Senator Kloucek & Citizens of South Dakota - Do You Really Want a Horse Slaughter Plant in Your Community?

Dear Senator Kloucek, citizens of South Dakota, et al,

Funding a horse slaughter facility may have seemed like a good economic development idea, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The vast majority of American citizens are vehemently opposed to the idea of slaughtering American horses for overseas human consumption. True horse enthusiasts view horses as companion animals, and would no more send their horses off to a slaughterhouse than they would their cats and dogs. Countless polls have indicated that 70-85% of Americans are opposed to killing our American horses for overseas human consumption.

The area where this facility would be built would forever be scarred. The few jobs a horse processing facility creates are low paying and attract workers with no marketable skills and lacking in ethics. Horses are not livestock and are not meant to be food source animals. Companion animals should not be terrorized and killed in this manner. This is not humane euthanasia. Not by a long shot. The same things you are viewing from the “downed” cows videos related to the beef recall go on with the horses and is equally repulsive. And horses are much smarter, and flight animals by nature, so they try to elude their killers – resulting in even more inhumane acts.

The environmental impact is massive. Have you researched the negative impact to drinking water sources, sewer systems and treatment plants, the horrible smells and sounds coming from the plants that were formerly in operation in Texas and Illinois? Are you aware the former Mayor Paula Bacon, from Kauffman, Texas, is going to Capitol Hill in March to speak about the horrors her town experienced as a result of being “neighbors” with the infamous Dallas Crown horse killing plant? Do your citizens really want this sort of development?

I work in economic development in the state in which I reside, so I know a little bit about what I speak. This is not the type of industry you want to attract to your area. You won't be creating many jobs, and they certainly won't attract the higher paying, better educated members of society you would like to have in your community. And do the current community members deserve to be forced to live in an area with these issues? Will they want to continue to live in those communities after this slaughter plant is built?

The federal ban (S 311/HR 503) on slaughter of horses for human consumption and their export out of the country for the same is going to be voted on this session. It is known as the American Horse Slaughter Protection Act. It would be very foolhardy to fund an industry that is going to come to an end in America.

Don’t try to make this about “anti-meat” activists. I love a good steak, love a good burger. But Flicka isn’t a food source animal, and I am not about to condone eating her. I am not a member of PETA. I am however, a volunteer at a rescue that saves slaughter bound horses and gives them another chance at life. According to the USDA, 92% of the horses ending up at slaughter houses are young, healthy and not dangerous. Again, I know firsthand of what I speak.

After carefully considering these important facts, I am certain you'll realize that you would be doing your state – your taxpayers – a huge disservice to bring this blight into their communities.

Most respectfully,

Lorri Roush Shaver