Did Obama really legalize horse slaughter or that just propaganda?

[Moonfire]

So there's a thing going around on Facebook saying Pres. Obama legalized slaughter and the consumption of horses in the U.S. Is that actually true or did Obama haters just make that up? I'm not looking for political opinions, I just want to know if it's true or not.

[Phyl Mar]

No. It's a bill that's proposed in the House.

Update Sept. 19, 2011: U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) have introduced the House version of the bill to ban horse slaughter for human consumption. H.R. 2966 is the House version to the previously introduced Senate Bill 1176.

The President does not have the authority to mandate laws.

[Nicki]

It is true and it is horrible...

[Starlight 1]

Yes, Moonfire, it is true, and no, the president's critics didn't make it up. The president signed an Agricultural appropriations bill into law on November 18, 2011. That legislation contains language which reauthorizes and refinances the federal inspection program for slaughterhouses that process horse meat. This marks the first time in 6 years that the authorization request was granted- the program was originally defunded by a vote of Congress back in 2005, and annual refunding requests have been voted down every year since then until now. I can't post links because this computer I'm on won't allow me to, but I recommend that you go to either the WH website or the website of the Congressional Record and look it up. For the record, I OBJECT very strongly to the new law, although I don't necessarily oppose slaughter. The main reason WHY I object is because the inspection program which this law authorizes is going to be paid for by American TAXPAYERS instead by the owners of the companies that want to open and operate plants here. Most of those companies are foreign based (Cavel, which owned and operated the slaughterhouse outside of Chicago, has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium) and exist mainly to serve the Asian and European markets. When the slaughter plants were still open in 2007, the inspection program was costing American taxpayers about 5 MILLION dollars a year, while the companies that operated the plants were making profits of nearly 5 times that much. All their revenues were being sent back to Europe instead of becoming part of the US economy and helping to fund American jobs. Now that this new legislation has been signed into law, the same thing is going to happen all over again, only on a much larger scale. There are plans in the works to build slaughterhouses for horse meat in at least half a dozen US states, and more are planned for the future, because the Asian and European markets are so lucrative and the demand for American horsemeat is so huge right now. Whatever few jobs will be created by the new inspection program ( and there will be at least some, because the companies that own the plants can't sell or export their products without inspections that show the meat is safe for consumption) will be more than offset by the huge increases in taxes that we will ALL be paying in the future, once the plants are up and operating. But to me, the saddest part about this is that it WON'T SOLVE the equine over population problem in the US. In fact, it won't even scratch the surface. The only real way to solve that problem ( and by the way, the president and Congress are correct when they say there is one) is to put a stop to the rampant OVERBREEDING of horses that has been going on for decades now. Unless and until that is done (and there are numerous ways to do it that don't involve slaughter) then the situation isn't going to change or get any better, period.

Thanks for your support, Sandra- and welcome to the regular horse section. It's nice to have a fresh voice in here. ( For those of you who aren't familiar with her, Sandra is a regular from the Horse racing section who has been around for years.)

[Sandra S.]

Yes, it true, and here's a link to the very fact- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011...-industry/

FIRST- I don't hate President Obama, I just don't always agree with some things, I think the problems these days is we don't help our president lead and many lack the respect we should have for our President, compared to other countries we are blessed, and it's very sad to hate. Besides, to have the hardest job in the world is tough enough, the fact is you can't get 5 people in a room to agree little lone a whole country. This not going to be about politics but about something we who love horses are passionate about. As stated in another question regarding the horse slaughter matter- my answer follows-

"This is disappointing and to mention, very, very, VERY upsetting..we must try to stop this..Please help..this is what WE CAN DO! Don't talk about it just do it, massaging the message won't do, take a stand- see end of text on how..

Too add info for others -Horse slaughter plants are legal again in the United States Restrictions on horse meat processing for human consumption have been lifted.

Notwithstanding that 70% of Americans oppose horse slaughter, that President Obama made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption (horses can be sent to Mexico and Canada), that documentation of animal cruelty, slaughterhouse stench, fluid runoff and negative community impact exists, it is taxpayers that will bear the costs!

In a bipartisan effort, the House of Representatives and the United States Senate approved the Conference Committee report on spending bill H2112, which among other things, funds the United States Department of Agriculture. On November 18th, as the country was celebrating Thanksgiving, President Obama signed a law, allowing Americans to kill and eat horses. Essentially, one turkey was pardoned in the presence of worldwide media while in the shadows, buried under pages of fiscal regulation, millions of horses were sentenced to death.

Horse slaughter has been prohibited in the United States as funding for inspections of horses in transit and at slaughter houses was non-existent. This worked because the horse meat cannot be sold for human consumption without such inspections. The House version of the bill retained the de-funding language and the Senate version did not. The conference committee charged with reconciling the two opted to not include it. The result is that it is now legal to slaughter horses for humans to eat.


YOU CAN HELP- Together we can occupy President Obama’s mailbox with your message against horse slaughter.

Send a postcard today, more the better, asking the President to sign an Executive Order making it illegal to slaughter or transport a horse for slaughter; OR push Congress to quickly pass H.R. 2966 / S. 1176.

We need big numbers, so that means our horses need everyone to take this quick and easy step. I started on this already, thing is we will have people just ranting rather than helping, reason I didn't post here Y!A..we tend to get some rude individuals

So please join those who care, and let us all “occupy” the President’s mailbox until horse slaughter is banned.

CONTACT INFORMATION

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

If you prefer to call or fax,

Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111 *
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

Note : *If the comment line is continuously busy, please call the White House switchboard.

Thank you !

In agreement with another answer Starlight 1, she also stated the following that I agree with is "That the only only "REAL" way to solve that problem is to put a stop to the over breeding of horses which has been going on for decades now. Unless and until that is done, the situation isn't going to get any better".

Finally-

I believe an agreement reached by adjustment is necessary in over breeding, overall breeding needs to change anyway, stopping or cutting back might help them to work harder on that and work with what they have, rather than over breeding..compromise is a must, there are all types of solutions, however, we can't do it alone..please help.

[Ms. Equine 馬]

Yes he has legalized horse slaughter.....

[gallop]

You already have a couple informative answers on the refunding legislation. I would add that the funds for the USDA inspections have not been allocated as yet. The issue of horse slaughter and sale of horse meat for human consumption in the US is state legislated. Illinois, Texas, California and Oklahoma all ban the slaughter of horses for their meat and ban the sale of horse meat for human consumption. Another 43 states ban the sale of horse meat for human consumption.
So, there are only a handful of states that allow horse meat to be sold within their borders. If slaughterhouses open in any state banning sale of horse meat for human consumption, they will have only the foreign markets in Europe and Asia to sell to.
The majority of US citizens oppose the opening of US slaughterhouses as is evidenced by the state laws already in place, there is powerful opposition to these plants opening in the US again, and any investors in this business will be in for a fight. There are permits, EPA issues, and community opposition to overcome and all of that can delay the actual opening of a slaughterhouse.

The European market for our horse meat is due to dry up in the near future anyway, which any potential investors will be acutely aware of. The electronic microchip ID monitoring from birth to slaughter to be required for the new European database will virtually end the market for US horse meat, since our horses are not monitored in a veterinary database for life, and the vast majority would not qualify to render meat for human consumption in the European market even if they were monitored because of the various prohibited drugs that riding horses are routinely administered. If the Asian governments follow their lead, there will be no market for our contaminated horse meat.

So, Obama did sign a bill that allows for the refunding of USDA inspection of horse meat for human consumption. But to get from there to finding actual funding for inspections in a paper thin federal budget and getting past the enormous opposition and issues facing anyone seeking to open an equine slaughter facility may take some doing.

Add..................... This is a good blog pointing out some facts about the impact that opening a slaughterhouse has on a community, and how this business costs us as taxpayers to subsidize foreign profit.

http://our-compass.org/2011/11/29/obama-...in-the-us/

[Jenny]

It's legal in Ireland, that's all I know, we have 5 working slaughter houses, in 2010 10,000 horses went to slaughter 49% of them were thoroughbred racehorses

Slaugher is necissary sometimes, you do know that yea? What are we going to do with the thousands upon thousands of homeless horses? No one is going to take them all in slaughter is the only option sometimes.

When you grow up, have to provide for yourself, pay your own bills and work hard to make ends meet you will understand why some things are a necissary evil, even slaughter.

[Kitty]

Yes, he signed the bill that Congress sneaked this into because he really doesn't care. He only cares about his own power, socialism and getting re elected.

[Michaela]

Yes, it is true.