About That Horsemeat….

In a nut shell: horsemeat is NOT safe or wholesome for humans or animals to eat. There can never be two classifications of one species that do not cross over by the greed of man. Eating that horsemeat, to many horseowners and those that like horses, is almost the same as if you are eating their children.

Pets

The majority of horses worldwide are NOT raised or considered ‘food’ animals by their owners. So what, you might say in your mind. These horses were most likely considered someone’s pet, like family, like someone’s children. While many don’t have any compassion for other peoples children or pets, the majority of people can associate with sending their children out into the world to make a decent life without fearing that once they leave their premises, there are predators out there, waiting to snatch them up and submit them to torture en route to slaughtering them. Oh, but you say, you do consider that. Well imagine if people were ‘paid’ to snatch them and the authorities won’t do anything. Imagine that they don’t have a cell phone and can’t call for help. Imagine how you would feel if you KNEW someone snatched them and the law enforcement agencies would do NOTHING. Imagine someone eating your children…. What would you do?

jurisdiction

My two horses, Suzy and Echo were victims. I owned Suzy and Echo for 15 years. I didn’t throw them out in a pasture and check on them once in a blue moon. I fed them twice a day. Petted on them almost every day. Tended their wounds. Considered what I thought was best for their dispositions. Echo, I held in my arms and fed with a turkey baster the first five says and four nights of her life as she struggled to live. If I continue here, I won’t get to the point of this post.    Miss my girls…..

Horses in the U.S. are NOT regulated, at all, as food animals. They are pets, performance, show and work animals. They are medicated. Drug history rarely ever transfers from one owner to the next and U.S. veterinarians are typically only required to keep a horses drug history for two years. Most U.S. horse owners don’t keep drug history because they never consider their horse as ‘food’. There are no passports in the U.S. – which by the way are absurd as they are too easily falsified and re-issued ‘clean’ when lost.  So how does an entirely unregulated species become ‘food’…..

The stroke of a pen converts any horse into ‘food’. Two U.S. documents and one foreign document, send a U.S. unregulated horse into a human food chain. The EID or Equine Identification document is the ‘foreign’ document, and two U.S. documents: a Health Certificate and the Owner/Shipper Certificate.

EID

The U.S. horse slaughter cartel has implemented the foreign EID, which is required as a shipping document by foreign countries as an affidavit of a horses medication history or ‘wholesomeness’. Horse owners or slaughter horse kill buyers sign the EID’s stating that the horse hasn’t had any medication listed for 180 days or for the time they have owned the horse. The U.S. authorities don’t even retain a copy of EID’s, because it is not a U.S. document. The slaughter horse cartel implemented the EID at almost every horse auction or sale barn, on their own. It isn’t a government or sanctioned form and isn’t even standardized. The majority of horse owners that sign it, don’t understand what it is and certainly don’t understand the formal names of the prohibited drugs listed on it. You would have to be a vet technician to know the formal names of prohibited drugs. If the horse kill buyer acquires a horse without an EID, they are allowed to fabricate one.

U.S. horse kill buyers are allowed to fabricate foreign drug affidavits – immediately – after acquiring a horse and can ship it for slaughter the SAME day.  The U.S. cannot even prosecute them for falsifying paperwork because the EID is not a U.S. document, they don’t have jurisdiction to prosecute. The foreign countries cannot prosecute for falsifying the EID’s because they are created in the U.S. and they don’t have jurisdiction to prosecute in the U.S.

It is a useless piece of paper required by foreign horse slaughter facilities.

EID

Health Certificate

The Health Certificate is an affidavit that the horses ‘appear’ to be free of communicable diseases, that they will be transported in a vehicle that has been cleaned and disinfected, and will not come in contact with animals en route, except those meeting these health requirements. Absurd, they have no idea where they came from or where they will stop. It is NOT a certificate of wholesomeness. The Health Certificate in essence is the ONLY U.S. document that transitions a non food animal into a human food chain and all it encompasses is a statement that a horse is not visually sick and can stand. How comfortable are you with that?

The U.S. slaughter horse health certificate is ONLY a snapshot that the veterinarian looked at a horse and the horse appears to be healthy enough to travel. That’s all. The veterinarians that sign these health certificates are called to slaughter horse kill buyers lots to look at approximately 30 horses to see if they are visually sick and appear to be able to stand.  The veterinarians are suppose to look at the horses, immediately before loading but that doesn’t happen. They are called hours before loading. These horse kill buyer dealers, have a constant influx of horses coming and going. They don’t keep horses long because it costs money to feed them and they get paid when they ship them. The horse kill buyers lots are not regulated. They are not inspected for isolation pens of suspected ill horses Any other horses that a kill buyer has, are not inspected for illness or disease. The veterinarians do not inspect the vehicles and they have no knowledge of where these horses will be unloaded for any required 6 hour  ‘rest’ stops. Contrary to what is perceived by many, these vets are NOT endorsing U.S. horses as wholesome for food. They aren’t endorsing anything except that at that given moment, the horses presented, didn’t appear ill and may be able to stand.

HealthCert

Owner/Shipper Certificate – Fitness To Travel To a Slaughter Facility

This document is the slaughter horse shippers affidavit of ‘welfare’ regulation compliance. It is almost entirely ‘self regulated’ or on the ‘honor’ system of the slaughter horse shippers.  Really! The honor code of a kill buyer…. It is almost entirely useless. They can write what they want and are allowed ‘one year’ to amend the document. Almost every error that is found by a gross welfare violation or omission, is either entirely ignored, deemed a clerical error, or once in a blue moon, results in a ‘warning’ letter with no penalties. No one regularly reviews, records or monitors these forms. This form is the crux of the Commercial Transportation to Slaughter Act regulations – which consists primarily of two people to ‘regulate’ – useless…

The slaughter horse transporter is suppose to record the date and time the horses are loaded along with the ‘Auction/Market’. Anytime a transporter makes a required 6 hour rest stop, after 28 hours of transportation, they are required to complete and submit another Owner/Shipper Certificate. The veterinarian that is suppose to inspect the horses when they arrive at the slaughter facility, is suppose to monitor for welfare regulation noncompliances, including the date and time.

I have seen these forms through FOIA requests, with blanks on the form – missing information – no date or time, not signed, etc… As an example of how absurd this system is, the load that has become of extreme importance to me, lists the  date as April 16, 2012 at 7:30 pm and the Auction/Market as two different locations. How can there only be one date and time recorded for two different locations? This slaughter horse kill buyer then decided, with a full load in ‘transit’ , to stop at an auction for a day. Think about this. He took a full load of horses, without coggins tests, to sit at an auction. He then traveled to  Michigan and from there, he submitted another Owner/Shipper Certificate – on April 19th, 2012, 9:30 am. Consequence – a warning letter with no penalty.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/167467107/OwnerShipper.docx

Testing

ahhh… you say,  so what, they are tested. Well about that testing…. Horses are “visually” inspected upon arrival at a slaughter facility. Any ‘suspect’ horse – by visual examination – is isolated for further examination. Now I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be able to tell ‘visually’ if a horse was medicated. Until just recently, any suspect horse – by visual examination – was tested using what they call a ‘fast’ test that does not even test for ‘bute’ or many of the other drugs commonly used for horses. If the horse failed the fast test, samples were taken from the suspect horse and sent to a lab. Well now, how many do you think they submitted to a lab and for what testing?   The ‘new’ more stringent test protocol the U.S. just came up in their attempt to open horse slaughter facilities, is like 4 out of 100 and I haven’t been able to find what the new test actually ‘tests’ for.  Like eating rats out of a lab. Take your chances.

Some will say that horses are held for 6 months for drug withdrawal. Get real. They can ship the same day they acquire a horse. Horse dealers in the U.S. are not regulated either. They only are required to ‘register’ with GIPSA. Their premises are not inspected. They aren’t regulated for any humane welfare standards that other pet dealers must adhere to. They are registered with GIPSA as selling animals for food and fiber “only”. Almost every U.S. horse dealer sells horses to the public. More on testing soon….

Just some random links of drugs found in horses that race – the racing industry is fairly diligent in testing for drugs, legal and illegal drugs – unlike the horse slaughter cartel that doesn’t want you to know what you are eating….

Frog Juice http://newsok.com/oklahoma-horses-doped-with-frog-juice-jumped-to-winners-circle/article/3766705

ractopimine www.standardbredcanada.ca/notices/2-18-14/cpma-drug-appearing-feed.html

viagra www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/trainer-hit-with-16year-ban-after-four-horses-test-positive-to-viagra/story-fnibcaa0-1226824724879

I can’t believe I forgot the Owner/Shipper Certificate in the original post – but it is a useless document anyway. It is suppose to be the ‘welfare’ compliance document – absurd….

Humane Handling Comments Due NOW!

Please comment here! http://www.regulations.gov/ I typed in this – Docket No. FSIS-2013-0003 and it pops right up. I don’t mind if you use any part of what I wrote – just please comment. http://www.gpo.gov/…/pkg/FR-2013-10-29/html/2013-25373.htm

Humane Handling must be regulated by ‘law’ – not a guideline!
Discretion must be severely limited and defined where ever possible, for the welfare of the animals.
My comments are based on what most industries would perceive as standard operating procedures.
As a holder of a Certificate in Quality Management, I believe that Documentation and audits are a MUST when it comes to Humane handling of Animals – especially in the slaughter system where they can suffer immensely.

All slaughter facilities must be required to have documented procedures on Humane Handling. It should not be arbitrary or by discretion.
Humane Handling of Livestock must include any and all commercial entities that transport, hold, sell or broker livestock.
Audits performed by FSIS on Humane Handling must be mandated at regular intervals.
Third party audits must be performed once a year.

A non USDA entity or third party, must be enlisted to report noncompliance or abuses.
FSIS and IPP personnel must be protected from ‘retaliation’ for reporting noncompliances/abuse.

FSIS MUST require PRIOR notification of rest stops to enforce the 28 hour transportation rule and mandate audits to insure it is enforced.

IPP personnel must not perform the offloading ante mortem inspection of any Equines, including mules and donkeys, unless they hold a veterinarians license.
Disabled animals or animals unable to move must be immediately euthanized. Disabled animals are not to be attempted to be forced to move or moved by force while still conscious.
Moderately disabled animals, must be allowed to unload at their own pace and segregated for further evaluation.

The training of IPP and stunning operators must be regulated, documented and audited by FSIS personnel.
Air Pressure monitoring devices must include an audible alarm when the pressure is below the minimum established operating pressure.
Firearm training must be mandated, with periodic updates, records maintained, and audited by FSIS personnel.
Electrical stunning devices must be equipped with an audible alarm for the minimum operating voltage.
Ritual slaughter knifes must have a documented maintenance – replacement procedure and audited by FSIS personnel.
Those who perform ritual slaughter must complete training, document the training, and audited by FSIS personnel.
Carbon Dioxide concentrations must be monitored with an audible alarm for minimum time and minimum concentration.
All alarms and measuring devices must be calibrated at regular intervals detailed in a calibration document and audited by FSIS personnel.
Any changes to equipment or facilities must documented and approved by FSIS prior to implementation or as soon as reasonable possible in the event of an emergency and may require updates to the facility HACCP.

Any Egregious inhumane treatment violation that does not immediately suspend operations, must be followed by a reduced sampling plan to insure compliance. If the same Egregious inhumane treatment noncompliance is discovered any time within a given day, operations must be suspended until an irreversable corrective action is implemented.
An Egregious inhumane treatment violation must include animals received that are in obvious discomfort, pain, and or fever, that never should have been transported for processing.
An Egregious inhumane treatment violation must include animals In the last trimester of pregnancy.
An Egregious inhumane treatment violation must include animals that were mutilated, restrained, or recently ‘altered’ to enable transporting.
An Egregious inhumane treatment violation must include any electrical stunning device applied to the anus, vulva, ears or face of any animals

A system of prosecuting Egregious Inhumane Treatment violators must include prosecution by regular law enforcement agencies.
Regular law enforcement agencies must be educated and trained on Inhumane Handling.
An emergency notification system must be established for any individual to report Inhumane handling and for owners of animals to report lost, missing, stolen, adulterated animals to prevent them from being processed.

A corrective action and positive recall system must be documented and audited by FSIS and subsequently a third party on periodic intervals.

Any increase in number of animals processed from the original application, must be approved by FSIS through re-qualification and a revised HACCP analysis.

STOLEN, ADULTERATED HORSES, SLAUGHTERED, COVERED UP BY AUTHORITIES

 

The so called ‘investigation’ USDA/APHIS/IES Case Number: IL120043-VS , of the slaughter of my two stolen, adulterated horses, Suzy and Echo, was closed based on a bogus receipt⁽¹⁾ the horse slaughter cartel coughed up as evidence that Olson’s sold Tongen or Tongen Horse and Supply Company, two ‘other’ horses. The ‘receipt’⁽¹⁾ was never verified⁾.

What are the odds that the Olson’s would have purchased two ‘other’ horses, with the same coloring, markings, sex and ages, as my two horses Suzy and Echo, from the same person, and after driving more than 14 hours, would off load my horses and pick up said ‘other’ horses and deliver them, after 8pm on a Sunday to horse slaughter dealer Keith Tongen? Really???!!! Olson’s claim they purchased these ‘other’ horses in May 2009. They never even attempted to verify that the Olson’s owned or maintained said ‘other’ horses for three years. Olson’s claimed to Investigators, that they gave my horses, Suzy and Echo to someone answering a craigslist ad for another animal and claim they have no knowledge of that person. They never even checked email or phone calls to determine the identity of that person. They closed the investigation without even determining the location of my horses. Why? Because they knew they wouldn’t find them!

There is NO real evidence in the investigation – just a bogus receipt⁽¹⁾, produced to get ‘paid’ and to  justify the bogus EID’s (Equine Identification Document).   

 All the Investigators wanted was ANY excuse to exonerate those involved with knowingly, willingly and or negligently sending adulterated horses, that they had reason to believe were stolen, in commerce, into a human food chain. This is TERRORISM and now the Authorities are just as culpable! The authorities want to avoid another huge black cloud on the corrupt horse slaughter system. I wonder would they investigate the abduction and death of their own ‘children’ with such callous disregard for the truth. I ask you to please read and see if you agree or disagree with the findings of the so called investigation. 

Documents I obtained by FOIA request of the so called “investigation” from USDA/APHIS/IES,  I believe clearly shows the cover up of a horse slaughter broker, horse slaughter dealer and horse slaughter dealers agent , selling my two adulterated horses,  Suzy and Echo,  for slaughter after they were stolen from me by fraud and deception. Olson’s picked up my horses Sunday, April 15^th, 2012. Olson’s sold three horses to Tongen or Tongens Horse and Supply Company on April 15^th, 2012. Tongen claims the horses he purchased from Olson’s were slaughtered on April 20^th, 2012. Five – 5 – days!   

 

THE “INVESTIGATION”

 

Not even ONE U.S. authority would pursue my horses!  I called, and called, and called, and filed complaints with every organization that I could to try to stop my two adulterated, stolen horses, Suzy and Echo from being slaughtered. The only reason an investigation was initiated was because I called CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)  in Canada and they requested an investigation⁽⁶⁾. I was eventually contacted by an Investigator for USDA/APHIS/IES .  It appears that the IES or Investigative Enforcement Services reports to the same organization, in this case, USDA/APHIS, that has direct responsibility for the horse slaughter system which is almost entirely under the ‘discretion’ of the Secretary of Agriculture and is performance based – performance to ‘ship’. IES apparently determines if charges will be forwarded through the ‘real’ law enforcement branches. It would not be favorable to the USDA/APHIS slaughter horse ‘program’ to disclose that adulterated stolen  horses are entering a food supply.

WHAT “EVIDENCE”?

My horses have still not been located. Keith Tongen dba Tongen Horse and Supply and Marvin Olson refused to sign an affidavit. There isn’t even any evidence of questioning Misti Olson in the investigation. There is no verified evidence of any claims Olson’s told the Investigators.

‘OTHER” HORSES RECEIPT:  A ‘reciept’ was produced as evidence that the Olson’s had purchased two ‘other’  horses in May of 2009 that matched my horses, Suzy and Echo, basic color descriptions on the EID’s. ^. The Olson’s claim they sold these ‘other’ horses to Tongen on April 15^th, 2012 – the very same day the Olson’s took my horses. The Olson’s provided the receipt to Laurier Brouillette, a slaughter horse broker for Viande Richelieu – a slaughter facility in Canada and Tongen’s  broker connection to Viande Richelieu^(6).  Olson claimed he did not know who requested the receipt. One apparent attempt was made to call the number on the receipt (redacted on the FOIA) by the Investigators. That call resulted in a message that the voice mailbox had not been set up.  A vague attempt was made to verify the receipt and resulted in a woman, stating that her husband is not involved with horses. A search for a name, apparently resulted in too much effort for the Investigators.  No further attempt to verify the receipt was evidenced. The receipt was never verified.  No other verification was attempted to determine if the ‘other’ horses ever existed.

RECEIVER OF MY HORSES: Olson’s claim they gave my horses to a person responding to a craigslist ad for another animal but took my horses instead⁽¹⁰⁾. The Olson’s told investigators  they have no knowledge of the person that they now claim took my horses ⁽¹⁰⁾ . There is no evidence of verification for the person(s) Olson’s claim took my horses. The Olson’s knew within the same week that they received the horses that not only was I pursuing them, the Meeker County Sherriff’s Department attempted to contact them and so did my attorney, James Karamanis. There would be records of emails and phone calls for someone answering a craigslist ad that could be traced, that were never checked.

TIME LOGIC: Mapquest:  Darwin, MN to Harvard, IL via I-94 E 394.72 miles – 6 hrs 57 mins   Olson’s drove from Darwin, MN to Harvard, IL or approximately 7 hours one way to pick up my horses and drove 7 hours back.  The Olson’s told the Investigators that they dropped off my two horses and loaded three ‘other’ horses and delivered them to Tongen in Brownton, MN  on the same day, April 15^th, 2012 which is a Sunday. Straight driving time without any stops at all would be approximately 14 hours. The Olson’s left Harvard, IL at approximately 1:00 pm which would put them back in MN at about 8:00 pm if they didn’t stop at all. However there was a third horse delivered to Tongen by Olson’s and they would have had to stop for gas. A delivery to a dealer on a Sunday after 8:00 pm would have been pre-arranged. Why pre-arrange for a Sunday after 8:00 pm and 14 hours of driving? Phone and email records were never checked.

Evidence was provided by affidavit that I was informed through attorney’s, that the Olson’s sold my horses directly to Keith Tongen or Tongen Horse and Supply Company. I was even offered, through the attorneys, the $329 each the Olson’s relayed they received for them.  My attorney spoke to Investigator Harry Dawson and confirmed the conversations but the Investigator never contacted the Olson’s attorney.

COVER UP:  Marvin and Misti Olson, Keith Tongen dba Tongen’s Horse and Supply, and Viande Richelieu all knew on or before April 20^th, 2012 that I was searching for my two adulterated horses that were stolen by fraud and deception from me on April 15^TH, 2012, by Marvin and Misti Olson from Darwin, MN. CFIA told me they issued an alert to the border and the slaughter facility. A simple check of the individual horses EID’s, that designate Marvin Olson as the owner should have stopped them from being transported or slaughtered.  There are records of phone calls – which were never checked.

The Investigators accepted an unverified receipt⁽¹⁾ the Olson’s provided to Laurier Brouillette that the horses they sold to Tongen, were “other” horses and then Tongen was ‘paid’. The Investigators never verified that the Olson’s ever owned or maintained the horses they sold Tongen for three years. The Investigators never verified who Olson’s now claim took my two horses, Suzy and Echo. The Investigators never located my two horses, Suzy and Echo.

All lies! The receipt is a fraud,  just as the information provided on the EID’s claiming Olson’s owned two ‘other’ horses for three years is a lie.  The EID’s aren’t even U.S. documents and no copies are kept or maintained by U.S. authorities. The horse slaughter system is designed to ‘ship’ – they don’t care what they ship or how they acquire what they ship.

What did they ‘Investigate’? What About The Other Obvious Violations?

Apparently, the investigation resulted in issuing a Warning Letter to Tongen or Tongen Horse and Supply Company for a ‘paperwork’ violation with no penalty. The Warning Letter resulted because Tongen failed to submit paperwork or a VS Form 10-13, within one YEAR – after stopping at a sale in Kalona, Iowa with the load.  The load was already a full load – 30 loose horses….waiting. The Warning Letter was written on a load that was in transit for 4 days, with 2 stops. They do not carry food or water. The SHTP requires rest, food and water every 24 hours.

Iowa state law requires coggins or ELSA tests for any horse imported into Iowa. Tongen’s load originating in Brownton, MN dated 4/16/2012 was not directly headed to slaughter, the load was imported into Iowa when he went to the Kalona Iowa sale, without complying with Iowa state law. Michigan state law requires a negative ELSA or coggins test for any horse that crosses the state line into Michigan. Tongen violated Michigan state law by crossing Michigan state line and off loading or importing horses into Michigan without a negative coggins or ELSA test for each horse. No evidence of any ELSA or coggins tests for Tongens load of 4/16/2012 were included in the ‘investigation’.

Olson’s crossed Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota state lines with my two horses, Suzy and Echo, without a coggins or ELSA test or health certificate in violation of multiple states laws. Law enforcement officers have an obligation to report criminal activity.  

Would any sane person believe this is a ‘real’ investigation? If this is how investigations are normally handled, there wouldn’t be any criminals. All the investigators wanted was ANY excuse to exonerate Olson’s, Tongen, Laurier Brouiletter, Viande Richelieu from willingly, knowingly and or negligently receiving and transporting in commerce, property they had reason to believe was stolen, supplied with falsified documents, adulterated or unwholesome as human food, and processed as wholesome. It is TERRORISM!

 

 

 

LTPD?

Anyone that has spent any time in the quality profession will tell you that a quality product is not an afterthought. ‘Prevention’ rather than ‘detection’ has been the quality and manufacturing principle for many years. Even the FDA and USDA HACCP or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan is a prevention and control plan. However, there is absolutely NO prevention and no control of adulterated horses entering the slaughter system or human food chain. Horse dealers and their agents are allowed to fabricate drug affidavits with no prior knowledge, immediately after they acquire a horse, and ship that horse within a few days. How absolutely absurd… We aren’t talking about allowing an occasional broken widget here. We are talking about HUMAN FOOD SAFETY.

We keep hearing that the horses are inspected. How many are inspected and for what exactly? Did you ever wonder exactly what drug residues they are testing for? Pretty meaningless to throw out there that something is tested for drug residues without defining what drugs they are testing. One drug? Two? Ten? What about the current ‘frog juice’ trend? When it comes to horses, the probability of adulteration is very, very high, given that almost everything horse owners give their horses is labeled not intended for animals used for human consumption. Some of the most common drugs have NO withdrawal and cannot ever be used in food animals.

What kind of sampling plan would anyone believe would result in a wholesome safe quality product at least 99.7% of the time? Oh wait – where did that 99.7% number come from? You think food safety confidence should be lower? What do you believe food safety, wholesomeness should target? In quality. there is an indicator identified as LTPD or Lot Tolerance Percent Defective. It is a pretty important number. The LTPD describes what the sampling plan will reject. For example, the LTPD may tell you that a 10% defective lot would be rejected say 80% of the time. Of course that also means that a 10% defective lot may be accepted. The LTPD of a sampling plan is a level of quality routinely rejected by the sampling plan. The AQL describes what the sampling plan will accept and we will reserve that for another day.

As with all numbers or statistics, it is important to isolate exactly what you are trying to determine. Don’t be fooled! For example – to determine the LTPD of any one parameter, you have to isolate that parameter. Take Bute for example. The meat industry claims that a certain number of animals are tested for ‘drug residue’. What encompasses drug residue tests? Are visual inspection for syringe marks included? Is it only blood and organ tests? The number of horses reported as tested for drug residues will be much higher than the numbers actually tested for ‘bute’ because the industry standard previously was a FAST test done on the slaughter premises that does NOT include testing for bute.

So does anyone believe that just a ‘sample’ of a highly suspect adulterated lot could instill any confidence in the safety of that lot, especially when it comes to food safety? Remember horses are not regulated food animals and even the veterinarians here aren’t required to keep records for typically more than a year or two.

Consider what ‘sample size’ of any known adulterated lot would create a confidence level high enough for you to feel comfortable feeding an animal from that lot to your children?

SAFE!

“SAFE”

Safeguard American Food Exports Act
Protect American Horses from Slaughter!

H.R. 1094/ S. 541

Safeguard American Food Exports Act (SAFE) H.R. 1094/S. 541 is legislation which would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

These bills will protect American horses from the inhumane horse slaughter industry in the U.S. and STOP the export of unregulated U.S. horses for slaughter and human consumption.

Please – contact your state Senators and House Representatives TODAY!

A simple line would be great!

Remember – there are two bills – one for the House and one for the Senate. You must contact your legislators in both the House and the Senate!

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Please support the “Safeguard American Food Exports Act” (SAFE) H.R. 1094 and S. 541 to protect U.S. horses and those that are eating them!

Contact your HOUSE Representative HERE!
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
Contact your Senator HERE!
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm

PLEASE – Don’t put it off! Write your letters to your Washington, D.C. representatives today and urge them to support this Act – today!

The Law is Clear – Condemned!

Livestock suspected of having biological residues shall be identified as “U.S. Condemned”. Horses are not regulated food animals in the U.S. and must be considered suspect for biological residues especially given that almost everything we give them is labeled “not intended for use on food animals”.

9 CFR 309.16 – LIVESTOCK SUSPECTED OF HAVING BIOLOGICAL RESIDUES.
§ 309.16
Livestock suspected of having biological residues.
(a) Except as provided by paragraph (d) of this section, livestock suspected of having been treated with or exposed to any substance that may impart a biological residue which would make the edible tissues unfit for human food or otherwise adulterated shall be handled in compliance with the provisions of this paragraph. They shall be identified at official establishments as “U.S. Condemned.”

No Drug History

The U.S. has NO FDA food animal requirements for horses exported for slaughter!
U.S. horse dealers and the scouts they send out to collect horses are allowed to fabricate the foreign drug affidavits immediately upon acquiring a horse and ship that horse within a few days. They weasel out of any liability because the form says “to the best of my knowledge or belief” and it isn’t even a U.S. document. No regulatory authority in the U.S. even keeps a copy. Very rare does any drug history transfer with U.S. horses and typically veterinarians aren’t even required to keep medical history for more than two years.

The U.S. has NO traceability on horses.

U.S. horse dealers are allowed to slap a number on a horse when they fill out the paperwork, a couple days before they ship. There are no passports and no requirement for microchips. The only perceived traceability may be to the horse dealer that may never even taken that horse to their own holding facilities. Horse dealers are registered but not regulated. Dealers holding aren’t registered or regulated.

No Way To Prevent Adulterated Horses From Entering Food Chain

The dealers have basically NO liability and a cash incentive to ship. A police report takes five days – the horse is long gone. So few are ever tested, why would they be concerned over adulteration?
There is no method or test to sort out animals with biological residues that are NEVER allowed in food animals, prior to slaughter. No one can just visually look at a horse and tell if that horse has ever been given phenylbutazone or nitrofurazone or any other drug never allowed in food animals.

There can never be two classifications of a species that will never cross paths or intermix – by the greed of man.

We say NOT FOOD! STOP challenging horse owners on the best use of their animals!

Some History of Horsemeat Adulteration

New York Times, Jan. 7, 1943: “Horse Meat is Degrading, Mayor Warns the Council” – (Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, New York City, addressing his City Council)

“Whatever you do, whether I am here or not, don’t you ever permit horse meat to be s…old in New York City. Wherever it is sold, you will find degradation.”

“If there is any attempt to sell it here I am going to ask for a local law, not only to prohibit from being sold in the same shop that sells other meat, but not even on the same street where a meat market exists, and that a sign twelve feet high of a horse be exhibited outside, and to have an inspector there all day long and let them pay for it.”

“It is the most degrading thing ever seen, and yet there has been some publicity about it, and I hope that this Council will never permit it. The fact that it isn’t poison might get it through the health requirements, but there is the moral side of it that I am so strongly against.
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Kg9QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fFUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5207%2C862235&dq=horse-meat+-nikita+-khrushchev+-zoo&hl=en

The Evening Independent, 3/8/1950, Horse Meat to Resemble Beef Seized: “Dr. R. S. Martin, chief of Houston’s city health department meat inspection division, said an estimated 3,000 pounds of horse meat had been sold to 12 high-class Houston restaurants since December… More than 4,000 pounds of horse meat, labeled as beef tenderloins, were confiscated at Dallas.”

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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g0YNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o2oDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3922%2C2472676&dq=horse-meat+-nikita+-kruschev+-zoo&hl=en

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/8/1952, Horse Meat Probe Links Dr. Bundesen: “Investigators charge that racketeers reaped huge profits by selling from 20 to 25 million pounds of horse meat as hamburger in Chicago in 1950 and 1951. The horse meat… was ground up and mixed with beef and sold for human consumption at OPS ceiling prices for hamburger.”
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http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5MNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nQ4EAAAAIBAJ&dq=horse-meat&pg=6961%2C4400515

Ocala Star-Banner, 4/20/1962, State Orders Halt on Sale of Several Items Made by Firm in Miami: “”(Commissioner of Agriculture Doyle Connor) said tests run on samples picked up over the state showed the meat had been adulterated. He reporte…d the tests showed the company’s “breaded veal cutlet” had been adulterated with horse meat, as well as pork and mutton.”

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http://www.news-star.com/article/20130326/NEWS/130329795/-1/entertainment%20life

“(Oklahoma State Senator Ron)Sharp noted that in 1962 two fast food restaurants were closed for selling horse meat in hamburgers. The story made front page news across the state leading the State Legislature to enact the Meat Inspection Act in 1963 to ban the sale of horse meat and begin more thoroughly inspecting beef sold in the state.”

Food Animal Producers – Outrage!

Many have asked what’s the difference between a horse, cow, pig or any other animaI slaughtered for food. I have some of my own opinions I would like to share with food animal producers.
U.S. Horse slaughter is not just a question of is it right or wrong on an emotional level, it is unconscionable for human food safety, for the welfare of the horses, and to the integrity and honesty of real food animal producers.
The majority of horse owners don’t have a clue of food animal production since they never intend to eat them. I could go on and on about the medications given to horses that are either not allowed to be administered to food animals or that require withholding periods but I am not a food animal producer and not educated in food animal production. No thought is even considered by horse owners, about withholding medications as it may exclude the horse from the food chain. If the horse has a ‘bad’ day, maybe a little of something; bute, Ace or whatever, will make it feel better. I have been a horse owner a good portion of my life and know that almost everything that I have given my horses is labeled not intended for use on animals used for human consumption.
The majority of horse owners don’t even keep veterinary records since they don’t consider their horse a food animal. U.S. veterinarians are typically only required to keep records for two years so it would be difficult to even re-create a lifetime drug history for any given horse.

Have you ever actually considered what is and isn’t a ‘food’ animal? I don’t know of any other species of livestock in the U.S. where the majority of that species is bred, raised and kept as ‘non-food’ animals and then allowed to magically transpose into a food animal without any regulation or oversight concerning the wholesomeness of that food. Seriously – over 9 million NON-FOOD animals (est. U.S. horse population) and the BOTTOM 100,000 plus are ‘transposed’ into food animals at the stroke of a pen! That’s all – a stroke of the pen. Horse dealers in the U.S. are allowed to fabricate or create a drug affidavit, immediately after they acquire a horse and ship it for food within a few days. The drug affidavits they create are not U.S. documents and aren’t even required or kept by any U.S. regulatory agency. The drug affidavits typically state “to the best of my knowledge or belief” and that gives the horse dealer an escape for declaring the horse drug free, with no consequences. This is not the same as taking a cow out of a herd. This is like taking a cow out of a laboratory that has been used for scientific experiments and putting it on some ones plate for further evaluation. It is estimated that 10% of the horse population comes to the end of their lives each year or over 900,000 horses. The majority of responsible owners provide a humane death for their horses or approximately 800,000. The remaining 100,000 is collected or acquired by horse dealers as they scavenge the country at auctions and entice other individuals to seek out and con horse owners with stories of a good home for their horses. They don’t care if the horse is stolen by deception, wholesome for human consumption, or unfit to travel. As long as they can get their hands on it and sign that drug affidavit, they are going to make some money and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, APHIS and Vets all turn a blind eye to unwholesome animals entering a foreign human food chain. They honestly don’t care what that horse has been treated with for its entire life.
The U.S. FDA has NO food animal requirements for U.S. horses exported for slaughter – NONE! Fair trade agreements don’t mean anything. Those countries that actually raise horses for food and are regulated and inspected should be outraged. Food animal producers should be outraged. Food animal producers in the European Union where horsemeat has infiltrated beef ARE outraged. It is hurting their bottom line and may for a long time to come. Why is one species allowed carte blanche to the food system and the others are not? The horse slaughter cartel and the corruption it runs is affecting the entire meat industry. The horse slaughter cartel has convinced the food animal producers that horse owners are ALL radical animal rights activists and are attempting to eliminate all use of animals. Really, does anyone believe that EVERY horse owner is a radical animal rights activist? Does anyone believe that ALL horse owners want to stop being able to use their horses for sport, fun and pleasure riding? We are tired of the ‘radical horse slaughter cartel’ bashing of all horse owners and the majority of the U.S. population as ‘radical animal rights activists’ for being opposed to the criminal conspiracy of the horse slaughter cartel .
Food animal producers – you are being dupped! Dupped into supporting a criminal conspiracy that is terrorizing a foreign human food chain with adulterated food animals that infringe on other real producers markets! Perhaps even your own, given the European (and more), horsemeat scandal. What happened to honesty and integrity? The majority of horse owners and the majority of the American people are requesting and pleading with everyone to stop the slaughter of U.S horses. We don’t eat them and the foreign corporations that are slaughtering them have no concerns about their welfare or wholesomeness for human consumption. They have never promised to buy even one horse and could stop buying any at any time. Horse owners should not be asked or required to attempt to conform to any foreign food animal regulations that will cost the entire horse industry a lot of money. To put it lightly, food animal producers have been reluctant to comply with food animal identification requirements ( http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/news/news-15may2009-2.htm )and it is absurd to defend the slaughter of U.S. horses that we don’t eat, that would require food animal identification and additional costs on the entire horse industry. Horse owners aren’t going to slap an ear tag on their horses. Most owners will have to call the vet and pay a vet charge in addition to micro-chipping and fees they will charge for a system to record and track them. That is 9 million chips and vet calls for a system the majority will never use. There is no logic for food animal identification and tracking of U.S. horses. How will they record or track the location of U.S. horses? Most horses change owners several times within their lives and travel around. Who is going to keep those records and who is going to pay for it? Seriously, very few will ever be identified ‘for’ food if U.S. horse owners are allowed to decide and the records aren’t falsified or fabricated. Then we will be stuck with a regulatory system that costs horse owners a lot of money that no one uses.
Food animal producers, it is in the best interests of ALL involved to support your own industry with honesty and integrity and leave U.S. horses out of the foreign food chain, that is also being dupped into believing they are wholesome…… it is terrorism.
Keep shining the light.
I miss my girls…..

The Truth About Drug Affidavits and Health Certificates

Let’s set some FACTS first so everyone can make their own decisions regarding horsemeat.
Unlike any other livestock, where the majority is kept and raised for human consumption, horses are not! Horse owners in the U.S., typically have no idea what is and isn’t allowed for food animal production because most horse owners never even think about someone eating their horse. Almost everything administered to horses in the U.S. is labeled ‘not intended for food animals’ and horse owners don’t hesitate to treat their spoiled horses so they are comfortable. It’s not just ‘bute’ that people should be concerned about!
Three documents magically transpose any horse in the U.S. to a ‘slaughter’ horse and all three are created or fabricated within a few days of when they ship to the slaughter facility.
1. EID – Equine Identification Document – alleged owners Drug History – meaningless
2. Owner/Shipper Record – Dealers load record – meaningless
3. Health Certificate – Veterinarian endorsed – meaningless

HORSES MEDICAL HISTORY
Horse owners in the U.S. don’t keep ‘food’ animal records of medical treatments because they never intend for them to be ‘food’. Horses live longer than a typical food animal and often change owners and veterinarians.
Most horses in the U.S. do NOT have a permanent identification and no medical records transfer from one owner to the next. Veterinarians in the U.S. are typically only required to keep medical treatment records for two years so there is no accurate method to determine or create a horses medical history. Since horse owners never consider their horse a ‘food’ animal they rely on the veterinarian for administering treatments and most often don’t even know what medications are given to their horse and if it is allowed for a ‘food’ animal. Since horse owners in the U.S. don’t consider their horse a ‘food’ animal, they don’t record medical treatments and the current veterinarian for that horse may keep a record for two years.
There is NO medical history on U.S. horses and it cannot be created from any existing records!

DRUG AFFIDAVITS and FDA
In the U.S., horse dealers are allowed to create or fabricate a ‘foreign’ drug affidavit immediately after they acquire a horse and declare the horse is drug free – to the best of their knowledge! How absurd!
Some auctions now require horse owners to fill out a form or EID – Equine Identification Document – that declares the horse as drug free from various medical drugs listed in their ‘formal’ names. You would have to be a vet technician to understand the formal names and equate them to the common names. They don’t even know what they are declaring. It is a shame.
There is NO medical history on U.S. horses, even when presented with an EID or drug affidavit! The U.S. authorities don’t even keep a copy because it is a ‘foreign’ document – not required by the U.S.
The U.S. FDA or Food and Drug Administration is an arm of the Health and Human Services and is suppose to set the standards for U.S. food production and oversight.
The FDA has NO food animal requirements for U.S. horses ‘exported’ for slaughter – NONE!
There is NO U.S. required drug affidavit for horses exported for slaughter and horse dealers are allowed to create the foreign affidavits with no knowledge and no consequences.

USDA and APHIS
One of the primary purposes of the USDA or United States Department of Agriculture is to ‘produce’ with as little regulation and oversight as possible. The term ‘transparency’ here in the U.S. means ‘non-existent’ and the regulatory authorities within the USDA strive to be transparent with ‘producers’ because when they aren’t transparent, it generally costs more money. APHIS or Animal Plant Health Inspection Services is an arm of the USDA. APHIS is required to sign off on a veterinary certificate for horses exported for slaughter. The veterinary certificate is signed by both an attending (local) veterinarian and APHIS veterinarian sign. The veterinary certificate is ONLY a ‘health’ certificate or an affidavit that when the attending vet looked at the horse, the vet believes that that horse may be able to stand long enough to get to a slaughtering facility and doesn’t ‘appear’ to have a communicable disease. That Health certificate does NOT indicate or guarantee that the horse is fit for human consumption, is drug free or wholesome. The Health certificate also requires the Veterinarians to declare that the horse has not been exposed to any diseases or been in areas where there has been any outbreaks of communicable diseases. Those veterinarians have no knowledge of where the horse has been. Often horses are picked up by dealers at auctions and trucked around the country until they can fill the load. The horse dealers don’t even know where the horse came from, so how could the vet know where they came from. USDA/APHIS does not even inspect horse dealers ‘holdings’ for potential communicable disease segregation. Horses can still travel across the country without a negative EIA test and are gathered on dealers lots until they have enough for a load to ship. Most horse dealers also sell horses to private individuals for riding or pleasure too after they have been co-mingled with unknown horses.
The Health Certificates issued by APHIS is at best only a quick visual inspection that a horse might be able to stand long enough to get to a slaughter facility and is NOT an affidavit of a horse produced to food animal requirements.
Over 100,000 U.S. FDA unregulated food animals – horses – are exported to Canada and Mexico annually, with the majority going to the EU for human consumption with forged foreign drug affidavits and APHIS health certificates that are meaningless.

The Truth About Drug Affidavits and Health Certificates

The Public Has A Right To Know!

Even I am amazed at what I have learned recently about ‘meat’ processing. We need to be able to inform the public about the horses!

Even the horsmeat scandal is being blamed on pink slime..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/12/horsemeat-scandal-european-regulation-changes

This is what we need to do! We need an internet army!

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Meat-industry-needs-to-embrace-social-media
http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/20475/

The meat industry is going after the media for the pink slime issue – some of the same reasons that the UK stopped LFTB – law suits, processing plants closing – media perception? – NO people are learning what is in the meat!
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/AMI-deplores-media-war-against-pink-slime
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/US-industry-denies-meat-glue-allegations
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/BPI-plant-closures-over-pink-slime-become-permanent
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/US-processor-launches-lawsuit-over-pink-slime-coverage

And then there is the issue of “meat glue” or TG!
http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/US-industry-denies-meat-glue-allegations

We need to cultivate the public and inform them with the truth!