Hi everyone,

The latest out from AAEP is posted below my comments.

Yesterday morning, Chris Heyde, Lydia Gray, Ann Russek, Terry Toreance, Chris Berry, Pennell Hopkins and I, all attended the open session on "unwanted horses" at the AHC convention. Unfortunately, Chris, Lydia and I were only able to stay through the first hour and 15 minutes of the session, as we had appointments on the Hill with the staff of Senators Obama and Durbin. The good news is that Terry taped the entire session, so as soon as I get a copy of the tape, Chris and I will try to get it transcribed in its entirety.

In a nutshell, most of the speakers comments are now available on the AAEP website at www.aaep.org . This will give you a general idea of what was said. The AAEP site does not have information pertaining to the question and answer session which was held following the presentations, but from what I understand from Anne and Terry who were able to remain at the presentation, they were able to punch a number of holes in most of what Temple Grandin had to say, as well as some of the other speakers. Im sure that Anne and Terry will both write to elaborate on this further.

We were allowed to pose written questions to the speakers and many of our questions were addressed. The question I asked related to Nat Messer's presentation in which he called the 80,000 horses slaughtered last year "castaways" and unwanted. I asked him to tell us if he had scientific proof that these 80,000 horses were all castaways and unwanted, and/or what percentage of the 80K were simply for sale at auction by their owners? He said he could not answer that question, that they did not know the answer to this. This is exactly the answer I knew he would give, so that is why I posed the question. I wanted others to realize that the number of horses who are so called "unwanted" is in reality far less that what they lead people to believe.

As for the summit itself, Dr. Gray is very pleased with the way things went.

From what I understand, there is a coalition being formed to address the issue of unwanted horses, and the coalition will be comprised of several working groups who will each in turn be assigned a specific task, such as education; fundraising; rescue and retirement groups; breeding, etc. This is definately something the horse industry has needed for a long time, so this is definately a good thing.

Dr. Gray also mentioned that at the top of the list of goals from Tom Lenz's group was the need to make slaughter obsolete. While it is very encouraging that the pro slaughter contingent is now claiming to be committed to making slaughter "obsolete",

we need to be very careful not to trust them to be softening their stance on slaughter.

It is very important to keep in mind, that even though there is a tremendous need to build a better infrastructure to address the issue of "unwanted" horses, this in no way negates the need for a ban on horse slaughter. As we all know, slaughter is about money, so simply paring down the number of "unwanted" horses will do nothing to address the scumbags who will always deal in the trade of horses for meat so long as horse slaughter remains legal.

I will post more on the summit later and the ID plan as well.

As for the results of the meetings with Obama and Durbin. The great news is that Senator Obama has signed on to co-sponsor S 576! The government website has not yet been updated, but you will see his name on there when next they update! Obama's office is also working on a press release, which I will post as soon as we have it. We are hopeful that when the Senate version of the AHSPA is introduced, that Senator Obama will support that bill as well.

As for Durbin, the meeting with his staffer went well. There was a lot they did not know about including the recent Cavel wastewater violations. The staffer will be submitting his report and recommendation to Senator Durbin and I am hopeful he will eventually commit to co-sponsoring. Of course, it helps a great deal that the Durbin camp now knows that Obama is with us!! I think this may help him find his way on to our side!

Gail

Here is the latest from AAEP

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sally J. Baker, APR
859.233.0147 or sbaker@aaep.org

SUMMIT CHARTS HISTORIC COURSE FOR UNWANTED HORSES
National Steering Committee to be Formed

Over 25 equine-industry organizations and one United States congressman
participated in the nation’s first-ever Unwanted Horse Summit on Tuesday,
April 19, 2005, in Washington, D.C. Hosted by the American Association of
Equine Practitioners (AAEP), the Summit served as a catalyst for identifying
long-term solutions designed to improve the quality of life of unwanted
horses.

“While participants came to the table with divergent views on many as
aspects of the issue, they were able to reach a remarkable degree of
consensus,” said Scott E. Palmer, 2005 AAEP president. “Everyone focused on
the welfare of the horse.”

Discussion surrounded the factors that contribute to unwanted horses as well
as the approaches to addressing the problem. Summit participants
recommended as the next step the formation of a national steering committee
dedicated to addressing issues affecting unwanted horses. Working groups to
tackle specific areas, such as horse owner education, also will be developed
as part of this effort. A summary report of the Summit’s discussions,
prepared by the meeting’s professional facilitator, will be released by the
AAEP by the end of April.

Summit participants expressed their desire to remain committed to the
process and the AAEP will help facilitate the group’s future work on the
issue, said Palmer. “The unwanted horse problem can not be solved by any
one segment of the industry. The goal is to get as many people and
organizations involved as possible.”

In addition, an educational session held as part of the American Horse
Council’s annual meeting preceded the Summit and provided an overview of
issues affecting the unwanted horse population. Each presentation is
available in the press room of the AAEP’s Web site, www.aaep.org.

Participants in the April 19 Summit represented breed groups, sport and
discipline organizations, rescue and retirement facilities, veterinary
associations and welfare groups. In addition to the AAEP, the following
groups and individuals participated:

American Horse Protection Association
American Paint Horse Association
American Quarter Horse Association
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
American Veterinary Medical Association
Bureau of Land Management
Carriage Operators of North America
Day’s End Farm Horse Rescue
Hooved Animal Humane Society
Pennell Hopkins (Humane Officer) - Pennsylvania SPCA
Humane Society of the United States
Daniel Manzanares (Executive Director) - New Mexico Livestock Board
National H.B.P.A..
North American Equine Ranching Information Council
North American Riding for the Handicapped Association
Oak Tree Racing Association
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association
Standardbred Retirement Foundation
State Horse Council Advisory Committee
The Jockey Club
Thoroughbred Charities of America
United States Department of Agriculture
United States Equestrian Federation, Inc.
United States Trotting Association
Congressman Ed Whitfield (KY - 1st District)

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in
Lexington, Ky., is the world’s largest professional association of equine
veterinarians. Founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to
the health and welfare of the horse, the AAEP’s 8,000 members currently
reach more than 5 million owners worldwide. The association is actively
involved in ethics issues, equine welfare, practice management, research and
continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.

# # #

The AHP Newsgroup is a benefit of membership and provides members with timely information about AHP activities and newsworthy items. On approval, submissions are sent from the AHP administrative office to the current list of AHP member e-mail addresses. Submissions must contain information about an AHP member, and may be submitted by a non-member on behalf of the member. Submissions must include information that would be of interest to the general membership. Solicitations are not allowed other than for recognized charitable organizations. Messages should be sent as an unformatted text in an e-mail message to ahorsepubs@aol.com. Messages sent as attached files will not be opened. Members are limited to two press releases per month. These news items are also listed online under Communiqués for easy reference.

AHP has not verified the factual statements in any message and AHP assumes no responsibility for the contents of, or any damage resulting from, any communication in the Newsgroup. Publication in the Newsgroup is not an endorsement by the organization of any product, person, or policy.

Members may unsubscribe to the AHP Newsgroup at any time by sending an e-mail message to Chris at AHorsePubs@aol.com requesting to remove your e-mail address from the list. By doing this you will remove your name from receiving all future messages sent to the Newsgroup until you contact us to re-subscribe.