“I found out in late 2007 that the U.S. was slaughtering 200,000 horses a year,” McCullough said. “Horses were being sent to auction, and the people buying them were contracted by foreign-owned companies, mostly Belgian.” She enlisted the help of state Sen. Joe Abruzzo, D-Wellington, to first tackle the issue on a state level. Together they crisscrossed Florida, bringing awareness of equine slaughter – a growing problem in both Miami-Dade and Broward counties — into the spotlight. In 2010, the Florida Legislature unanimously passed the Horse Protection Bill, making it a felony to slaughter horses for personal or commercial use. When horses are purchased at auction by buyers intending to kill them, they are hauled away in double-decker tractor trailers, where they are beaten and often blinded with baseball bats to mollify them. After crossing the border into Mexico, the animals are stabbed on either side – an act said to tenderize the meat – and immobilized. Workers then saw the horses’ legs off at the knee and hang them so they bleed out. All while the animals are still alive. bizpacreview/2013/07/18/political-savvy-a-powerful-weapon-in-horse-slaughter-fight-79868
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:34:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015