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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Horse processing is the most tightly regulated
3 animal harvest; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Horse processing is the only animal processing for
5 which transportation is regulated; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Horse Welfare Coalition estimates that
7 annually 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses will be exposed to
8 potential abandonment and neglect if horse processing plants
9 are forced to close and horse export options are eliminated;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, Those 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses will
12 compete each year for adoption with the 32,000 wild horses that
13 United States taxpayers are currently paying $40 million to
14 shelter and feed; and
 
15     WHEREAS, The nation's inadequate, overburdened, and
16 unregulated horse rescue and adoption facilities cannot handle
17 the influx of approximately 60,000 or more additional horses
18 each year that would result from a harvesting ban, according to
19 the Congressional Research Service; and
 
20     WHEREAS, Many zoo animal diets rely on equine protein

 

 

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1 because it closely resembles the food that the zoo animal would
2 consume in the wild; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Many veterinarians and animal nutritionists
4 assert that equine protein is the healthiest diet for big cats
5 and rare birds; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The only source of equine protein that is
7 inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture will
8 be eliminated if federal legislation shuts down horse
9 processing facilities; therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
12 respectfully urge all members of the Illinois congressional
13 delegation to support the continuation of horse processing in
14 the United States and to offer incentives that help create
15 horse processing plants, such as state-inspected horse harvest
16 for export; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That we respectfully urge the Congress of the
18 United States to support new horse processing facilities and
19 the continuation of existing facilities on both the state and
20 national level; and be it further
 
21     RESOLVED, That we respectfully urge the United States House

 

 

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1 of Representatives and Senate to oppose H.R. 503 and S. 727 of
2 the 111th Congress and to support the processing of horses in
3 the United States and internationally; and be it further
 
4     RESOLVED, That we support the location of United States
5 Department of Agriculture-approved horse processing facilities
6 on state, tribal, or private lands under mutually acceptable
7 and market-driven land leases and, if necessary, a mutually
8 acceptable assignment of revenues that meets the needs of all
9 parties involved with the horse processing facility; and be it
10 further
 
11     RESOLVED, That after adoption, copies of this resolution
12 shall be sent by the Clerk of the Illinois House of
13 Representatives to the members of Illinois congressional
14 delegation, the President pro tempore of the United States
15 Senate, and the Speaker of the United States House of
16 Representatives.