Fwd: Urgent: Prevent Montana Horse Slaughter Plants

March 27, 2009

PLEASE FORWARD

If you have not already contacted the governor of Montana, please do so now. See the excellent talking points.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

The Cloud Foundation <news

Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 5:21 PM

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

Montana Considers Horse Slaughter Plant

PLEASE ACT NOW TO STOP THIS ABHORRENT BILL

The Montana State Senate has passed HB 418 that allows for the building of a horse slaughter plants in Montana- these would be the only horse slaughter plants in the United States. This bill is on Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's desk and we need to put the pressure on him NOW not to sign this bill.

Please take a moment to e-mail and call the Governor and please pass this on to all your friends, especially anyone from Montana. The Governor needs to hear the facts.

Here are some talking points to use in your comments on HB 418:

-Horse slaughter is inhumane and the majority of horses going to slaughter are young and healthy.

-America

n's do not raise horses for meat nor do the vast majority of Americans support horse slaughter.

-This is fiscally irresponsible: a horse slaughter plant would be owned by a European company and would not benefit Montana taxpayers.

-Montana's reputation would be marred and tourism industry damaged; "Big Bloody Sky Country" as one slaughter opponent suggested.

-The presence of horse slaughter plants has been directly tied to increased levels of horse abuse and theft.

-Paula Bacon, the Mayor of Kaufman, Texas (home of a now defunct foreign-owned horse slaughter plant) has testified that they were consistently locked in fruitless legal battles with the deep-pocketed Belgium company. She said that there was literally horse blood running down the streets and even backing up in peoples' bathtubs. The same environmental abuses could occur in Montana.

-A Montana slaughter house is far too close for comfort to Cloud's herd. We must not allow this to proceed any further. In the hearings several Montana State Senator's mentioned the 30,000+ wild horses in holding in relation to the building of a horse slaughter facility.

PLEASE ASK GOVERNOR SCHWEITZER TO VETO THIS BILL!

Governor Brian D. Schweitzer

Office of the Governor

Montana State Capitol Bldg.

P.O. Box 200801

Helena, MT 59620-0801

(406) 444-3111, FAX (406) 444-5529

Governor