Staff
(Originally posted March 13th) Hundreds of horse processing/slaughter supporters packed three rooms at the Capitol for a rally and press conference earlier today.
With highway patrolman staged at the doors, animal rights activists mostly stayed away from the Capitol, avoiding any public skirmishes.
Unable to fit into the rooms where the rally was held, cowboy hats roamed the halls and rotunda, a stark reminder of the influence agriculture still has on the state. Many of the supporters signed and delivered cards to Governor Mary Fallin’s office urging her signature once the bill most assuredly reaches her desk.
Rep. Skye McNiel, the sponsor of House 1999, told the crowd that animal rights groups were spreading fear and misinformation. McNiel brought Speaker T.W. Shannon, who proclaimed that out-of-state animal rights groups won’t be dictating Oklahoma’s agricultural policy.
The event was sponsored by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau but virtually every agricultural group in the state was represented. Standing next to McNiel in the picture below is Rep. Scott Biggs, who is authoring the Right to Farm Act, a constitutional amendment to protect farmers from animal rights legislation seeking to curtail agriculture.
Let’s talk about horse slaughter and the ludicrous possibility that millions of dollars of USDA funding would go to inspect a process in clear violation of the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 for foreign-backed companies on U.S. soil for a foreign market?
Bovines and equines (cattle and horses) are both supposed to be “rendered insensible with a single (1) shot” before vivisection, before they hang on the hook, according to Federal Law. A large percentage (at least 40%) of horses regain consciousness on slaughter lines after they are hanging. The captive-bolt is ineffective at rendering them senseless and they are routinely shot in the head multiple times before their vivisection for harvesting is completed. Animal advocates are outraged over this because of the extremity of this barbaric practice. This is evidenced in the following video, as well as many that can be found on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwPqh43_NkM.
The specific fact that equines commonly have to be struck multiple times with the captive-bolt, or shotgun, is what makes commercial horse slaughter in the U.S. a clear violation of the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958. The meat produced contains dangerous levels of adrenaline and cortisol, in addition to all the prohibited substances and medications given U.S. horses. It’s bad meat and baaad business.