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Sunday, June 17, 2012

2012.06.17 Press Release | Trailer Accident & Investigation

Equine Welfare Alliance



 


June 17, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:

John Holland
540-268-5693

Vicki Tobin                         
630.961.9292


Ayache's (Three Angels Farms) Trailer Involved in Accident, Again

Chicago (EWA) - For the second time since January, a truck from Dorian Ayache's Three Angels Farms was involved in a major accident on an interstate highway. The 53' trailer broke in half on I24 just outside of Nashville less than an hour from Ayache's property. The 37 horses were being taken to the Texas-Mexico border for slaughter.

The driver received several citations including driving a commercial vehicle without a commercial driver's license. One horse was euthanized. The remaining traumatized horses, as with the wreck in January, were quickly cleared for travel by a veterinarian at the scene, loaded into another Ayache rig and on their way to Texas.

This incident is representative of the nature and economics of transport of horses to slaughter. These "bottom feeder" operations invest as little as possible which results in threats to public safety as well as inhumane treatment and care for horses. Transport violations in a USDA document contained hundreds of graphic photographs of horses whose injuries and conditions were violations of humane laws. The photographs were taken in 2005 while horse slaughter still operated at three plants in the U.S.

On the heels of accident last week, EWA received an anonymous undercover investigation trailing two of Ayache's Three Angels Farms trailers to Texas. The investigation reveals the many illegalities and threats to public safety that are typical of transporting horses to slaughter. We are seeking information now regarding the fines and citations that were or will be issued to Ayache and his drivers.

Dorian Ayache is a well-known kill buyer with a record of disregard for public safety laws. Ayache has received 64 vehicular safety violations in a 24 month period. The DOT revoked his license in 2010 and he now operates with a DOT number under the name Edwin Ayache. Thus far, two major accidents have occurred under the name Edwin. It seems only a matter of time before human lives are lost.  

Ayache's Three Angels Farms drives multiple truckloads of slaughter bound horses to Presidio, Texas every week. During this investigation, Ayache was forced to take back 10-12 horses that were rejected by the Mexican slaughter plants. Mexico rejects thousands of horses each year and there is no documentation of what happens to the rejected horses. Investigations have revealed that many, if not all, are abandoned in the southwestern states. The pro slaughter rhetoric that horse slaughter offers a solution to the "abandoned horse problem" is disproved, and is in fact the cause.

EWA strongly urges immediate calls to the House Agriculture Appropriations committee to ensure horse inspections are defunded on June 19 and calls to legislators in both Houses to demand passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011.

§  Ending horse slaughter puts a stop to the literal crimes against American horses by a foreign meat business.

§  Ending horse slaughter puts a stop to the flow of unsafe, drug-tainted meat from animals raised in violation of food safety laws.


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The Equine Welfare Alliance is a dues-free 501c4, umbrella organization with over 245 member organizations and hundreds of individual members worldwide in 18 countries. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org

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