Horse Slaughter: News and Announcements

HORSE-EATING FOREIGNERS ARE BACK
1/23/06, John Hanchette, Niagara Falls Reporter
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OLEAN -- The recent laudable attempt of Congress to end slaughter of American horses for consumption in foreign lands has once again turned into a huge saddle sore for those who care about the equine species.

As usual, it's due to bureaucratic dithering and wrongheaded reasoning in the ranks of the federal government -- specifically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

When this column last November carried consecutive pieces about the strong agreement in both chambers of Congress to cut off funding for USDA horsemeat inspectors beginning March 10, 2006 -- and thereby stop the horse slaughter in three American plants (two in Texas and one in Illinois) -- it drew a huge response from readers, many of them previously unaware the reprehensible business existed within our borders.

The House of Representatives voted 269-158 and the Senate 69-28 for the halt in butchering -- numbers of agreement hard to find in this rancorous Congress. The members of both houses thought they were putting a stop to the carnage that sends the meat of about 65,000 killed American horses a year -- including thoroughbreds, trotters, wild mustangs supposedly protected by the feds, and a previous Kentucky Derby winner -- to Japan and Europe (mostly France and Belgium).

But, no. Now we learn the USDA is trying to tap dance around the legislation that was contained in the agriculture appropriations bill that President George Bush signed into law in November. Now we learn the overseas owners of the three American killing plants have quietly petitioned the USDA to approve a "fee-for-service" private inspection system that would allow the slaughterers to continue shipping horse flesh abroad for foreign dinner tables. And the plant owners have asked the USDA to do this without notifying the American public.

The USDA sometimes allows the fee-for-service program for the exporting of exotic game flesh like deer, elk, bison, even rabbits. Legally, there are several things wrong with this furtive and backhanded attempt to sneak away from American law, but two stand out. One is it constitutes a clear and direct avoidance of congressional intent. Two, it would be a direct violation of the Federal Meat Inspection Act -- which mandates that any flesh bound for human consumption must be inspected by USDA employees before and after the animal is killed. Does this reality impress the USDA?

Noooooo, it does not. That huge agency's general counsel, James Michael Kelly, has offered written opinion that the funding amendment, which drew bipartisan support of both House and Senate, "does not prevent horse slaughter at all" but merely eliminates some salaries and expenses in the next USDA budget. And Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns appears ready to allow this screw-you-Congress exception to go forward. Faithful readers will recall I predicted this turn in my November columns.

Supporters of the November amendment are furious.

"There was never any confusion" about the intent of the amendment, says Rep. John Sweeney, a New York Republican. He terms it "beyond our imagination that the USDA would flout its mandate ... working on ways to circumvent this law."

Animal welfare groups are bombarding Congress and the USDA with warnings that this would set a precedent of simply buying the services of the executive branch while ignoring a policy directive from Congress. (You are thinking, what else is new?)

The French and Belgian owners of the killing plants in Texas and Illinois seem unconcerned with another angle observed in this column in November: that their product is probably tainted because most American horses commonly receive a pain-killing drug called phenylbutazone, or "bute" -- a known carcinogen, as determined by the federal government's National Toxicology Program.

Instead, they are moaning about the prospect of shuttering their kill factories in March.

It would be "a tragedy for us" and about 50 workers, the general manager of the Cavel International abattoir in DeKalb, Ill., told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The fee-for-service petition to the USDA contends closing the three plants in Texas and Illinois would trigger "substantial economic damage contrary to the public good," amounting to a $41 million loss to local economies in those states.

A few observations and some advice for you foreign horse-killers:

One -- Take your $41 million and cram it. The Pentagon can blow that amount of taxpayer money on idle pursuits before noon on a good day.

Two -- If you don't give a big rat's patootie that your customers in Paris, Tokyo, and elsewhere may die of cancer because of your actions, then neither do I.

Three -- American citizens, you better keep a close eye on this crowd in the executive branch. They are the harbingers of things to come. They will sell anything. If the current administration, in the name of globalization, is prepared to accept this nose-thumbing for money at our legislative branch, they'll allow anything in the name of commerce. The rule of law is truly endangered under our current federal operation.

Four -- If you readers want to get your two cents in, here's how to contact some of the culprits: Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns' phone is 202-720-3631 or 202-720-9133. His e-mail is mike.johanns@usda.gov. If you want to bitch about the shipping of known carcinogenic "food" abroad, call Bonnie Buntain, director of the federal Animal Production Food Safety Program, at 202-690-2687.

On another tack:

INTERESTING, IMPORTANT NUMBERS

A Niagara Falls Reporter Index,
in the style trademarked by "Harper's Magazine"

Taxpayer cost in 2000 for classification system that keeps federal secrets: $4.3 billion

Taxpayer cost in 2004 for classification system that keeps federal secrets: $7.2 billion

Income ratio of corporate chief executive officers in 1975 to average workers: 40 to 1

Income ratio of corporate chief executive officers in 2003 to average workers: 361 to 1

Number of Americans earning less than $8.70 an hour: 30 million

Time it takes average American worker earning minimum wage to make $10,712: One year

Time it takes average American CEO to earn same amount: 2.5 hours

Percentage of Americans in 1964 who said they had confidence in government: 76

Percentage of Americans in 2005 who said they had confidence in government: 19

Since 1978, number of years required before presidential papers become public: 12

By George W. Bush's order, time possibly required for presidents since 1980: Eternity

Number of species threatened by Dubya's plan to wipe out roadless areas in national forests: 220

Number of wild acres targeted for "asset management" by timber, oil and mining: 58.5 million

Chance that drinking water in an airliner has dangerous level of disease-causing pathogens: 1 in 7

Number of states with advisories on dangerous levels of mercury contamination in fish: 21

Number of coal-burning power plants in America: 1,100

Number of estimated tons of mercury they release annually into air: 50

Percentage of mercury emission reduction possible over four years under available technology: 90

Energy industry contributions to Bush administration before it disbanded task force developing such emission rules: $100 million

Percentage of mercury reduction required under new Bush administration rules: 21

Number of years given energy industry to do it: 5

Number of years given energy industry to reduce mercury emissions by 70 percent: 13

Ratio of American women of childbearing age with unsafe mercury levels in their flesh: 1 in 6

Number of environmental regulations rolled back during George W. Bush's first term: 400-plus

Predicted percentage of reduced hydropower generation in Great Lakes region by 2050 due to decreased water levels: 15

Estimated percentage of current e-mails that consist of spam and sales pitches: 51

Estimated percentage of monthly increase in bogus e-mails attempting to scam consumers into disclosing credit card and bank account information: 52

Estimated life span for which most nuclear power plants are designed: 40 years

Span of most federal government licenses for nuclear power plants: 40 years

Number of the 103 operating nuclear power reactors in U.S. that have received 20-year federal extensions on their original licenses: 32

Number of nuclear power plants with pending license-extension applications: 16

Number of nuclear power plant license-extension applications that have been rejected: 0

Minimum number of years a nuclear power plant must operate to earn back energy consumed to build and fuel the plant: 10

Maximum number of years a wind power field takes to earn back same: 1

Maximum number of years a solar power unit takes to earn back same: 3

Amount of taxpayer subsidies granted nuclear energy industry in Bush 2005 energy bill to build new reactors for first time in 25 years: $6 billion

Federal tax breaks granted in 2005 to nuclear energy sector to build new reactors: $7 billion

Nuclear industry 2004 contributions to Bush/Cheney election effort and National Republican Committee: $8 million

Average annual high-level radioactive waste generated by a typical nuclear power reactor: 20 tons

Scientifically accepted methods of safely disposing of this waste: 0

(Sources: Creators Syndicate, The Washington Spectator, The Wilderness Society, Environmental Protection Agency, Harper's Magazine, Waterkeeper Alliance, Union of Concern Scientists, Bank of America, Public Citizen, Center for Public Integrity)