NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
VEW Releases
White Paper on Horse Slaughter
Washington, DC (January 9,
2008) – Veterinarians for Equine Welfare (VEW) has just issued a new
white paper entitled “Horse Slaughter – Its Ethical Impact and Subsequent
Response of the Veterinary Profession.” The white paper was created to address
misinformation being circulated by the American Veterinary Medical Association
(AVMA) and other organizations opposing a potential ban on horse slaughter in
the US and exportation of horses for slaughter.
In December of 2007 several VEW
veterinarians met with legislators in Washington, DC to discuss the American
Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311), a bill that will prohibit the
slaughter of horses in the US or their export for the same purpose. They were
shocked by the amount of misinformation purposely being spread by the AVMA and
groups including the horse slaughterhouses themselves who are all part of a
coalition called the Horse Welfare Coalition.
To address this, VEW has released a
white paper clearly addressing the inaccuracies. The paper contains detailed
supporting information, something largely absent from materials produced by the
pro-horse slaughter advocates.
“I submitted a letter to the editor of
the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in response
to the AVMA’s latest ‘fact sheet’ on horse slaughter but it was rejected,”
stated Dr. Nick Dodman a co-founder of VEW. “It is a shame to see a professional
organization work so hard to undermine something such as the horse slaughter ban
based on speculation and unsubstantiated information.” Dr. Nick Dodman went on
to say, “as veterinarians we are bound a code of ethics to prevent animal
suffering, not hinder animal protection measures in order to promote economic
interests.”
A recent release from the AVMA points
to the dramatic increase of horses being sent to slaughter in Mexico from the
US. While the increase is disconcerting, advocates of the American Horse
Slaughter Prevention Act have always indicated this would happen without passage
of the federal ban. It has been because of opposition to the bill by the AVMA
and other pro-horse slaughter groups that the federal ban has thus far failed to
pass. Had they worked with those advocating the humane treatment of horses,
horse slaughter and the export of horses to Mexico would have been halted years
ago and enormous animal suffering would have been relieved.
“It is time to stop the rhetoric and
political backhanded tricks that have been blocking passage of the American
Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/ S. 311),” said Dr. Theo Antikas,
another co-founder of VEW. “We must all work together for positive change that
will help end the suffering of tens of thousands of American
horses.”
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For More
Information:
Email: info@vetsforequinewelfare.org
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