On the National Front Dennis Foster, Executive Director of the MFHA, sent us some information this spring concerning issues that are important to all foxhunters. First is the Horse slaughter bill, drafted by Connie Morella '-MD), bill H.R. 3781. Mr. Foster is on the Animal Welfare Committee of the American Horse Counsel. Following are excerpts from his paper intended to state the position of the MFHA and give the membership a better understanding of the problem. I have condensed the paper, but hopefully have retained Mr. Foster's intent. Mr. Foster states: "The slaughter of horses in the United States is one of the most controversial issues in the equine world...Animal rights groups are behind a draft bill to ban the use of horseflesh. This draft bill is expected to go to Congress this year. It makes it a criminal offense to sell, or put down, a horse that might be used for human consumption. Criminalizing the slaughter of horses is more detrimental to horse welfare than continuing the practice. While it is true that the occasional salvageable horse will go to slaughter, the overwhelming numbers of horses going to slaughter are not salvageable. Most of the controversy over the slaughter of horses for human consumption deals with transportation. Today, laws are in place to protect the approximately 63,000 horses slaughtered each year. Horses that are unwanted, not serviceable or cannot be ridden for whatever reason must go somewhere.

We would all like to believe there is this big pasture in the sky and, most assuredly, many horse owners arrange this for their trusty old steeds, but the reality is, few horses make it to the age to become trusty old steeds, so this bill affects horses that are unfit to ride, unwanted, or have no market value other than for consumption. Most horse owners cannot afford to pay board for such horses and there are not enough rescue facilities to accommodate the sheer numbers. The bill's solution is for the government and the person in violation to pay the costs associated with subsidizing animal rescue facilities. This will result in substantial expense for the taxpayer because of the enormous number of horses needing a home. This bill will effectively remove equines from the category of livestock. If horses are taken out of this category it will drastically limit an owners options should a horse become a problem. According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners it will redefine horses out of their Federal and state classifications as livestock in the areas of welfare, research, liability laws and tax considerations. The AEP is against the proposed bill because they believe it will lead to more horse abuse from owners who can't afford to have a veterinarian put a horse down and then pay to dispose of the carcass, a process which costs hundreds of dollars. Animal rights groups choose horses to make a legislative statement for good reason. Horses are most likely to evoke an emotional response from the American public. Most horse owners will blindly support any law they believe will benefit horses, but what horse owners are not aware of is the long term and escalating suffering horses will have to endure if such a bill is passed.