The Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal by the Cavel slaughter plant in Illinois.
The plant was forced to close when the Illinois state legislature passed a law prohibiting the slaughter of horses. Cavel filed a case stating the law was un-Constitutional. The Federal Court allowed the plant to operate while they were deciding the case. However, the lower court upheld the law forcing the plant to close in 2007. Cavel had hoped that the Supreme Court would overturn a decision, but in rejecting to hear the case they have basically agreed with the lower court's decision and Cavel will not reopen.
While this is incredibly good news for those who support a ban on horse slaughter it isn't the end of horse slaughter. Horses are now being shipped to Mexico and Canada where their slaughter methods are horrific for the animals and making it even harder for owner to recover their stolen horses or horses obtained through fraud.
In Texas, where their law was finally upheld and 2 slaughter plants were closed, they are using state facilities to ship horses into Mexico. While the majority of Texans are opposed to the slaughter of horses and stood up for their 1949 law to be upheld, state resources are still being used to promote horse slaughter.
In California where horse slaughter is illegal, some auctions are openly selling horses to kill buyers and the law is being ignored and these horses are going to slaughter in Mexico.
Feedlots are springing up in the north to funnel horses to Canada.
The answer? Ask Congress to pass pending legislation to protect our American Horses. Ask your Representatives to support and push for the passage of HR 503 and your Senators to support and call for a vote on S 311. These bills have been stalled for far too long and the people deserve a vote on the issue. No other bill with the support these bills have has ever been denied a vote for as long as these bills have.
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2 comments:
The Horse bills that need passage are HR503 and S311 not Hr507. As of now we have 204 co/sponsors for hr503 we need 218 to pass. http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/issues/bills/?bill=9279391&cs_party=all&cs_status=X&cs_state=ALL
You are correct in the bill number and it has been changed. I unfortunately suffered a network problem after posting and have only just been able to resolve the problem and make the correction.
You are correct in the number of votes ANY bill takes to pass. However, it doesn't matter how many cosponsors we have at this point. We have enough support for the bill should a vote be called. But, it has not passed from Committee and no matter how many cosponsors we have a vote will not be called until the bill passes a committee.
The exact same bill HR 503 passed the House last session. I was in the Gallery when it passed. However, this session it is locked in committee and no vote can be had until the committee passes it.
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