Shut up and ... oooh!
Posted on 10/17/2006 10:06:04 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Actress-turned-activist Bo Derek is spearheading a campaign to stop the export of horsemeat to Europe and Japan.
Three European-owned factories in the U.S. send some 26 million pounds of horsemeat overseas each year.
Now Derek, who first came to national attention in the 1979 movie "10,” has joined other celebrities and horse lovers in an attempt to shut down the plants — two in Texas and one in Illinois.
In September, the House of Representatives passed the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which bans the transportation and sale of horses for human consumption. But it’s unclear whether the Senate will vote on a similar bill before Congress adjourns for the year.
So Derek is in Washington meeting with senators to urge passage of the legislation. She joins celebrities including Willie Nelson, Christie Brinkley and Whoopi Goldberg in the effort, which is backed by the Washington-based Society for Animal Protection Legislation.
The issue is a personal one for Derek, 49, whose 2002 autobiography is called "Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses.” She oversees a 130-acre ranch in Santa Ynez, Calif., that was once home to more than 30 horses. She now has six.
"I am not a member of any animal rights organization,” she told the Washington Post. "I am a big red-meat eater. I live in cattle country.”
She tells lawmakers she meets with that horses deserve a respectful death and burial. Horses that veterinarians put down with a lethal injection are not consumed because toxins remain in the meat. Their remains are cremated. When used for food, horses — like cattle — are stunned with a bolt gun and bled to death.
Most Americans are not even aware that horses are slaughtered in the U.S. for consumption overseas, several polls have revealed. Opponents of the horsemeat ban say horse owners should be able to do whatever they want with their horses, and they claim a ban would lead to the unregulated handling of unwanted horses.
Derek believes that concern is unwarranted. Last year about 90,000 horses were slaughtered out of a population of around 9 million, and if they weren’t bought by slaughterhouses the horses could be adopted by someone for riding because 90 percent of the horses sold at auctions are in sound condition, according to Derek.
But former Congressman Charles Stenholm, a lobbyist for the horsemeat industry, told the Post that "with all due sincerity to the naivete of Bo Derek, it is a horse welfare issue. Somebody has to take care of unwanted horses. There are just not enough people who want to adopt horses.”
He also said it could cost as much as $2,000 to have an unwanted horse disposed of.
But Derek is continuing the fight. She recently met with Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., and convinced him to co-sponsor the bill in the Senate.
Anne Russek, a horse breeder in Virginia, is also working to get the legislation passed. She told the Post that while she has been able to lobby her own congressman, "Bo Derek can get to anybody’s congressman.”
I couldn't remember the quote exactly.
I saw a fresh un on the road this morning. Git me mah spatula.
I'm for the ban, but I don't speak for the Saddle Club. The saddle club has no position. I know horsepeople on both sides of the issue.
The lowest price for a horse is dictated by the price allowed for a slaughter horse. There are more horses starving to death right now than I have ever seen because the irresponsible owners cannot sell them. Without the bottom, horses are property and worthless property is ignored (Contrary to the Animal Planet shows, very few individuals that starve animals are prosecuted throughout the US). Bo Derek's belief and energy is admirable but realistically more detrimental to the horse at the present time.
She's had a few more laps around the track since 1979.
"This steak still has marks from where the jockey was hitting it!" Close enough. :)
While she was making a good case to end horse slaughter- what did she propose as a solution for the 60,000-100,000 unwanted horses every year?
I am a horse lover and own several horses right now. I don't send my horses to slaughter- I retire them and care for them until their death. I have even taken in horses others did not want to or couldn't care for. I do not believe any action should be taken to end horse slaughter until there is a system in place for the unwanted horses.
There are several celebrities who are fighting to end horse slaughter- but talk is cheap. What they really need to do is set up horse sanctuaries, and put their money where their mouth is.
I do not think the taxpayer should pay to care for all the unwanted horses, which is what will end up happening if slaughter is simply ended. Remember when the wild horses were saved? Taxpayers are still paying to feed and care for them month in and month out while they languish in equine prisons. Ending horse slaughter is not some magical thing that will make all horse owners responsible people. If the horse owners want to get rid of a horse and there is no slaughter the chances of that horse being starved or otherwise neglected/abused are pretty good. The way I see it, the very horses they want to save are those that will pay the price if they end slaughter without providing a solutiion to the unwanted horses.
Anyone that wants to save horses from slaughter can do that right now. All they have to do is go to their local livestock auction and outbid the slaughter buyers. Slaughter buyers are the bottom of the horse market so they are pretty easily out bid.
When I see Willie and Bo starting horse care facilities for unwanted horses then I might take them seriously- until then they are just talking BS about something they don't know anything about.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6...
Bo Derek getting older.
Excellent analysis of an unfortunate situation.
The interview was a while ago, so I don't remember. I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't thought that through. I was really surprised at how intelligent, thoughtful and conservative she was.
This proposed ban doesn't stop horse slaughter at rendering plants, which is still and would still be legal. This proposed ban only bans slaughter for human consumption (overseas) which is currently only happening at two plants in the country that have USDA approval.
While I detest both kinds of slaughter, it's an important distinction.
Horse Feathers!
=)
Shut up and ... oooh!
That's not a horse in that picture.....
What's the problem with eating....
Oh, never mind.
So in Hawaii, kangaroo was actually cheaper than beef?
(Boggle)
There is no "good case" for outlawing things just because you disapprove of them. We've already got way too much of this stupidity in America, we don't need any more.
Bolero was one of my favorite movies as a teen.
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