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Drugged-up American horsemeat sold to Europe
Sinikka Crosland, executive director of the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition, feeds her horses in Westbank, British Columbia.
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In 2011, about 140,000 American horses were eaten abroad. But they weren’t slaughtered in the U.S. When America closed its last horse slaughter plants five years ago, American horse buyers turned their trucks north and south to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. From there, most of the meat goes to the European Union.
But American horses are given drugs that humans should not consume. Silky Shark was one of those horses. His former owner, Ken Terpenning of Lexington, Ky., has owned over two dozen racehorses, but Silky Shark made a big impression.
“Silky Shark was everything you’d want in a racehorse,” says Terpenning. “He was vibrant, fiery, a very happy horse. On the racetrack, he was a total professional. He earned over $100,000 in his career.”
When Terpenning fell on tough times, he sold Silky Shark to a man he trusted. But then the horse was resold again, and again, eventually winding up in a Canadian slaughterhouse.
It’s perfectly legal to flip horses in this manner. But Silky Shark was given Phenylbutazone, or “Bute.” Bute is the most common anti-inflammatory drug administered to horses; it’s also a carcinogen for humans.
Sinikka Crosland, executive director of the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition, says Canada isn’t protecting consumers from tainted meat.
“Horses are not raised as livestock,” Crosland says. “They’re given drugs when they need them. People aren’t holding back.”
With Belgium, France and Italy topping the list, the European Union is the primary market for American horses slaughtered in Canada. Dan Jorgensen, a member of the European Parliament, is getting fed up with the system as it is.
“I think it’s quite concerning,” MEP Jorgensen says, “that European consumers might actually be buying and eating horsemeat that we don’t have any reason to believe is healthy.”
MEP Jorgensen says the EU’s laws are strict, but enforcement just hasn’t happened, particularly outside of the EU. He wants to pressure Canadians to stop letting tainted meat from slipping through the system.
Until that happens, more than 1,000 American horses a week will be slaughtered in Canada.
Back in Lexington, Ky., Ken Terpenning is waiting for someone to regulate the system.
“I just wish it was done. I look at [Silky Shark’s] pictures on my wall every day and I just still can’t believe it.”
This story comes with support from PRX and the Open Society Foundations. For more on how and why Silky Shark slipped through the cracks, visit LatitudeNews.
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Proof of CFIA Failure – Horse Slaughter
From the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition:
On December 11, 2012, Jack Rodolico of Latitude News
reported on the story of Silky Shark, a Standardbred
racehorse who was slaughtered and slipped through the
system to dinner plates, when his carcass should have
been condemned.
The CHDC provides evidence of phenylbutazone entering
the human food chain in Proof of CFIA Failure.
http://www.seraphim12foundation.org/proof-of-cfia-failure-horse-slaughter/
Horse owners that care about the horses they have owned, inform new keepers or owners, of the horses medical history - including their drug history. It is not 'ok' to lie about a horses drug history - especially when it involves human food safety! It is terrorism of a food supply system! It is the same as posioning someones food. They should go to jail.
As an American and horse owner for over 35 years, I believe it's important to point out that it is NOT just about race horses. It's about all horses from the US.
Certainly race horses are exposed to more drugs more often than performance horses and recreational horses, BUT that by no means indicates that these other classes of horses are safe to eat.
Performance horses are certainly exposed to drugs during their careers in their various disciplines - and the most likely one is "Bute." You can count on the fact that any performance horse has aches and pains at one time or another, and bute is the NSAID of choice for veterinarians to prescribe for these reasons.
And recreational horses are just as likely to have received this ubiquitous drug at some point during their lives. It would be inhumane to allow them to suffer from the dings, cuts and sore muscles that horses always manage to get, no matter what their "profession." I'm strictly a recreational horse person, and every horse I've ever owned has been dosed with bute at least once. It's as rare to find a horse that's never had a dose of bute as it is to find a human who have never taken an aspirin/ibuprofen tablet. And once is all it takes for an banned substance. ONE exposure and that horse must NEVER enter the human food chain. NO withdrawal times for banned substances.
And bute isn't the only one. Horses are not considered to be food animals in the US. Many of the most prescribed medications as well as many over-the-counter products contain these substances, and they are clearly marked "not for use in horses intended for food products." Even FLY SPRAY carries this warning.
We in the US have absolutely NO traceability system at all for horses. No way to know which horses have received which drug and no way to removed these horses from the human food chain. Even for drugs that do have withdrawal times, we have no way to track when - or IF - any of these drugs have been used and if the proper withdrawal time has been observed.
In the regulations for 2013, the EU will require all horses presented to be slaughtered for export to the EU must have permanent ID in the form of a microchip by the age of six months and a lifetime medical record begun at that time, signed by a licensed veterinarian. This information must be kept in a national database by the ID on the microchip. If any of these steps are NOT taken, the horse will be refused. These regulations become effective on August 1, 2013 at which time no US horse will qualify for slaughter for human consumption.
Which will suit the 80% of Americans who are strongly against horse slaughter just fine.
My god, this man Ken is a hero for the horses and horse lovers everywhere!! The fraud, the disgrace, of horse slaughter has finally been revealed by a man that will be looked upon for years as the greatest guy on earth. We need more people to stand up and speak out for the horse. We need more people to stand up and acknowledge the truth. We all know that horses should not be slaughtered for moral reasons as well as due to drugs and the inhumane handling from auction to transport to kill floor yet most people do nothing. Thank you dear Ken for having the courage to speak out on a business that is dirty and filled with violations against horse welfare and food safety. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Love You! God Bless!!
The Canadian Horse Defence Coalition would like to extend our gratitude publicly to Ken Terpenning, past owner of Silky Shark, the horse in the center of the CHDC report on toxic horse meat, 'Proof of CFIA Failure'. Without Mr. Terpenning's courage to step forward and provide veterinary records showing that Silky Shark had received phenylbutazone and was subsequently slaughtered, there would be no concrete proof.
As a consequence of his selflessness and co-operation with the CHDC and with Mr. Jack Rodolico of Latitude News, Mr. Terpenning has been the recipient of anonymous verbal email slurs by people attempting to put a negative spin on how he felt about Silky Shark, and insinuating that he was negligent in providing Silky Shark a safe haven. They either do not understand or perhaps have not read the circumstances in Silky Shark's story. We regret that certain individuals in their fervent desire to have their say, comment with what essentially amounts to malicious allegations.
The CHDC deeply regrets any distress this may have caused Mr. Terpenning and would like to state to all those who actually read Silky Shark's story, that we are indebted to Mr. Terpenning for his kindness and generosity. Mr. Terpenning, without a doubt, has taken an extremely courageous step to help expose the gaping holes in the racing industry and has offered solutions for others so that they won't experience the grief, guilt and heartache he suffered over Silky Shark's sad end.
Thank you, Mr. Terpenning.
You are one remarkable man and are the embodiment of your favorite motto:
"True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
Sincerely,
Sinikka Crosland and the Board of Directors of the CHDC
Racehorses and Standies are not suitable for entering the food chain anyway, so what purpose would "keeping track" do when you're not the legal owner anyway? The Canadian government knows that these horses have been treated with prohibited drugs yet they ignore their own meat hygiene rules, so what do you expect Mr. Terpenning to do? He has done a very brave thing indeed, coming forward with irrefutable evidence that confirms CFIA negligence, along with the overall failure of the whole system of producing food out of non-food animals! Most governments protect whistleblowers for good reason.
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