Common Sense Horse Lobbying

We frequently mention the comings and goings of new trade associations in Washington, though inevitably the process is much more about the former than the latter — it's a rare thing to find an association has decided that it no longer needs an agent in the capital.

But that's what the American Quarter Horse Association has done. First arriving in Washington in 2004, the racing and riding horse group initially registered on "legislative issues related to the equine industry," before branching out in subsequent disclosures to horse slaughtering, agricultural appropriations, and the right to ride on federal lands. The AQHA was a modest spender, dividing around $170,000 a year between its own in-house lobbyists and the Macon Edwards Company.

Last week, however, it filed its lobbying termination. According to Barbara Linke, the association's director of public policy, "We didn't really have an issue we had to lobby for anymore."

Horse slaughterhouses had been the issue closest to the group's heart, and while Washington debated a possible ban, the last domestic slaughtering operation was shuttered by state mandate. While horse lovers have recently been in a furor over American horses being shipped to Mexico for slaughter, "there's not a lot of control we have with what happens in Mexico," Linke says. "The issue became kind of moot."

Update: As commenter Megan notes, the matter might not be as settled as Linke suggests. Current legislation authored by Sen. Mary Landreau (D-La.) would affect the knowing transport of horses to slaughterhouses, and the AQHA has criticized the bill as being too restrictive on the horse industry.

At least so far, there's been no sign that other players have in the horse debate decided to go home. Beltex, a Fort Worth company with an expertise in horse meat and other specialty animal products, is still registered to lobby through its in-house operations as well as the firm Olsson, Frank & Weeda, though under a different name: apparently "The Common Sense Horse Coalition (Formerly Beltex)" has a better ring. Beltex couldn't be reached for comment.

Comments

[Robin Varone]

It is sad that the AQHA has supported the slaughtering of horse. It is obvious that this is how they make more money. The more that is bred, the more horse that are registered. It is time for less breeding. It also time that the AQHA step to the plate and start helping with rescuing their horses. The money they spent on supporting slaughtering of horse, could have been better spend by helping the rescues that trying to save them. The Thoroughbred Industry has stepped up to the plate and making a dent. All breed registries need to do this. It is not about the quanitity of horses bred, it is quaility and what the market will handle.

[horsemen's cafe]

Nice touch. Beltex and associates have finally "come out of the closet" so that those who still don't realize it will now know that the group known as Common Horse Sense is indeed the slaughterhouse, not the "informative" group that they attempted to pass themselves off as.
Maybe now AQHA can take some of their lobbying dollars and put them to better use by educating their members about responsibility.

[Aleta Pahl]

What kind of an organization professes to care about horses and supports the slaughter of horses? Who benefits from this gruesome business...not the horses, not the horse owners who have their horses stolen by killbuyers, not owners who sell their horses to someone they believe buys for good intentions and later finds it was a killbuyer, not the racehorse owners who later find a horse they sold in good faith ends up at an auction to be bought by a killbuyer...this is an ugly, deceitful business no one with any morality would be involved in and the AQHA is the ultimate hypocrite. America needs to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act NOW and protect our horses, plain and simple.

[MuleKist]

Seems to me that the AQHA does not want "a lot of control" over what happens to American horses - as long as slaughter "anywhere" remains an option for them. A majority of the horses going to slaughter are AQHA registered horses & slaughter is the "dumping ground" for their unwanted cast-offs. So now, they are quitting their fight to KEEP slaughter? Perhaps they know something the rest of us dont know yet? Could it be that "our bill" to end the slaughter (and export) is doomed?

[vicki]

There certainly is something to lobby for - passage of S 311. AQHA can certainly do something about stopping the exports. The more the quarter horse owners breed, the more money in the pockets of the AQHA. Without slaughter, the owners might breed responsibly and that would take revenue away from the AQHA. It's all about money, not the welfare of the horses.

[Mandy]

The slaughter ban being considered in Washington includes outlawing transport out of the country for slaughter, so it's hardly a moot point. And Beltex isn't AQHA's opposition. AQHA supports keeping horse slaugther legal.