​The conditions for breeding and slaughtering horses in Uruguay, Argentina and Canada, from which a large part of the horse meat marketed in supermarkets in Europe, are denounced Wednesday in videos broadcast by German, Swiss NGOs and French.

Agonizing horses, foals dead from cold on the ground at a Bouvry-Export company center near Calgary, "the biggest horse slaughterhouse in Canada", are shown in a video relayed in France by the Welfarm Association of protection of farm animals, which castigates in a statement "the true face of horse meat".

The images filmed in January and February 2019, showing animals trembling, sick, lying on frozen ground, were filmed by the Swiss associations Tierschutzbund Zurich and German Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF).

In Uruguay and Argentina, the images show lean animals, or parked in thousands without care in front of slaughterhouses.

​The Americas is the world's leading producer of equine meat. Of the approximately 4.8 million equines slaughtered worldwide in 2012, 41% were in North America, 11% in South America, 11% in Central America and only 8% in Europe (24% in Asia, 2% in Oceania and 3% in Africa), according to FAO statistics.

​In France, where 10,200 equines were slaughtered in 2017, or 2800 tons carcass equivalent, the consumption of horse meat is very marginal. It represents only 0.2% of the quantities of meat that are bought by households in 2018, according to the statistics of the interprofessional meat Interbev.

Nevertheless, according to Welfarm, in 2018 France imported more than 4,300 tons of horse meat from the three countries mentioned in the NGO survey (Argentina, Uruguay, Canada), and 77% of the horse meat sold in hypermarkets came from that country.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for Bouvry-Export said his company was "strictly controlled by the Canadian health inspection agency."

"Everyone can come to see for themselves," said the spokesperson on condition of anonymity, saying that "activism is out of control at the moment, that's all." that I can say.

On Wednesday morning, the French horse meat import companies such as SNVC (Normandy meat and brokerage company) that imports meat from Uruguay, or Equus, which imports directly from Bouvry-Export in Canada, were unreachable.

Representatives Steve Cohen (TN-09), Kurt Schrader (D-OR), Ted Yoho (R-FL), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Chris Collins (R-NY) pen letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asking him “to do everything possible to vigorously enforce the Horse Protection Act” as the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration begins in Shelbyville, Tennessee.  

“We encourage the USDA to ensure a strong and consistent enforcement presence at this year’s Celebration, and to utilize the full range of both objective and subjective inspection protocols developed by the department.”  See the full text of the letter here.  

The five letter signers were the lead sponsors of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R.693, that passed the House last month by a vote of 333 to 96. The bill would stop the intentional injury to horses. 

​The 81st annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration began today and runs through August 31. 

The Music City of Tennessee takes a stand against horse soring. On August 6, 2019, the Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution RS2019-1868 in support of The Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R.693 / S.1007.

Led by Councilwoman Kathleen Murphy, the Resolution also urges both U.S. Senators from Tennessee, Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn, to cosponsor the bill and support its passage into federal law. 

The Council will commence this October. A proposal to ban the exhibiting of Big Lick Tennessee Walking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses and Racking Horses that are fitted with the Big Lick “action devices” will be discussed.

​It's a historic day for horse protection in The United States! The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act by a vote of 333 to 96.

The bill seeks to strengthen the Horse Protection Act and end the torturous practice of soring Tennessee Walking, Racking, and Spotted Saddle Horses.

Soring is an egregious form of animal abuse and has plagued the equine world for six decades.  All for the sake of winning a blue ribbon, soring is the intentional infliction of pain to horses' front limbs by applying caustic chemicals such as mustard oil and kerosene, or inserting sharp objects into the horses' hooves to create an exaggerated gait known as the “Big Lick".

Once passed into federal law, the PAST Act would ban the use of painful large stacked shoes and ankle chains and would also eliminate the existing system of self-regulation by the industry and toughen penalties for violators of the Horse Protection Act. 

The PAST Act has been blocked for years by a handful of well-placed lawmakers, but a new House rule triggering consideration of any measure that attracts 290 or more cosponsors brought the issue to the floor. The PAST garnered 307 cosponsors, and was  led by U.S. Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) and Ted Yoho (R-FL), co-chairs of the Congressional Veterinary Medicine Caucus, along with Reps. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Ron Estes (R-KS), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Chris Collins (R-NY). 

Click here to find out if your U.S. Representative voted YES on The PAST Act, H.R.693. 

​Ejiao is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine that supposedly treats anemia, reproductive issues and insomnia – though the alleged medicinal properties are unproven. Nonetheless, it's an ingredient in tonics and face creams. Sales of the products are a multimillion dollar business. And it's quite literally killing the world's donkeys.

Millions of donkeys each year are slaughtered so manufacturers in China can boil the skins to extract the gelatin, which is used to make ejiao. According to a 2016 report from Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua, around 4 million donkey hides are needed each year to produce enough ejiao for the market in China, but the annual supply of donkeys from China is fewer than 1.8 million. To fill the gap, China is importing donkey skins from developing countries where there are populations of relatively cheap animals.

"The industrial scale at which these animals are being slaughtered is an issue of massive concern," says Simon Pope, rapid response manager at Donkey Sanctuary. "It's probably the biggest issue facing donkeys ever." This year Brooke of the United Kingdom became the latest international animal welfare group to condemn the donkey skins trade.

​Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania are among the countries where the donkey population is threatened by voracious demand for their skins, according to animal welfare charities. The donkey population in Botswana, for example, has decreased 39 percent from 229,000 in 2014 to 142,000 in 2016, according to SPANA. In early 2018, SPANA staff in Mali reported that 2,000 donkeys were being sold for slaughter every week at the country's seven major livestock markets.

Dr. Matthew Stone, deputy director general, International Standards and Science, at the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), believes the situation is worsening. Because of demand for ejiao, the legal and illegal trade of donkey products "has recently increased, causing major impacts on the rural livelihoods, donkey populations health and welfare and the environment worldwide," he says.

The problem is also spreading in countries such as Brazil.
"The industry is growing so fast that existing laws haven't caught up," says Pope of Donkey Sanctuary, who visited the country last fall. He interviewed people on the ground who told him that donkeys might be transported long distances for several days by truck and are given no food or water while they await slaughter in overcrowded pens.

Stolen Livestock
Some of these donkeys are stolen from their owners, according to reports obtained by the animal rights groups. For example, 705 donkeys were stolen in Kajiado County, Kenya between December 2016 and March 2017, according to Brooke East Africa — as reported by donkey owners to the group's local partner organizations.

And while many donkeys are slaughtered in legal, government-sanctioned slaughterhouses, these stolen donkeys often end up in small-scale slaughterhouses, which kill them under inhumane conditions, according to a report from Donkey Sanctuary.

This kind of inhumane donkey slaughter is especially acute in Africa, the groups say, where China has a strong presence because of business ventures, such as building large infrastructure projects.

One of the pilfered animals belonged to Francis Dayou of Kenya, who owned a donkey that transported water in the town of Naivasha. In his community, "donkeys are very important," he says. People rely on them for transporting farm goods, people and water. But his donkey, named Master, was stolen in 2017.

That was "very painful," recalls Dayou. Without income from transporting water, he had difficulty paying his high school fees. He had to do lower-paying work: transporting goods with a wheelbarrow, odd jobs on construction sites. Dayou reported the theft to the police, but they couldn't trace the donkey. He's well aware of the donkey skins trade. "It should be closed straight away. All donkeys are being taken away," he says.

Even when owners willingly sell a spare donkey to make money, they may not realize the long-term impact on their livelihoods. With skins in such high demand, prices for donkeys have doubled, tripled or quadrupled so owners can't replace donkeys they have sold or buy new ones if their donkeys are stolen.
In Kenya, for example, prices jumped from $40 per animal to over $160 from February to August 2017

Seeking Solutions
Breeding more donkeys is not a solution. With a 10-to-14 month period of gestation, the animals can't be bred fast enough to fulfill demands for ejiao. Donkeys are also prone to hyperlipemia, a stress-related condition that can cause them to drop dead or suffer spontaneous abortions.

"If you were going to breed an animal, donkeys wouldn't be top of most people's list," Pope of Donkey Sanctuary observes. So the charity is lobbying African governments to enforce existing restrictions on the skin trade. It also lobbied e-commerce website eBay, which agreed to stop selling ejiao products in Dec. 2017.

Other countries have put a halt to slaughter and export. In Zimbabwe, a slaughterhouse had proposed killing about 12,000 donkeys per year. "That would have equated to a loss of almost a tenth of the country's donkey population in just 12 months," estimates Dennis from SPANA. Those plans were halted in 2017. Botswana and Tanzania in 2017 followed Niger, which banned exports and restricted the skins trade in 2016.

In 2017, Uganda banned the trading of donkeys for slaughter and ordered closures of donkey slaughterhouses. The decision was reportedly due to the negative consequences on households that rely on donkeys to transport everything from water to harvested foods to be sold at market.

But such steps don't necessarily stop the trade. "In some cases, this has led to the emergence of a black market and an explosion in donkey thefts," says Dennis.

SPANA last year called for an immediate halt to the ejiao trade in Africa while its impact is assessed. It is working closely with a number of African governments to implement bans or restrictions on slaughtering donkeys and exporting donkey products.

Both SPANA and Donkey Sanctuary are training people to build fenced corrals for donkeys to secure the animals. Some people in Kenya are bringing donkeys into their huts at night and sleeping next to them to protect them, says Pope. Donkey Sanctuary is also helping to run workshops with local authorities and police to enforce bans on the illegal trade, track the underground trade and take action on reports of stolen donkeys.

Brooke is working with communities to raise awareness of the consequences of the skin trade. "We're making sure owners understand the life-time value of donkeys and the significant risk to livelihoods of sale for immediate income," says Whear. In 2017, Brooke East Africa invited more than 200 donkey welfare groups in Kenya to share ideas about reducing donkey thefts. They included lockable donkey shelters, solar powered security lights, guard dogs, and community surveillance hubs, though implementation depends on funding and resources.

Both SPANA and Donkey Sanctuary are training people on building fenced corrals for donkeys and securing the animals. Donkey Sanctuary is also helping to run workshops with local authorities and police to enforce bans, track the underground trade, and take action on reports of stolen donkeys. Some people in Kenya are bringing donkeys into their huts at night and sleeping next to them to protect them, notes Pope.

Tracking and stopping a booming and often illicit trade in Africa and South America is a huge task for relatively small animal welfare non-profits such as Donkey Sanctuary. "When the sanctuary was set up, we didn't think we'd ever be doing this kind of work," says Pope, who worked in anti-wildlife poaching in Namibia before joining Donkey Sanctuary. "We're horrified it's come to this. We've got to rise to the challenge. It's the biggest thing this organization has done and will do."

​Source: NPR

Although federal law currently prohibits soring, a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General (IG) has found that some horse trainers often go to great lengths to continue this inhumane practice.

​“Horses have been a part of our Commonwealth’s history and culture since the settling of Jamestown, and like all animals, they deserve to be treated with care and compassion,” said Sen. Warner. “The PAST Act will further protect these animals from the cruel practice of inflicting deliberate pain and suffering for show purposes.”

“I support the humane treatment of all animals and the responsible training of horses,” said Sen. Crapo. “I remain committed to ending the cruel practice of soring, and will continue to promote enforcement of current animal welfare laws.”

The Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act would:
​

• Eliminate self-policing by requiring the USDA to assign a licensed inspector if the show's management indicates intent to hire one. Licensed or accredited veterinarians, if available, would be given preference for these positions.

 

• Prohibit the use of action devices and pads on specific horse breeds that have a history of being the primary victims of soring. Action devices, such as chains that rub up and down an already-sore leg, intensify the horse's pain when it moves so that the horse quickly jolts up its leg.

 

• Increase consequences on individuals caught soring a horse, including raising the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony, which is subject to up to three years' incarceration, increasing fines from $3,000 to $5,000 per violation, and permanently disqualifying three-time violators from participating in horse shows, exhibitions, sales or auctions.

In 2017, the USDA Office of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) moved to strengthen certain aspects of the Horse Protection Act by incorporating some of the major tenets of the PAST Act. However, the rule was not finalized before the end of the Obama Administration and the Trump Administration has halted the process. The PAST Act would codify these changes into law.   

Joining Warner and Crapo in the introduction of The PAST Act, S.1007, are U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Edward Markey (D-MA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Today Co-Chairs of the Congressional Veterinary Medicine Caucus, Congressman Kurt Schrader (D-OR-05) and Congressman Ted S. Yoho (R-FL-03), introduced the U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial PAST (Prevent All Soring Tactics) Act to amend the Horse Protection Act of 1970, ending the abusive practice known as horse soring. This is the third consecutive Congress that Reps. Schrader and Yoho, veterinarians for more than 30 years and two of only three veterinarians currently in Congress, have introduced the PAST Act. ​

Soring is the practice of intentionally injuring the hooves and legs of Tennessee Walking Horses to exaggerate the leg motion of these high gaited horses. Even though it’s been illegal for over 50 years, it’s still widely practiced.

“Horse soring still runs rampant even though laws have been on the books for decades banning this cruel practice,” said Rep. Schrader. “We gave them a chance to self-police but the practice continued. Our bill will strengthen and improve current regulations by improving USDA enforcement, increasing civil and criminal penalties, and banning incentives to sore horses. It’s time for Congress to act and put an end to this abusive practice.”

“I am honored to join my fellow veterinarian, Rep. Kurt Schrader and various organizations who support the end of Horse Soring. As a veterinarian and lover of animals, we must continue to keep the pressure on a select group of bad actors in the Walking Horse industry. They must comply with existing law and stop this illegal practice for good,” said Rep. Yoho.

The bill is named in honor of Senator Joseph D. Tydings of Maryland who served in the Senate from 1965-1971. Sen. Tydings sponsored the Horse Protection Act of 1970 and devoted his life working to end the practice of soring. Last Congress, the bill received the support of 290 bipartisan cosponsors. The legislation is also supported by more than 280 organizations, associations and groups, including both veterinary advocates and horse industry professionals, supporting putting an end to this unnecessary and inhumane practice.

​The AVMA recently joined a host of veterinary and animal welfare organizations in condemning the global trade in donkey skins as an inhumane industry that harms communities and threatens the species worldwide.

For centuries, people in China have treated dizziness and other medical conditions with "ejiao," an herbal remedy made with a gelatin obtained by boiling and stewing donkey skin.

Demand for ejiao has spiked dramatically during the past decade, so much so that China now imports donkey skins from around the world, including Brazil and Mexico, and poaching is common. With Africa as the epicenter of the donkey-skin trade, entire areas in West Africa have reported localized donkey extinctions, according to the World Veterinary Association.

The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization estimates China's population of donkeys has plummeted from roughly 11 million within recent years to approximately 5.4 million in 2016.

Although China's ejiao industry is investing in donkey breeding programs, consumer demand is not being met. Donkeys are poorly suited to intensive breeding practices because of long gestation periods, low fecundity, low success rates of artificial insemination, and high propensity to abortion and death secondary to stress, the WVA states.

At the Nov. 9, 2018, meeting of the AVMA Board of Directors, members approved a proposal from the Animal Welfare Committee and Committee on International Veterinary Affairs to endorse a statement from the American Association of Equine Practitioners condemning the donkey-skin trade. The AAEP statement reads as follows:

"The American Association of Equine Practitioners joins international equine welfare organizations in condemning the inhumane transport and killing of donkeys to satisfy the escalating global trade in donkey skins. It is estimated that a minimum of 1.8 million donkey skins are traded each year to create a substance known as ejiao, which is used in Chinese beauty products and traditional medicines.

"In addition to welfare concerns for the animals' treatment, this issue is especially devastating in developing countries where donkeys are essential to the livelihoods of millions of the world's poorest people. Families lose their income overnight because of donkey theft. Buying a new animal often is not an option due to rising market prices caused by depopulation. The loss of a donkey also jeopardizes transport of children to school and limits the growth of women in community-related roles.

"The AAEP supports the ongoing work of equine welfare organizations to end the inhumane treatment of donkeys affected by the trade in skins and is committed to creating awareness of this issue within the veterinary community in North America."

Dr. Margo Macpherson, AAEP immediate past president, said: "The AVMA's endorsement strengthens the position's impact in the global arena. We appreciate the AVMA's continued consideration of issues affecting the humane treatment of equids and willingness to work with the AAEP."

In the AVMA committees' proposal, they explain how the poaching of donkeys is increasing the risk of spreading diseases and is severely compromising the welfare of donkeys through poor handling, transportation, and slaughter techniques.

Poaching continues to spread, the recommendation continues, and the AAEP representative to the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee has expressed the AAEP's concerns that the donkey skin trade will reach the United States in the future. This is especially concerning because of the country's vulnerable population of wild burros in Western states.

The WVA has called for a halt of the trade in donkey skins until its impact can be assessed and shown to be both humane for donkeys and sustainable for the communities that depend on them.

​Source: American Veterinary Medical Association

In Africa, donkeys work carrying loads of goods and water for people. But in China, African donkeys are a source for a trendy, supposedly medicinal product, and the animals are losing their skins, and lives, for it.

At donkey slaughterhouses, workers kill and skin donkeys, then dump their bodies in a pile or bury them. They take the skins and boil them down, extracting the gelatin from them to make it into a product called ejiao, which has the consistency of thick Jell-O. China buys ejiao, which has traditionally be used for it's supposed blood-circulation benefits, but recently has been marketed as a general wellness product. In the last decade, traditional Chinese medicine company Dong-e-e-jiao, has aggressively marketed their donkey-gelatin product, processing a million of the animals per year.

The effectiveness of ejiao as a treatment for blood circulation and cancer has not been established in comparison to standard medicine.

Chinese-owned donkey slaughterhouses are springing up in Africa to meet the demand for ejiao. Slaughterhouse owners say that they are providing income to people who want to sell their unwanted animals, but veterinarians insist that the collection and processing of these animals represent an animal welfare nightmare, according to the report. The article also cites donkey owners who claim that their animals have been stolen and killed for their skin.

In April, the animal welfare charity Brooke reported that almost 1,000 donkeys had been stolen in Kenya from December 2016 to April 2017, and the increasing price for donkeys means that people who lose their animals can't afford to replace them. With no animals to assist in ferrying goods, the incomes of people who depended on donkeys have plummeted.

The welfare of the processed animals is in question, and the Kenyan Veterinary Association has protested the industry. National Geographic reported in September an account from a representative of the South African SPCA, who reported that 70 donkeys waiting to be skinned in a corral was the worst animal welfare violation she had ever seen. Emaciated donkeys picked through trash, some too weak to stand, many infected with herpes. Donkeys don't often carry pregnancies to term under stress, and the representative found 19 aborted donkey fetuses on the ground.

In response to concerns of animal theft and the plummeting donkey population, several countries have banned the export of donkey products to China, including Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal, according to a BBC article published in October. Kenya also brings in animals from other countries to slaughter.

But legal trade from Kenya and underground trade in illegal countries continues, according to the National Geographic investigation. Once made into products that are legal to sell, animal parts are difficult to trace, and it's nearly impossible to tell if a processed item sold in a store or on the Internet was once a beloved, working family pet.

Source: Newsweek

​The Humane Society of the United States released footage Thursday it says shows evidence of continued abuse to the Tennessee Walking Horse, further confirming the use of soring in the industry.

Soring is the practice of intentionally abusing a horse to accentuate its gait and often includes the use of caustic chemicals that eat away at the skin. Those who sore cause horses pain each time they step so they lift their front legs in an exaggeration of their natural gait in what is called the "big lick."

The video was taken by the United States Department of Agriculture in an inspection of the Maryville, Tenn., barn of top trainer Larry Wheelon in April 2013 and obtained with an open records request. The horses can be seen struggling to stand, walking stiffly and flinching away from the inspectors' touch. Photos from the same inspection show what appear to be scars around the horses' pasterns.

The video release comes as the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville goes into its final days for 2016, and as what appeared to be a sored stallion was discovered at an auction in Cookeville on Tuesday. The Horse Protection Act prohibits sored horses from participating in auctions, shows, exhibitions or sales.

Wheelon, who was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals, had 15 felony charges and three misdemeanors dropped, according to the Humane Society, when Blount County Judge Tammy Harrington ruled his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated in the raid.

When he was arrested in 2013, Wheelon was an active member of the Tennessee Walking Horse Trainers Association, sitting on its ethics committee. He did not respond to a request to comment made through his lawyer.

The USDA has since proposed some amendments to the Horse Protection Act.

One of those changes would mean the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service would train and license Designated Qualified Persons to inspect the horses at horse shows, exhibitions, sales and auctions for compliance with the HPA, whereas now, they are initiated and maintained by horse industry organizations. Many argue the current setup poses a conflict of interest.

Another amendment would ban the use of all action devices, pads and foreign substances at horse shows, exhibitions, sales and auctions, aligning the HPA regulations with existing equestrian standards set forth by the U.S. Equestrian Federation.

The USDA is accepting public comments on the proposed amendments until Sept. 26, but some have asked the organization to extend that deadline by 60 more days. Doing so could push the decision off onto a new administration that may not prioritize an end to soring.

Mike Inman, CEO of Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, denied that the stacks and chains cause horses to experience pain. Stacks are elevated pads attached to the horses' front hooves like high heels, and the chains are wrapped around their ankles.

"There is no big lick gait," Inman said. "Animal welfare is number one for The Celebration."

He said each horse must pass as many as 13 inspections by those belonging to horse industry organizations and the USDA, which test for foreign chemicals, palpation, locomotion, CT scanning and digital radiography.

"We urge the USDA to move away from subjective inspection and toward objective inspection," he said, arguing that digital radiography is the only objective exam. "We don't want any sore horse in the ring."

But Keith Dane, senior adviser on equine protection for The Humane Society of the United States, said some can fool the machine by making a ball out of hoof clippings and acrylic to match the density of the surrounding tissue.

Inman said no one has ever been disqualified for placing a foreign object between the shoe and the hoof at The Celebration, a practice called pressure shoeing.

The horse must also be clear of visible scars.

"If (the soring) is done to the extent where it causes physical damage, they can't show them anymore," said Tawnee Preisner, founder of the Horse Plus Humane Society. "They're worthless to them after that."

Preisner said she found Skywalks Magical Dream, a 4-year-old registered Tennessee Walking Horse stallion on stacks with chains, dumped at an auction on Tuesday. She took him to an equine veterinarian, who documented the damage and scarring on the horse's skin. Dream's last owners are listed as Sammy and Gayle Cogle, the owners of last weekend's champion Extra Special Jose.

Sammy Cogle said they were no longer in possession of the horse as of last January. "I'm sorry but the lawyers told me not to say anymore."

Preisner said it's the third time she's found sored horses at an auction in Tennessee.

Dane estimates there are up to 15,000 horses put on stacks and sored at any given time. He urged the USDA to pass the reforms to stop the remaining abusers.

"The culture is evolving," he said, comparing the competition of sored horses to dogfighting or cockfighting. "People are turning away more and more."

​Source: The Tennessean 

Those interested in submitting a comment to the USDA can do so at: http://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=APHIS-2011-0009.