Links

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

All the News

Health risks not consumers’ first concern in horse-meat scandal - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Farmers' warning: Flygrazing horses smuggled for meat, union fears - Mirror Online

Radical overhaul looms for British horse passport system - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Michael Markarian: Animals & Politics: Horsemeat Scandal Illustrates Need for Federal Action




Vets call for action in new horsemeat scandal | Habitat For Horses | Horse Rescue | Adopt a Horse

Kits to test for horse meat available in under 3 months - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

EWA/WHFF Houston Horse Meat Connection Gains Major Media Attention | Straight from the Horse's Heart

Carson residents offer to fence out wild horses; BLM says that won't work | Mostly Dogs

Horse Slaughter OK'd In OK - Farm Progress

Infographic Shows Horsemeat Stats, Scandal Timeline | Food Safety News

Ikea Removing Sausages From European Stores After Horse Meat Detected « CBS DC

After meatballs, Ikea withdraws sausages - Houston Chronicle

Horse meat scandal hits Alberta | 660News

Horsemeat scandal and global processed food suppliers linked to arms trafficking | Habitat For Horses | Horse Rescue | Adopt a Horse

KUNA : Why horse meat scandal in Europe concerns Muslim worl - Health - 17/02/2013

Alberta being affected by horse meat scandal | Home | Calgary Sun

Horse meat shipped through Houston | News - Home

Horse Meat Passes Through Texas, Advocacy Groups Say - NYTimes.com

Potential for horse-meat to enter US food supply - HSUS - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Keeping Up with the News!

www.kaufmanzoning.net/FOIA12-2848LandfairBrothers-SteveLandfair.pdf

What's in it for the horse, asks scientist - Features - Horsetalk.co.nz

Nestle withdraws beef products after horse DNA found: FT | Reuters

2013.02.18 Final 2012 slaughter stats and my worst fear

Nestle finds horse meat in beef pasta meals - US news | NBC News

Interior secretary faces questions over wild horses program | The Daily Caller

Train pony Ruby to lead campaign to stop horsemeat in burgers - Wales News - News - WalesOnline



Horse meat scandal a 'storm in a teacup' says Iceland chief - as he accuses schools of using 'dodgy, backstreet' meat - Telegraph

The Real Scandal Behind Britain’s Horsemeat Fiasco - Newsweek and The Daily Beast

2013.02.19 Quick Scandal Update

First Leigh vs. Salizar Wild Horse Case Returns to Original Reno Courtroom | Horse Back Magazine

Opinion: Scandal shines spotlight on murky horse trade - CNN.com

Horse meat in Finish, Swedish products - MarketWatch

Animals’ Angels USA Exposes the Truth of Horse Slaughter

SFTHH Exclusive: “Predictions” « Straight from the Horse's Heart

The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International Call for a Moratorium on the Sale of Horse Meat from North America : Humane Society International

Wild Horse Freedom of Press Case Gets Another Day in Court « Wild Horse Education

www.sfgate.com/news/article/Oklahoma-Senate-House-OK-horse-slaughtering-bills-4294782.php#src=fb

2012.02.21 Scandal, OK Update & Darkside

The Horse | Arizona Bill would Recognize Miniature Horses as Service Animals | TheHorse.com


Monday, February 18, 2013

Update: Scandal continues to spread



Equine Welfare Alliance
from Equine Welfare Alliance EEquine Welfare Alliance

Pies contaminated with horse meat go to 47 schools [thanks to Marge for passing this along]
  


  
  

Here's an article from the Telegraph in the UK

Horse meat scandal a 'storm in a teacup' says Iceland chief - as he accuses schools of using 'dodgy, backstreet' meat
  
  

  

  

Here's one RT has posted on his blog today from UK's Independent

American Horsemeat Exports Pose Health Risk and Should be Banned

  
  
  


Here's a release from Germany

Horse Meat Scandal Spreads Across Europe


Friday, February 15, 2013

So Much News! Horsemeat Scandal In Europe!



UK: Tainted horsemeat may be in French food chain - CNN.com

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inside-horse-meat-plant-aberyswyth-1708746

News Distribution Network - Shared Video

More tainted burgers, first arrests, in horse-meat scandal - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Suffering, disease lurk behind horse-meat trade, says charity - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Calif. Race Tracks, Rescue Groups Take Action Against Horsemeat Trade « CBS San Francisco

ENQUETE. La phénylbutazone, un poison dans la viande de cheval ? - Le Nouvel Observateur

CHDC Reposts “Proof of CFIA Failure”, Phenylbutazone Positive Horse Sent to Slaughter and Through the Food Chain | Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's Blog

As the EU Horsemeat Scandal Unfolds, the CHDC Questions the Safety of North American Horsemeat | Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's Blog

BBC News - Horse passports: up to 7,000 unauthorised documents issued

BBC News - Horsemeat scandal: EU experts to draw up test plans

Horsemeat Scandal Reveals U.S. Illegally Exports Horses & European Meat Tainted With Drugs (DETAILS) | Global Grind

More raids in Britain as horse-meat probe continues - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

New bill to allow Okla. horses slaughtered for meat | KFOR.com – Oklahoma City News & Weather from KFOR Television, Oklahoma's News Channel 4

French cabinet in emergency horsemeat talks - FRANCE - FRANCE 24

My Way News - UK: Horse drug may have entered human food chain

Beyond the taboo: Is horse meat really that bad to eat? | Fox News

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

European Union Asks Member Nations to Test Meat for Bute: PLUS More News

Horseback Magazine


February 13, 2013
Story and Photo By Steven Long
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – The European Union, faced with a burgeoning horsemeat scandal has asked its member nations to conduct DNA tests on processed beef. The scandal erupted when horsemeat, substituted for beef was found in the European version of Burger King products and lasagna from the frozen dinner giant Findus.
At the center of the probe is the EU demand that all meat determined to come from horses be tested for phenylbutazone, or bute. Details emerged on a report by the BBC in its feed to America.
Horsemeat is similar to beef, but is said to tast slightly gamey, is sweeter, as well as being more lean.
“This is a Europe-wide issue that needs a Europe-wide solution,” Irish Farm Minister Simon Coveney is reported to have said. “This is about someone in the food supply chain selling horsemeat as beef and making money in a fraudulent way by doing that.”
The report, aired by the BBC, suggested that the EU is investigating a possible conspiracy that may reach the United States.
The tests will be carried out over a three month period. Testing will begin March 1, however, such a late start is likely to enable European meat producers and food companies’ ample time to move 100 percent beef into the food supply. That will not, however, prevent enormous pressure investigators will bring to bear on food company employees to out their bosses if they have crossed the line.
The United Kingdom called earlier for an EU wide DNA testing regimen of beef products. The testing will continue for three months with random tests thereafter.
U.S. critics of horse slaughter have long claimed that American horsemeat sent abroad is laced with bute because almost all of the domestic animals have received the drug at some point in their life. Once a horse has been given phenylbutazone, it remains in the body to for life.
The scandal erupted two weeks ago and has mushroomed to the point that 16 countries have now found horsemeat in food labeled as containing beef products. A number of European supermarkets have withdrawn frozen beef dinners from their shelves. Most recently, horsemeat was found in frozen Lasagna in France. Germany is currently investigating delivery of frozen lasagna.
There are currently no U.S. horse slaughter plants, but domestic producers ship their unwanted horses to abattoirs in Mexico and Canada where testing for bute is virtually non existant. The EU recently said it would not accept U.S. meat because of the phenylbutazone scare.
American wild horses are also shipped to slaughter after they are captured and processed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. If a horse is in pain he is likely given bute. Most recently, the BLM sold more than 1,700 wild horses to a killer buyer who has refused to divulge their location. It is suspected the horses went to slaughter in Mexico. The sale is currently under investigation.

More News:

Horsemeat scandal: FSA chief says pork and chicken will need to be tested - Telegraph

Tesco admits its bolognese is made of horsemeat: 'Everyday Value' meal is 100% horse | Mail Online

EWA and WHFF Investigators Expose Horse Slaughter Transport Violations « Straight from the Horse's Heart

Horsemeat Scandal Continues to Spread Across Europe and Potentially Worldwide | Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's Blog

Raids on two premises as horse-meat probe continues - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/FOIA.Response.transport.2013.02.11.pdf

Message to Oklahoma Lawmakers: No Future in Horse Slaughter Business - Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation

Daily Star: Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: News :: Horsemeat scandal takes new twist as pet ponies may be in kebabs

Undercover Investigation Reveals Little Oversight At California Horse Auctions « CBS San Francisco

British food industry on track for Friday test results - News - Horsetalk.co.nz

Meat products have been falsely labeled, EU health chief says | Fox News

Monday, February 11, 2013

Animals' Angels FOIA and Other news

Animals' Angels


Animals' Angels FOIA Request Uncovers Grave Discrepancy
in BLM Mortality Rates

February 2013

What is happening at the Bureau of Land Management's Nevada Palomino Valley Holding Facility?
  
There have been many reports lately about questionable actions of the Bureau of Land Management and its contractors, such as selling horses out of long term holding to known kill buyers Joe Simon and Musick Livestock ("Wild Horses Sold to Killbuyer") or allowing individuals such as Tom Davis to purchase 1700 horses without questioning where all these horses would end up. ("Wild Horses to Slaughter").  
  
Animals' Angels latest Freedom of Information Act request only increased our concerns over the BLM's treatment of wild horses and burros. Among other things, the BLM's Palomino Valley Facility in Nevada seems to be drastically under-reporting the actual number of horses and burros that have died under its "care."
The National Wild Horse and Burro Center at Palomino Valley is the largest BLM holding facility in the country. The facility, located near Reno, serves as the primary holding area for wild horses and burros rounded up from the public lands in Nevada as well as neighboring states. The facility has 160 acres and according to the BLM website, can hold a maximum of 2,000horses and burros at any given time.
  
In order to deal with the eventuality of equine deaths, the NV Bureau of Land Management has an ongoing contract with a rendering plant, Nevada By-Products (d/b/a Reno Rendering), to process the horses and burros from the Palomino Valley Holding Facility.
 
According to the contract paperwork, Nevada By-Products was chosen over landfill disposal due to cost effectiveness and the fact that "Due to the sensitive nature of the public to the wild horse and burro program, it is necessary to dispose of these large animals as quickly and discretely (sic) as possible and Reno Rendering fulfills these requirements."
 
It should also be noted that in the contract specifications, the NV BLM estimated approximately 200 adults and 100 foals would need to be sent for rendering each year.

  
In addition to the contract itself, our FOIA request obtained all records of deceased horses and burros sent from the BLM holding facility to the rendering plant from January 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012.  

During that timeframe the BLM itself reported in the officialPalomino Valley Mortality Detail Report that only 241 horses and burros died at the Palomino Valley and 50 at the Fallon facility. However, the records from the rendering plant tell quite a different story.  

According to the Nevada By-Product invoices for that same time period, a startling 577 dead horses were received from the Palomino Valley Facility. This is a shocking difference of 336 animals (286 animals if the Nevada By-Product invoices do  include the Fallon horses), a number simply too large to ignore.


Compounding our concerns, an inordinate number of foals and colts were among the deceased. "Newborns" or "babies" were also specifically noted on several of the rendering plant receipts. A total of 332 foals and colts were included in the rendering plant invoices. In March 2011 alone, 10 horses and 64 colts died and were shipped to Nevada By-Products.

It begs the questions: Why the discrepancy?  Why are so many young horses dying? What would the BLM holding facility gain by under-reporting these figures?

The BLM's stance all along is that its roundups are humane. On the face of it, we already know this is blatantly untrue. Roundups are done via helicopter, panicking the wild horses andFreeze Brand horse  burros and, as a result, causing undue injury. Wild horses and burros will, as a matter of instinct, startle when put under stress, yet the BLM continues to ignore the voices who are advocating for helicopter-free and humane roundups, or better still, to end the roundups altogether.

The disparity in the death rates reported by the BLM would seem to indicate many more horses and burros are dying at their facilities than they would have us believe.     
  
This newly uncovered mortality discrepancy casts yet another dark shadow on the BLM and is another sign that more seems to be going on than meets the eye. With the number of stories regarding questionable sales to kill buyers, cruelty and  unexplained record keeping piling up from various outlets, a question we should all ask is: What doesn't the BLM want the public to know?    


Animals' Angels would like to thank Debbie Coffey for her assistance with this investigation!  
 
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About us
Animals' Angels works to improve conditions for farm animals. We closely cooperate with law enforcement and government agencies to fight animal cruelty. Our investigators are out in the field nationwide, visiting auctions, feedlots and slaughter plants.

Contact:
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PO Box 1056
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www.animalsangels.org
info@animalsangels.org

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Thursday, February 7, 2013

UK: Beef Lasagne Meals 100% Horsemeat

News Sky


Tests on Findus beef lasagne have revealed that some of the ready meals were made entirely from horsemeat.
Findus analysed 18 of its beef lasagne products and found 11 meals contained between 60% and 100% horsemeat, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said.
There is no evidence to suggest the horsemeat found in the Findus beef lasagne is a food safety risk, the FSA said.
However, the agency has ordered urgent tests on the lasagne for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone. Meat from animals treated with "bute" is not allowed to enter the food chain in Britain as it may pose a risk to human health.
All food companies have been told to test their beef products, with the FSA saying it was "highly likely" that criminal activity was to blame for the contamination.
Consumers who have purchased the ready meals - produced by French food supplier Comigel on behalf of Findus - have been advised by the FSA not to eat them and return them to the shop they were bought from.
Retail giant Tesco and discount chain Aldi have already withdrawn a range of ready meals produced by Comigel over fears they contained contaminated meat.
Findus UK has already started a full recall of its lasagne products. It withdrew its 320g, 360g and 500g lasagne meals from supermarket shelves as a precautionary measure earlier this week.
It came after Comigel alerted Findus and Aldi that their products "do not conform to specification".
It advised them to remove Findus beef lasagne and Aldi's Today's Special frozen beef lasagne and Today's Special frozen spaghetti bolognese.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Today's News

Equine Welfare Alliance


Wow! We are finally getting our day in the media. The propaganda machine seems to be running out of fuel and it's about time!

Please visit these articles and comment away!


Vickery never fails to keep hitting home runs. Here is her latest

Five Reasons Why Tesco's Horse Meat Scandal Could Happen Here

http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff/2013/01/29/five-reasons-why-tescos-horse-meat-scandal-could-happen-here/

Another excellent article from Andrew Cohen

The Man Who Could Save America's Wild Horses

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/will-this-man-save-americas-wild-horses/272711/

No honor in horse slaughter or drug documentation system it uses

http://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/no-honor-in-horse-slaughter-or-drug-documentation-system-it-uses/

Oklahoma's Mystery Meat


Change hard to come by (thanks to Keith for passing this on)

https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/130215h.aspx

Horse Meat Scandal in Europe

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2013/01/horse-meat-scandal-europe.html

You can't comment on this article but you may want to drop World Horse Welfare a note on their comments contributing to this article. They obviously aren't aware of food safety regulations or don't care...

Burger-gate puts horse slaughter in spotlight

http://www.independent.ie/farming/news-features/burgergate-puts-horse-slaughter-in-spotlight-3368976.html

I saved one of the best for last. As many of you know, we have lost our comedy relief. Duquette's and Wallis' facebook group is now a closed group. Just more proof that they don't want to hear the truth or how far off base they are. Here is another classic fromShedrow on another twisted view from the now closed group.
  
Another Solution To Shoot Down

http://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/another-solution-to-shoot-down/







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