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March 7, 2002



"HOOFPAC ALERT"


AMENDED LANGUAGE OF H.R. 3781

AMERICAN HORSE SLAUGHTER PREVENTION ACT


An original draft of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was obtained by
HOOFPAC back in November/December 2001.  HOOFPAC prepared a legal analysis which
was posted on its website (see www.HOOFPAC.com ,Morella, original bill, legal
analysis.)  These comments were submitted to sponsors for consideration.

Bill was amended and introduced February 2002 (see www.HOOFPAC.com,  Morella,
H.R. 3781, amended bill).   HOOFPAC prepared a legal analysis of the amended
version and submitted to sponsors (see www.HOOFPAC.com, Morella, H.R. 3781,
legal analysis).

The amended bill has been substantially changed correcting the myriad of
problems addressing constitutionality.  Beyond the scope of constitutionality,
however, there are still two major issues that have not been amended: Euthanasia
and Enforcement.

H.R. 3781 as currently drafted allows for confiscated horses both "beyond
recovery " and "unplaceable" to be euthanized using gun shot or captive dead
bolt.  HOOFPAC finds this unacceptable and respectfully requests the sponsors to
amend the language per our legal analysis to read, "Euthanasia shall be
performed only by administration of agents rated "acceptable" for horses in the
Report of the American Veterinary Medical Associations Panel on Euthanasia
(2000).

In the area of enforcement, as currently drafted, H.R. 3781 does not grant
authority to law enforcement resources outside the USDA to enforce the Act.  And
it places the burden on the Secretary to "consider" aggravating and mitigating
factors toward enforcement whereas comparable federal statutes place the burden
solely on the violator to show good cause why penalties should not be imposed. 

These problems need to be amended before support for the bill can be considered.


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