June 16th, 2012

We just received notice that the House Appropriations Committee will consider the FY13 Agriculture Appropriations bill on Tuesday, June 19.
If you haven’t done so already, it is critical that you email and call your legislator if they supported previous efforts (see list at bottom) to prevent our tax dollars from being used to slaughter horses. Don’t let a few individuals trying to profit from the abuse of American horses  undermine the will of the American people.

Be sure to share this alert with others as well as posting it on Facebook.

Thanks, Chris

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June 14, 2012

Please Contact Your Legislator Today

Urge Support for an Amendment to Protect America's Horses

Dear Humanitarian:

The House Appropriations Committee is poised to decide whether or not to block an unnecessary expansion of the federal government, save taxpayer dollars, and—of particular interest to humanitarians—protect horses from being cruelly slaughtered for human consumption.

As soon as next week, the House Appropriations Committee may consider the FY13 Agriculture Appropriations bill. Last year the Committee approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) that prevented tax dollars from being used to fund inspections of horse slaughter facilities. This bipartisan language had been included in every Agriculture Appropriations bill since 2005, until three legislators quietly removed it behind closed doors late last year. Without this important provision, foreign-owned companies will be able to reestablish horse slaughter in the United States at the expense of taxpayers, food safety, and the welfare of horses. In fact, representatives of such companies are already making rounds in the Midwest looking for a plant location.

At a time when Congress is dramatically cutting back federal spending and eliminating federal programs, it is disappointing that some in Congress want to revive an unpopular taxpayer-subsidized program that existed solely to support foreign-owned slaughter facilities that inflicted tremendous suffering on American horses.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

The full House Appropriations Committee will vote on the FY13 Agriculture Appropriations bill soon. An amendment will be offered by Rep. Moran to restore language prohibiting the USDA from spending your tax dollars to inspect horse slaughter facilities. This language defunding USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities is vital to protecting American horses.  The majority of the Committee supported this amendment last year. If your legislator is on the House Appropriations Committee (see list below), it is critical that you email or call TODAY and urge them to strongly SUPPORT the Moran amendment to defund horse slaughter inspections.

You can contact the main Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the office of your legislator, or use AWI's Compassion Index to quickly send an email, locate the direct office number, and view your legislator's voting record on the issue. The majority of legislators have supported previous efforts to end horse slaughter. Your Representative has been among the ban's supporters, so be sure to mention that when you call and urge continued strong opposition to any effort to restore horse slaughter.

For more information on horse slaughter and other important issues, please visit www.awionline.org/horseslaughter.

Please share this eAlert and ask friends, family, and coworkers to do the same. Be sure to post it on Facebook and share it on Twitter.  As always, thank you for your continued and critical support on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Chris Heyde

Deputy Director

Government and Legal Affairs





Members of the House Appropriations Committee

Who Have Previously Voted For The Defund Amendment



Rep. Bill Young  R-FL

Rep.  Frank Wolf  R-VA

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen  R-NJ

Rep.  Ander Crenshaw  R-FL

Rep.  Ken Calvert  R-CA

Rep.  Steve LaTourette  R-OH

Rep.  Mario Diaz-Balart  R-FL

Rep.  Charles Dent  R-PA

Rep.  Norm Dicks  D-WA

Rep.  Marcy Kaptur  D-OH

Rep.  Peter Visclosky  D-IN

Rep.  Nita Lowey  D-NY

Rep.  Jose Serrano  D-NY

Rep.  Rosa DeLauro  D-CY

Rep.  John Olver  D-MA

Rep.  Lucille Roybal-Allard  D-CA

Rep.  Sam Farr  D-CA

Rep.  Jesse Jackson, Jr  D-IL

Rep.  Steven Rothman  D-NJ

Rep.  Sanford Bishop  D-GA

Rep.  Barbara Lee  D-CA

Rep.  Adam Schiff  D-CA

Rep.  Betty McCollum  D-MN

Rep.  David Price  D-NC

Rep.  Maurice Hinchey  D-NY

Rep.  Chaka  Fattah  D-PA


Animal Welfare Institute
900 Pennsylvania Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20003
(202) 337-2332 (main) • awi@awionline.org
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