Mary S. Nash
104 S. Houston Street
Kaufman , Texas   75142
NashHulme@msn.com
www.KaufmanZoning.net/horsemeat
972-962-7706

April 22, 2004  

Mr. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman
U.S. House Agriculture Committee
2 S. Main St. , Suite A, First Floor
Harrisonburg , VA   22801

Mr. Charles Stenholm, Member
U.S. House Agriculture Committee
P.O. Box 1237
Stamford , TX 79553

Re:  HR 857, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act  

Dear Messrs. Goodlatte and Stenholm:  

The purpose of this letter is to ask you to support HR 857, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.  

I have received word that you both oppose HR 857, that you both hold powerful positions on the Agriculture Committee, and that you are playing a large role in keeping the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act from coming to a vote.  It has come to my attention that one of the reasons you oppose the Act is because you believe that unwanted horses would suffer if the slaughter option were removed.  

The 46 acre farm adjacent to the Dallas Crown horse slaughter plant in Kaufman , Texas has been owned by members of my family for over 150 years.  As the adjacent property owner, I have been watching the Dallas Crown horses for several years.  Like everyone else in Kaufman, I had been told the slaughter horses were old, sick, crippled, or crazy.  After studying the horses, my comment was, “They look a lot better than any horse I ever rode while growing up as a kid in Kaufman.”   

The truth is, the slaughter horses are not “unwanted.”  They just happen to be for sale.  Killer-buyers pick up these horses at auctions across the U.S. , outbidding other buyers looking for working horses and pets, and truck them to Fort Worth and Kaufman.  Indeed, it was the cruel and abusive actions of a killer-buyer at the Round Mountain, Texas auction that was the impetus behind the current Texas movement to shut down the two plants.  

I have enclosed for you a photo taken at Dallas Crown on September 1, 2002 , shortly after Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued his August 7, 2002 opinion letter confirming that it was a criminal act to sell, possess, or transport horsemeat for human consumption.  

As you can see, these are beautiful horses; I doubt they are crazy.  These horses are representative of most of the horses I see at Dallas Crown.  

My point is, what the Belgians at Beltex and French at Dallas Crown tell everyone, that the horses are unwanted,  IS A LIE.  A horse being for sale does not mean he is unwanted any more than a house being for sale means the house is unwanted.  

I hope you will reconsider your positions on the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, HR 857.  

I look forward to your responses.  

Sincerely,  

Mary S. Nash
Encl.