Horse Slaughter Proponents Try to Raise Their Odds in Vegas

It's too bad that what happens in Vegas doesn't really always stay in Vegas. This past week, the dubiously named "Summit of the Horse" took place at the Las Vegas South Point Hotel and Casino to plot how to make horse slaughter for human consumption legal again in the U.S.

Wyoming State Representative and Summit organizer Sue Wallis had hoped for an attendance of hundreds. Things didn't quite go as planned. It would almost be humorous if Wallis and friends weren't so hellbent on reviving horse slaughter. When the Appropriations process for 2012 starts in February, they plan to be there.

Before the Summit started, sponsors started dropping out ... as they learned that they were sponsors. Then there was the scandal surrounding a truck Wallis was going to raffle off; she decided she might not be able to come up with the truck and expected the ticket buyers to just let her keep the money. (That's just one in a list of ethics and frauds complaints against Rep. Wallis that Wyoming resident, Patricia Fazio, filed last month.)

The Summit opened to a crowd described as "sparse," with only a few dozen attendees, primarily ranchers and breeders. While Wallis had claimed everyone was welcome to the table, at least one slaughter opponent was pointedly uninvited.

John Holland, president of Equine Welfare Alliance, watched the Summit on video feed. He told Horse Back Magazine, "Never before in the annals of history has so much been misrepresented about so many by so few."

But attendees weren't told what they wanted to hear by at least one of the speakers. Animal scientist Temple Grandin laid out the minimal standards of humane treatment necessary at slaughter plants, which attendees complained would be "costly." Dr Grandin also stressed that the solution to horse neglect and abandonment wasn't slaughter, but preventing overbreeding and caring for horses in need. There goes one of the main arguments used by the pro-slaughter crowd.

Dr. Grandin told the Animal Law Coalition before the Summit, "I have told Sue Wallis that I want no involvement in her business dealings," and that her involvement with Wallis has been misrepresented.

Despite the Vegas-worthy smoke and mirrors put on by horse slaughter proponents, there's not much of a market for horse meat. A recent survey by American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Saving America's Mustangs and the ASPCA found that a whopping 8 percent of adults support horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S.

Thanks to footage captured by Animals' Angels of the cruelty associated with the horse slaughter industry, and the awareness campaigns of other groups throughout Europe, many Europeans are losing their taste for the meat, too.

But Rep. Wallis still looks at horses and sees meat and dollar signs. In her formal complaint, resident Patricia Fazio writes that when it comes to horse slaughter, "Rep. Wallis does not even bother to hide the conflict of interest." Wallis is accused of using her position to promote pro-horse slaughter legislation for personal gain.

Sign the petition, started by Animal Law Coalition, calling on Wyoming authorities to investigate these ethics and fraud allegations against Rep. Wallis. We can't let Sue Wallis gamble away the future welfare of horses.

Photo credit: tasweertaker