SECOND REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 33

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

5329L.01I

            Whereas, horse processing is the most tightly regulated of any animal harvest, and the horse is the only animal that has its transportation to processing regulated. If horse processing plants are forced to close and export options are limited, the Horse Welfare Coalition estimates the 90,000 to 100,000 unwanted horses annually would be exposed to potential abandonment and neglect; and

            Whereas, the 90,000 to 100,000 additional unwanted horses each year would compete for adoption with the 32,000 wild horses that United States taxpayers are already paying $40 million to shelter and feed; and

            Whereas, the nation's inadequate, overburdened, and unregulated horse rescue/adoption facilities cannot handle the influx of the 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 mimics what the animal would receive in the wild. Veterinarians and animal nutritionists say it is the healthiest diet for big cats and rare birds. If legislation shuts down horse processing facilities, the only USDA-inspected source for this meat will be eliminated:

            Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-fourth General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby urges the United States Congress to strongly support the continuation of horse processing in the United States and to offer incentives that help create horse processing plants throughout the United States, such as state-inspected horse harvest for export; and

            Be it further resolved that the General Assembly strongly encourages Congress 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 the General Assembly urges Congress to oppose S. 311 and H.R. 503 and we strongly support the transportation and processing of horses in the United States and internationally; and

            Be it further resolved that the General Assembly supports the location of USDA-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 facility; and

            Be it further resolved that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.