HR0160 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0160 LRB096 11663 JDS 22268 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Horse processing is the most tightly regulated animal harvest; and

WHEREAS, Horse processing is the only animal processing for which transportation is regulated; and

WHEREAS, The Horse Welfare Coalition estimates that annually 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses will be exposed to potential abandonment and neglect if horse processing plants are forced to close and horse export options are eliminated; and

WHEREAS, Those 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses will compete each year for adoption with the 32,000 wild horses that United States taxpayers are currently paying $40 million to shelter and feed; and

WHEREAS, The nation's inadequate, overburdened, and unregulated horse rescue and adoption facilities cannot handle the influx of approximately 60,000 or more additional horses each year that would result from a harvesting ban, according to the Congressional Research Service; and

WHEREAS, Many zoo animal diets rely on equine protein because it closely resembles the food that the zoo animal would consume in the wild; and

WHEREAS, Many veterinarians and animal nutritionists assert that equine protein is the healthiest diet for big cats and rare birds; and

WHEREAS, The only source of equine protein that is inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture will be eliminated if federal legislation shuts down horse processing facilities; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we respectfully urge all members of the Illinois congressional delegation to support the continuation of horse processing in the United States and to offer incentives that help create horse processing plants, such as state-inspected horse harvest for export; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to support new horse processing facilities and the continuation of existing facilities on both the state and national level; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we respectfully urge the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States to oppose H.R. 503 of the 111th Congress and to support the processing of horses in the United States and internationally; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we support the location of United States Department of Agriculture-approved horse processing facilities on state, tribal, or private lands under mutually acceptable and market-driven land leases and, if necessary, a mutually acceptable assignment of revenues that meets the needs of all parties involved with the horse processing facility; and be it further

RESOLVED, That after adoption, copies of this resolution shall be sent by the Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives to the members of Illinois congressional delegation, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, and the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.