February 5, 2010
awc@animalwelfarecouncil.org
Special Report: Expert Predictions on Equine Welfare Realized
Colorado Springs, CO. In 2007, animal activists utilized the state legislative and legal systems in Illinois and Texas to close the three USDA-regulated horse processing plants in the United States. A year prior, veterinarians, scientists, and economists – all equine specialists – highlighted the likely consequences of the plant closures in the Animal Welfare Council’s (AWC) “The Unintended Consequences of a Ban on Humane Processing of Horses in the United States.” Currently, as animal activist groups continue toward their goal of banning the transport of horses to Mexico and Canada for processing it seems the messages in the AWC’s original document were ignored. An objective look at the current state of horses in America proves the expert forecast made in 2006 remains relevant today.