GAO Asked to Investigate Cruelty to Horses and Obama and Vilsack Asked to Push for Ban on Horse Slaughter

Animals' Angels and Animal Law Coalition have requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate the failure of government agencies to enforce laws requiring humane treatment of horses during transport to slaughter and at the slaughter houses. Alarming cruelty and violations of the law have been found to have occurred at U.S. slaughter houses, refuting claims the slaughter of horses was humane in the U.S.

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Quote startIrrefutable evidence of brutality is already quite plentiful, unfortunately. We believe the GAO's report will be the definitive wakeup call to the new USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Obama administration to push for an immediate ban on horse slaughter.Quote end

Ithaca, New York (PRWEB) June 15, 2009

The Animal Law Coalition and Animals Angels have asked the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate gross violations of humane laws and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in connection with the commercial slaughter of horses.

The request for a GAO investigation comes in the wake of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents which were subsequently released by the USDA. Alarming cruelty and violations of regulations were documented in several hundred photos taken during 2005 at U.S. slaughterhouses by USDA investigators.

Though horse slaughter ended in the U.S. in 2007, American horses are still sold for slaughter in Mexico and Canada. Proponents of horse slaughter have insisted on the re-opening of horse slaughter plants, saying U.S. laws protect horses from cruelty unlike Mexico and Canada.

However, documents and photos released by the USDA refute such claims. The FOIA shows horses bound for slaughter in the U.S. endured shockingly cruel treatment. Photographs documented horses with legs ripped off, eyeballs hanging on their cheeks and other severe injuries.

Earlier GAO documents raise additional disturbing humane issues. A 2004 GAO report found horses were slaughtered while conscious, which are considered significant violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

Sonja Meadows, Executive Director of Animals' Angels, a Maryland based animal welfare organization, said, "We are asking the GAO to thoroughly examine the ineffectiveness of laws in preventing documented cruelty and inhumane practices. It seems clear from the USDA FOIA, earlier GAO reports, ours and others' investigations, that horse slaughter is a predatory business whose economics require cruel and inhumane practices. It is definitely not, as horse slaughter advocates would have the public believe, a service motivated by altruistic concerns or humane practices."

Horses are slaughtered for consumption overseas, primarily in parts of Europe and Asia. A USDA study shows that 92% of the American horses at slaughter are young, healthy and without behavioral problems, refuting claims that horse slaughter provides a service in disposing of horses that are old, lame, sick or crazy.

Meadows said, "Irrefutable evidence of brutality is already quite plentiful, unfortunately. We believe the GAO's report will be the definitive wakeup call to the new USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and the Obama administration to push for an immediate ban on horse slaughter."

The documents including photos released by the USDA can be found at http://www.kaufmanzoning.net.

For a copy of the GAO request and accompanying photos, go to http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/958

For additional information on horse slaughter investigations and information regarding the export of horses for slaughter, go to http://www.animals-angels.com.

About Animals Angels:
Animals' Angels is a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization with fulltime investigators in the United States and Canada. We work with law enforcement and government agencies to end animal cruelty and improve conditions for farm animals. We are in the field every week, trailing livestock trucks, visiting markets, collecting stations and slaughter plants. For more information please go to http://www.animals-angels.com.

About Animal Law Coalition:
Animal Law Coalition works to stop animal cruelty and suffering through legislation, administrative agency action, and litigation. ALC offers legal analysis of the difficult and controversial issues relating to animals. Join ALC and together we can take action for animals nationally and in your state and community.

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