Horses and American Values

from the Augusta Free Press
submitted by Julia Durfee
06-16-2004

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Sixth District, says he is an American, and as an American his values are righteous, so of course his words are golden truths, such as:

"It's appalling," said Goodlatte, who in 2000 proposed a bill to ban Internet gambling that ultimately was defeated. "It cannot be allowed to stand that another nation can impose its values on the U.S. and make it a trade issue."

OK, Bob, if the above statement is true, why are you bending over for the European Union and the World Trade Organization instead of listening to the voices of the people?

Why, America, are we allowing Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Agricultural Committee, to dictate to us, the American people that own, raise and love horses, that horses are livestock, and as such should be fully taxed as companion animals and should be slaughtered for their meat?

When did Bob Goodlatte become the defining voice of America?

The truth is that 91 percent of Americans are totally against horses being slaughtered for human consumption, but Goodlatte won't listen. Ninety-one percent of voters do not want our most beloved agricultural commodity, the American horse, being slaughtered and packaged for sale in European Union countries, but the congressman turns a deaf ear.

H.R. 857 is a House bill currently languishing in the House Agricultural Committee that would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in America, something that Americans have clearly stated that they want, but Goodlatte believes he has the right to ignore the will of the people.

Who eats horsemeat, and where does it come from? The majority of horsemeat is consumed in France, Belgium, Japan, Italy and Switzerland, as well as smaller pockets of people of French descent in Canada and other European Union member countries.

Whose horses do they eat? Well, they don't eat their own country's horses; they eat horsemeat shipped from China and North America. They eat American horses slaughtered right here in the good old U.S. of A.

Have you ever seen burgers made with USDA-approved horsemeat? Can you buy them at Wal-Mart or in your local grocery store? Why not? Because simply put, it is not in the American culture to eat horsemeat.

Horses mean so much to the American dream and American spirit that for the majority of people the very thought of slaughter is something that they simply cannot fathom, and it disgusts them. We hear about the culinary tastes of our international friends on National Geographic and recoil from the images on television showing peoples and tribes eating dogs and various insects.

Have you ever heard freethinking, forward-moving world superpower America ever tell these other countries what they can eat? Never once, and in fact, we are happy to supply other countries with whatever agricultural products of ours that they may need.

But not our horses, because the simple truth is that WE DO NOT EAT HORSES in America. We value our horses. From the toddler who squeals in delight at all the pretty horses in the parade to the little child on a pony ride at the carnival to the little boy playing cowboy with a wooden hobby horse to the teenager with horse figurines on her dressing table to the busy woman who fantasizes about owning her own horse to the boardroom executive who still wants to be a cowboy, WE VALUE OUR HORSES.

We also value the American lifestyle and culture; a lifestyle and culture that happily includes horses. Just because another country, another culture, another lifestyle far away from America's borders eats horsemeat does not mean that they should impose their values on us.

Find out about the issue. Research it, question it and find out for yourself, and if you agree that we should not allow other nations to tell us what we should export, tell Bob Goodlatte that horsemeat is not beef, and that it's not his place to tell us how we should feel.

Don't wait until there are no more horses left to save. There are currently 224 cosponsors to H.R. 857, The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

If you want information, contact Tom or Julia Durfee at The Laughing Horse Sanctuary, 8317 Grassland Drive, Sandy Level, Va. 24161, LaughingHorse@PMTnet.

We're here to state the facts ... even to Bob Goodlatte.

Julia Durfee is the state coordinator for The American Horse Defense Fund and a member of The National Horse Protection Coalition.

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