Although much attention has been given to conflicts during our current budgetary talks, I encourage Sen. Patty Murray that her vote on one important budget issue is readily decided: Over 80 percent of American voters oppose horse slaughter for human consumption. The citizens of Snohomish County have made their position clear via the legal ruling in 2012 that horses may not be slaughtered here for human consumption.
A majority of Washington citizens support Sen. Murray’s continued vote to defund horse slaughter inspectors. Congress has respected that position since 2005, by including language in the agricultural appropriations bill that prohibits funding for horse slaughter inspections, preventing horse slaughter plants from operating in the United States. This year, the Senate included the language by committee vote, but a House of Representatives committee vote resulted in a tie and the provision was not adopted in the House version.
Sen. Murray has already acknowledged our position by voting yes on this amendment in 2014, but it is vitally important that she continue to champion this issue and ensure that the current language defunding horse slaughter inspection is included in any year-end spending package. The return of horse slaughter plants to U.S. soil will harm the environment and the economy and would go against the desires of more than two-thirds of American voters. I urge Sen. Murray to vote yes in 2015, for the amendment to defund inspectors for horse slaughter plants in the United States.
Geri Vincent, executive director
Equine Aid
Monroe
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