Prohibits the slaughter of horses for human consumption

Summary of provisions

The Agriculture and Markets Law shall be amended by adding a new section 380. This section will make it unlawful to slaughter a horse for human consumption. It shall be unlawful to purchase, trade, offer, import or export a horse or horse flesh, in any way with the intent of it being slaughtered for human consumption. It shall also be unlawful to buy or sell at retail, trade, barter or offer horse flesh if there is prior knowledge that the meat is intended for human consumption. The term horse, includes all members of the equine family, including horses, ponies, donkeys, mules, asses, and burros. The term horse flesh means any part of the horse's body. A violation of this law will be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by both.

Justification

104,899 horses were slaughtered in the United States during 2006, the last full year of horse slaughtering in the US, according to the Government Accountability Office. In 2007, after Congressional approval of an appropriations bill that included a rider prohibiting the USDA from financing the inspection of horse meat, all US horse slaughter facilities closed. From 2006 through 2010, US horse for slaughter exports to Canada increased by 148%. In 2010, 137,984 horses were exported to Canada for slaughter. The vast majority of these horses are being slaughtered for human consumption abroad, mainly in Europe and Japan. In 2011, that 2007 rider was removed by Congress in an omnibus spending act. The door has potentially been re-opened for horse slaughter within the United States as a horse meat plant in New Mexico nears approval in 2013.

Pet horses, work horses, racehorses and even wild horses go to slaughter. Most arrive at the slaughterhouse via livestock auctions where,often unknown to the seller, they are bought by middlemen working for the slaughter plants. These so-called "killer buyers" travel from one auction to the next collecting young, old, sick and healthy animals until their trucks are full. Some are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time without food, water or rest, and suffer horribly along the way.

Callous treatment of horses at the slaughterhouse often results in their prolonged suffering. Panicked horses are prodded and beaten off the truck and into the kill-chute. The improper use of stunning equipment, designed to render the animal unconscious with a swift shot

to the head, means that horses sometimes endure repeated blows and remain conscious during their own slaughter.

This bill would prohibit any person from slaughtering a horse where such person knows or has reason to know that such horse will be used for human consumption. Furthermore, it prohibits any person from selling, bartering, giving away, purchasing, possessing, transporting, delivering or receiving horseflesh where such person knows or should know that such horseflesh is intended for human consumption. This bill also provides penalties for violations in an effort to ensure that such cruelty and blatant disregard of one of America's most majestic and noble creatures will no longer be tolerated in New York State.

Legislative history

2013-2014: Referred to Agriculture 2011-2012: Referred to Agriculture 2009-10: Referred to Agriculture; Held for consideration 2007-08: Referred to Agriculture 2005-06: Referred to Codes; Passed Senate 2004: Referred to Agriculture

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.