LET'S MAKE IT STICK!

Yesterday's passage of an amendment to ban federal funds from being used for horse slaughter will last only one fiscal year because it is attached to a spending bill. Our next step is to make sure this horse slaughter ban is put into law through the passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act sponsored in the House by Reps. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), John Spratt (D-S.C.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.). The act will soon be introduced in the Senate by Sens. John Ensign and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and will prohibit the transport, purchase, selling or donation of both wild and domestic horses to be slaughtered for human consumption here and abroad.

"Because the amendment is attached to an annual spending bill, it will only halt horse slaughter for one fiscal year, beginning in October. However, the vote in both the Senate and the House demonstrates strong public and congressional support for a permanent ban -- to be achieved through passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

'The time has come to put an end to the practice of slaughtering horses in America,' Sen. Ensign said. 'Horses have an important role in the history of our country, particularly in the West, and they deserve protection. As a senator and a veterinarian I am committed to doing what I can for these magnificent animals.'"