By Stu Chaifetz
SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness)
PO Box 28 • Geneva, IL 60134 • 630-557-0176
www.sharkonline.org
Dec. 12, 2013
Contact:
Stuart Chaifetz 856 428 2635
Steve Hindi 630 640 1889
New Jersey’s Anti-Horse Slaughter Law Put to the Test:
New Jersey Rodeo Sold Horses to Auction that Sold Them to Horse Slaughter Dealer
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBLE6T0700k
The thought of horses being eaten as food is so repugnant that New Jersey recently passed legislation to make it illegal to sell horses for human consumption. On Monday, November 11, 2013, the Cowtown Rodeo, located in Pilesgrove, NJ, was found to have sent nine of their horses to the New Holland horse auction in New Holland, PA. It has been confirmed by a witness on-site that those nine horses were purchased by a man named Bruce Rotz, who purchases horses for human consumption for the Richelieu Slaughter Plant located in Quebec, Canada.
Cowtown confirmed that the horses were sent to auction in the following Facebook post, which was soon deleted:
“New Holland has a notorious reputation for being a conduit for the horse slaughter industry,” states Steve Hindi, President of SHARK."Cowtown admitted that they sent nine horses to auction and that they could not “control the outcome of a public auction.” That means they knew there was a very real chance their rodeo horses could wind up being slaughtered for human food. Because of that, we believe that they violated NJ’s anti-horse slaughter law.”
SHARK is sending a letter to the NJ Department of Agriculture asking for an investigation of Cowtown for violating the horse slaughter law.
“Either Cowtown is guilty because they knew that their horses could very well be sent to slaughter, or the law is meaningless, as NJ’s horses can simply be shipped to Pennsylvania and sold for slaughter there,” states Hindi.
This issue also exposes how little rodeos care for their horses. While they claim their animals are like “family,” the reality is if the horses are “unproductive” they will be auctioned off, possibly for slaughter. That’s how horrendously rodeos treat their animals.
December 11, 2013
Dr. Manoel Tamassia, DVM, MS, PhD Dipl.
Director and State Veterinarian, NJ Department of Agriculture
[email protected]
Phone: 609-671-6400
Dear Mr. Tamassia,
I am writing to you to file a complaint against the Cowtown Rodeo located in Pilesgrove, NJ, for potential violation of NJ’s anti-horse slaughter law.
The evidence for this claim has been put into a video, which you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBLE6T0700k. The basics, however, are this: Cowtown sent nine horses to the New Holland auction, in New Holland, PA. This auction is notorious for being a conduit to the horse slaughter industry, and, based on a post Cowtown made on their Facebook page, they were aware that a dire fate possibly awaited the horses they sold there.
Information has been passed on to us that these horses were purchased by Bruce Rotz, who holds a contract with the Richelieu horse slaughter plant located in Quebec, Canada. This means that these horses were most likely destined for slaughter and human consumption.
NJ’s anti-horse slaughter law states the following:
CHAPTER 52
AN ACT concerning the slaughter of horses and sale of horseflesh for human consumption, amending R.S.4:22-26, and supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes.
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
C.4:22-25.5 Slaughter, transport of horses for human consumption; disorderly persons offense.
b. Any person who sells, barters, or offers for sale or barter, at wholesale or retail, for human consumption, the flesh of a horse or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a horse commits a disorderly persons offense, provided that the person knew or reasonably should have known that the flesh was from a horse, or that the product was made in whole or in part from the flesh of a horse.
c. Any person who knowingly transports a horse for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption, or who knowingly transports horsemeat, or any product made in whole or in part from the flesh of a horse, for the purpose of human consumption, commits a disorderly persons offense.
We believe that, as Cowtown knew that their horses could wind up being slaughtered for human consumption, that they have violated the law. We therefore ask that they are held accountable.
Sincerely,
Steve Hindi
President, Showing Animals Respect and Kindness
