[spinandslide]

OK..of the court cases with supporting evidence..only 2 were from before 2005..the rest were from 05 and beyond..after the USDA was denyed the funding for inspections.

I wonder if they had anything to do with each other?

[Stormyheart6160]

Originally Posted by Beeks

OK...well then I am back to what I was going to say. That would make our Governmental Departments open to private hire by foreign countries. That just seems wrong anyway you look at it.

SUPREME COURT: Hey USDA, we need you to go to Iowa and inspect a couple of dairy farms that have been receiving complaints.

USDA: Sorry man, no can do. We have a couple of private gigs in Florida on some Cuban owned gator farms that pay better, but maybe we can pencil you in for next month.

A business operating in the U.S. whether the product is for the U.S. or not, should be regulated by the U.S. I do not understand why there is a gray area here. You can bet your sweet behind, if meat left those plants tainted and was consumed in Japan, it would become an international incident that we could not hide from by saying...."hey, we tried but they didn't want us to."

I understand what you're saying, but think of it like this.....they wanted to process their product (horsemeat) in this country and have the USDA paid by our government to inspect their meat. Any food processed in this country must be inspected by the USDA. The USDA still has to inspect their meat, whether the government pays them or the plants themselves pay them. When the government stopped providing the funds for these foreigned owned companies, they still are by law, required to have their meat inspected by the USDA. They refused to pay them, so without inspections, they cannot process it here! It doesn't have anything to do with "private hire" of the USDA.

[Stormyheart6160]

Originally Posted by spinandslide

This has alot of information, but I will admit, it kind of turned me off the first thing I read on her site

The goal for many opposing the ban on slaughter is to make horse
the next red meat in the United States

I dont agree with this and find it kind of "scare tact-y"...horse will never replace beef..EVER..

I read through alot of the court documents..as with most trucking, there is alot of paperwork involved and I see alot of them got cited for lack of paperwork..pure laziness or sneakiness there.

I did read about the incidents regarding the transportation of crippled or blind horses..which again, I agree is wrong.

Im curious, all the photos on the website..were they taken before or after the USDA was denyed the money to do plant inspections??? I will have to go and see if I cant find the dates..

ah ha! 2005 is when it happened..

Yes, 2005. They did not lose the government funding to pay for USDA inspections until 2007, I believe it was. Which is the same year the plants were shut down. Which is also the same year the new transportation law of slaughter horses was enacted (Dec. 2007).

[spinandslide]

Originally Posted by Stormyheart6160

Yes, 2005. They did not lose the government funding to pay for USDA inspections until 2007, I believe it was. Which is the same year the plants were shut down. Which is also the same year the new transportation law of slaughter horses was enacted (Dec. 2007).

No, it was 2005...see here?

In 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate each approved funding limitation amendments barring USDA from using funds to conduct horse slaughter inspections.

per Beek's post 2 pages back.

[Beeks]

Originally Posted by spinandslide

The goal for many opposing the ban on slaughter is to make horse
the next red meat in the United States

This is not only a scare tactic, but completely and utterly false. The intent to turn the U.S. into an equine feasting nation has never been part of the pro/anti-slaughter debate. It is absolute ridiculousness.

BUT

If you were uninformed, gullible and have a voting card, then by golly you better vote against slaughter because as sure as we eat apple pie and drive Chevrolets (maybe not for much longer) we should be a beef eating nation and bet on or ride horses.

I am sorry Stormy, I know this is not your tactic, nor have you ever tried to use it but it is the type of tactic that discredits your stand.

Not only that, but the people you may have climb on board the anti band wagon because of this statement, are gonna be some of the dumbest people on the face of the planet. Good luck managing them

[Beeks]

Originally Posted by Stormyheart6160

I understand what you're saying, but think of it like this.....they wanted to process their product (horsemeat) in this country and have the USDA paid by our government to inspect their meat. Any food processed in this country must be inspected by the USDA. The USDA still has to inspect their meat, whether the government pays them or the plants themselves pay them. When the government stopped providing the funds for these foreigned owned companies, they still are by law, required to have their meat inspected by the USDA. They refused to pay them, so without inspections, they cannot process it here! It doesn't have anything to do with "private hire" of the USDA.

So is the meat the only thing the USDA inspects?? Do they even have anything to do with the humane treatment of the animals? I am beginning to think the anti slaughter movement was approved because the government lost control of the horse slaughter situation through their own rulings and saw it as a good way to get the monkey off their back.

Now the monkey has turned into an enormous primate at the door, and they continue to point fingers at each other, over whose fault it is, and who should answer the dang door.

[SaddleTrail]

It really surprises me about the truckers who are hauling these animals.

There are weigh stations they have to go through, they must have a Bill of Laden, ALL of there paper work must be in order or they will get "red lined" which means they can not move that truck until the violations are fixed.

If they are driving DD's with horses there Bill of Laden must state on it where they are headed. If they don't deliver where they are suppose to go and they get caught that is a federal offense with massive fines.

They also have Federal Brand Inspectors, they stop every livestock truck and check them. Here in Calif, there is the a check station at the border, there is another weigh station a huge one at Cottonwood. Ever since 9/11 they are pulling over Uhaul and any other truck with a box body.

I find it hard to believe that so many truckers are willing to lose their trucks, licenses, and get fined over hauling horses when there are so many other loads they can haul.

[spinandslide]

Originally Posted by Beeks

So is the meat the only thing the USDA inspects?? Do they even have anything to do with the humane treatment of the animals? I am beginning to think the anti slaughter movement was approved because the government lost control of the horse slaughter situation through their own rulings and saw it as a good way to get the monkey off their back.

Now the monkey has turned into an enormous primate at the door, and they continue to point fingers at each other, over whose fault it is, and who should answer the dang door.

Good question! I thought the USDA covered all aspects of slaughtering animals?

[Stormyheart6160]

Originally Posted by Beeks

This is not only a scare tactic, but completely and utterly false. The intent to turn the U.S. into an equine feasting nation has never been part of the pro/anti-slaughter debate. It is absolute ridiculousness.

BUT

If you were uninformed, gullible and have a voting card, then by golly you better vote against slaughter because as sure as we eat apple pie and drive Chevrolets (maybe not for much longer) we should be a beef eating nation and bet on or ride horses.

I am sorry Stormy, I know this is not your tactic, nor have you ever tried to use it but it is the type of tactic that discredits your stand.

Not only that, but the people you may have climb on board the anti band wagon because of this statement, are gonna be some of the dumbest people on the face of the planet. Good luck managing them

I'm not against the "scare tactics". I see them used frequently by the pro side also.....example: without slaughter, all those horses are going to die, slow, horrendous deaths from starvation.

[Stormyheart6160]

Originally Posted by Beeks

So is the meat the only thing the USDA inspects?? Do they even have anything to do with the humane treatment of the animals? I am beginning to think the anti slaughter movement was approved because the government lost control of the horse slaughter situation through their own rulings and saw it as a good way to get the monkey off their back.

Now the monkey has turned into an enormous primate at the door, and they continue to point fingers at each other, over whose fault it is, and who should answer the dang door.

I'm not sure who was in charge of overseeing how the animals were treated before being slaughtered. Maybe the USDA, but I honestly am not sure about it. Probably so, tho. I know they do it at the other plants for other animals....they make sure animals are treated humanely.

Dang! I hadn't even thought about that one. Now, I'm gonna have to do some more research to find out. I'd like to know the answer to that one for certain.