click on their names for contact info) and write (faxes are best) or call and urge committee members to vote no to H.B. 1747. Don't wait. Do it now. This bill has already passed the state House of Representatives.
Polite phone calls to the Senators re this bill are encouraged..
Senator Jolie Justus 573-751-2788 is very sympathetic and a real animal lover. The Chair of the Ag comm. is Senator Dan Clemens 573-751-4008 Senate Floor Leader-Kevin Engler 573-751-3455 and the Senate Pro Tem, Charlie Shields 573-751-9576
Learn more at Animal Law Coalition:
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1160
Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missouri. Show all posts
Monday, April 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
MO: no laws regarding the welfare of any domesticated animal including dogs, cats, horses, other pets
MO moves bill forward where no laws regarding the welfare of any domesticated animal including dogs, cats, horses, other pets... Public outcry is needed to stop this bill from passing at the final level.
Update April 1: H.B. 1747 has passed the Missouri House of Representatives. This bill now moves to the state senate.
The version passed by the House is basically the same as the introduced bill, except for one significant change: If this bill becomes law, "[n]o law criminalizing or otherwise regulating crops or the welfare of any domesticated animals shall be valid unless based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly."
Scary language for animals.
This means there could be no local laws regarding the welfare of any domesticated animal including dogs, cats, horses, other pets and farm animals that differ from state laws. Also, any current animal cruelty or animal welfare law in Missouri would be void unless it was "based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly." People charged with animal abuse could raise challenges to the law, claiming it was not based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Possibly, all laws governing animal cruelty or welfare would simply be void because there was no determination of whether they were based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Arguably, current regulations governing animal welfare and protection would be void as well for this lack of this determination and also because they are not enacted by the legislature; regulations are issued by state agencies.
But that is not all this bill does. It was originally introduced to promote horse slaughter and it still does that. Read Animal Law Coalition's report below for more on this bill and what else all of us must do to stop it.
Missouri state Rep. James Viebrock is the sponsor of H.B. 1747, which basically would also authorize registration and inspections for commercial horse slaughter for human consumption.
The bill proposes that the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture would register commercial horse slaughter operations and certify "that the parts of horses to be processed are fit for human food, and the processing establishment to be operated complies with ... sanitary standards". All registration and inspection fees collected" would "be paid to the director of agriculture and deposited into the state ‘Horse Meat and Product Fund'". Annual inspection fees would be used "to pay for USDA inspection of horse meat products and horse meat processing facilities."
Learn more and take action: Article continues HERE
AAHS Action Alert:
If you live in Missouri and can help organize a group of constituents, please email us at aahsus@gmail.com.
Thanks for all you do for our American Horses!
American's Against Horse Slaughter
Update April 1: H.B. 1747 has passed the Missouri House of Representatives. This bill now moves to the state senate.
The version passed by the House is basically the same as the introduced bill, except for one significant change: If this bill becomes law, "[n]o law criminalizing or otherwise regulating crops or the welfare of any domesticated animals shall be valid unless based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly."
Scary language for animals.
This means there could be no local laws regarding the welfare of any domesticated animal including dogs, cats, horses, other pets and farm animals that differ from state laws. Also, any current animal cruelty or animal welfare law in Missouri would be void unless it was "based upon generally accepted scientific principles and enacted by the general assembly." People charged with animal abuse could raise challenges to the law, claiming it was not based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Possibly, all laws governing animal cruelty or welfare would simply be void because there was no determination of whether they were based upon "generally accepted scientific principles". Arguably, current regulations governing animal welfare and protection would be void as well for this lack of this determination and also because they are not enacted by the legislature; regulations are issued by state agencies.
But that is not all this bill does. It was originally introduced to promote horse slaughter and it still does that. Read Animal Law Coalition's report below for more on this bill and what else all of us must do to stop it.
Missouri state Rep. James Viebrock is the sponsor of H.B. 1747, which basically would also authorize registration and inspections for commercial horse slaughter for human consumption.
The bill proposes that the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture would register commercial horse slaughter operations and certify "that the parts of horses to be processed are fit for human food, and the processing establishment to be operated complies with ... sanitary standards". All registration and inspection fees collected" would "be paid to the director of agriculture and deposited into the state ‘Horse Meat and Product Fund'". Annual inspection fees would be used "to pay for USDA inspection of horse meat products and horse meat processing facilities."
Learn more and take action: Article continues HERE
AAHS Action Alert:
If you live in Missouri and can help organize a group of constituents, please email us at aahsus@gmail.com.
Thanks for all you do for our American Horses!
American's Against Horse Slaughter
Your Help is Needed to defeat Missouri Legislation H.B.1747!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Missouri state Rep. James Viebrock Endorsement of Horse Slaughter
Show MO Legislators Why They Should Oppose H.B. 1747
Missouri state Rep. James Viebrock has introduced a bill, H.B. 1747, that would authorize registration and inspections for commercial horse slaughter for human consumption.
The bill proposes that the Missouri Dept. of Agriculture would register commercial horse slaughter operations and certify "that the parts of horses to be processed are fit for human food, and the processing establishment to be operated complies with ... sanitary standards". All registration and inspection fees collected" would "be paid to the director of agriculture and deposited into the state ‘Horse Meat and Product Fund'". Annual inspection fees would be used "to pay for USDA inspection of horse meat products and horse meat processing facilities."
According to the bill, H.B. 1747, "the [state] director [of Agriculture] shall make all necessary inspections and investigations" and the USDA would also have access "at all reasonable times to any building, room, vehicle, boat, or other premises in which any horse carcass, horse meat, or horse meat food product is processed, packed, transported, sold, exposed, or offered for sale at retail."
The USDA would be free to pay for samples or specimens of the carcass or "product" to determine if there are violations of USDA regulations.
The new law would have requirements for labeling, remedies to protect against adulteration, misbranding, failure to label or brand, or unfitness for human consumption. Places that serve horsemeat would be required to post conspicuous warning signs.
The proposal, of course, is simply another tactic to try to create a market in the U.S. for horse meat or at least pretend there is one with the hope of forcing a return of horse slaughter to this country. This bill is similar to a number of bills and resolutions introduced in 2009 in an effort to defeat the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, now pending in Congress and which would make it illegal to "possess..., ship..., transport..., purchase.., sell... deliver..., or receive" in interstate or foreign commerce any horse "with the intent that it is to be slaughtered for human consumption".
Right now, commercial horse slaughter for human consumption is illegal in the U.S. though horses can be transported to other countries, typically Mexico and Canada, for slaughter. Since 2006 Congress has de-funded ante-mortem inspections required to slaughter horses for human consumption. Congress continued the de-funding in the 2010 Appropriations Act, Sec. 744.
In 2007 a federal court rejected an attempt by the USDA to allow horse slaughter operators to pay for the inspections. The USDA is currently not authorized to conduct ante-mortem inspections of horses to be slaughtered for human consumption. Without those inspections, it is illegal under the Federal Meat Inspection Act ("FMIA"), 21 U.S.C. §§601(w)(1), 603, to slaughter horses for human consumption.
If this bill becomes law, it is not clear the USDA would authorize Missouri state inspectors to conduct the required inspections. The funds to pay for the state as well as USDA inspections would come from horse slaughter operators, the same situation in the previous litigation. The judge in that case found the USDA violated the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 42 U.S.C. § 4321, et seq., by failing to consider adequately, or, really, at all, the environmental impact of its action in allowing horse slaughter operators to pay for their own inspections.
