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Mar 5, 2008 6:05 pm US/Eastern
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Horse Lovers Ask Congress To Stop Horse Slaughter
WASHINGTON (WJZ) ―
Horse lovers from Maryland and across the nation descended on Washington Tuesday trying to stop the slaughter of horses.
Last month,
Denise Koch first revealed what some call a dirty little secret--the cruel and inhumane way in which healthy but unwanted horses are sold, transported and slaughtered.
Koch now reports animal rights activists are lobbying lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Tuesday and Wednesday.
More than 100 people from all over the United States joined the movement Tuesday. They walked from office to office lobbying lawmakers in support of two bills to stop horse slaughter.
Actor Paul Sorvino came to Washington from Pennsylvania.
"The cowboy when he was hungry if he was starving would not eat his horse. We don't do that. American people just don't do that," said Sorvino.
Sorvino says 37 percent of racehorses end up slaughtered for meat.
Jo Deibel is actively involved in horse rescue. She has seen first-hand what she calls a horrifying process. Horses are lined up, forced into a narrow pen and electrocuted numerous times to render them unconscious.
"They have to whack it four or five times to get it down," said Deibel. "That's cruel."
"We don't kill our pets, but killing a horse that's what you are doing," said Sorvino. "That's an animal that's been tended to carefully, pampered, groomed, adored by millions of people and if you don't run fast enough, you die."
The horses are strung up by their legs and their throats are slashed.
After the horses are slaughtered, the meat is sent to Asia and Europe. It's estimated more than 100,000 horses a year are driven to their deaths.
These bills would stop the slaughter of horses in America, and stop the transport of the horses to Mexico and Canada where they are slaughtered.
Eyewitness News checked with our Maryland Congressional delegation to see how they'll vote. Most are co-sponsors of the bills and all of them say they will vote to stop the slaughter.
Activists say only one person is stopping the bills in the Senate--Senator Craig.
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