The U.S. House of Representatives approves by 263 to 146 H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, banning the slaughter of American horses for human consumption abroad. Nearly 100,000 horses are slaughtered each year in this country. It’s now up to the U.S. Senate to approve the legislation.
The European Parliament issued a Written Declaration calling for a ban on the import, export and sales of harp and hooded seal products within the European Union. The import of seal products taken from pups younger than 2-3 weeks was banned in Europe in 1983. But sealers wait until the pups are older and molted their white fur to kill them. Ninety-five percent of the Canadian seals killed are still under three months old. The products of these baby seals are still imported into the E.U.
A U.S. district court ruled that members of The Humane Society of the United States can Sample Name sue the federal government over the way chickens and turkeys are slaughtered. Nine billion birds are slaughtered annually in the U.S. for human consumption. Presently, they are exempted from the Humane Slaughter Act.
Two men secretly filmed beating turkeys with a stick were ordered to do community service by an English magistrate. Both men admitted causing cruelty at Bernard Matthews’ Beck Farm in East Anglia. Hillside Animal Sanctuary had an undercover investigator shoot the footage. The RSPCA brought the prosecution.
Lord Dowding Fund, which supports research to advance non-animal test, is spending about $750,000 over six years to help pay to operate a powerful scanner being used at Aston University in Birmingham. A spokesperson for the fund said that this powerful scanner can be used for brain research in humans whereas the alternative might be electrodes in a monkey’s head.
These are all good examples of what can be accomplished when animal protection organizations advance the cause through public policy, litigation and legislation.
