Double-Decker Horse Transport – Inherently Cruel?
An issue that has always generated passions here on the site is animal cruelty, specifically with regard to horses. The new Congress has already seen some horse protection legislation introduced.
H.R. 305 would prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing 2 or more levels stacked on top of one another.
I’ve never seen a horse look happy in any trailer. (Then again, it’s hard to tell whether they’re happy from the appearance of the upper third of their hindquarters.) But they have to be transported somehow.
Is it always wrong to transport horses in double-decker trailers, so the practice should be outlawed? Or are there responsible transporters that use double-decker trailers?
The current vote on H.R. 305 is below. Click to vote, comment, learn more or edit the wiki article about the bill.
Raven
STOP THE SLAUGHTER OF HORSES!!!
Horses should NOT be transported in double decker trailers!
And they should not be slaughtered!
Keep USA horses in the pastures and off the tables.
D. Masters
Excuse me, but just who, exactly is Jim Harper and what are his (assuming Jim is male, of course) qualifications to be featured as a guest writer on HR 305 on washingtonwatch.com? Jim Harper is blue in type in the piece, but it doesn’t link to anything.
vicki
Mr. Harper, no responsible owner is going to transport horses in a double decker trailer. The only folks using double deckers for horses are kill buyers and their haulers. The trucks are designed for livestock, not for horses. Use some common sense. Surely you are not that naïve.
Let’s see you ride in a trailer with your head bent over for hours and tell us how happy you are. Yes, they have been transported, somehow and if you want to see the results and the inherent abuse and cruelty with horse slaughter, read the recent USDA FOIA here: http://www.vickitobin.com/id18.html
Horse slaughter will end in this country. The support is overwhelming and instead of taking the past several years to prepare, the pro folks have done nothing.
Michele Glick
Please consider the welfare of these beautiful innocent creatures, thank you.
Carol Thurman
Please think how your family pet would feel in the same situation or yourself. What about the other driver’s on the road including the semi’s with the wind.
Carol Thurman
Safety alone says No to this vote.
Jim Harper
Oh my.
Hi everyone – I’m Jim Harper, the webmaster of WashingtonWatch.com and I use this blog to write about interesting public policy issues and interesting things on this site.
I know that horse protection is an interesting issue to many visitors, and that’s why I wrote to highlight this bill. I’m sorry if you are upset at me for doing that. I tried to phrase my post neutrally, so that you (and anyone with any view) could educate the public about it.
There were 1.1 million visitors to WashingtonWatch.com last year, and I’ll bet one or two of them are like me – perfectly ignorant about double-decker trailers. I had never seen one before I went looking for the picture above, and I don’t know how well or poorly they accommodate horses, etc. So please don’t blame the messenger (or, I guess, the ignorant). Instead, please use this forum to educate all of us about the issues. Thanks for your passion!
Carol Thurman
I believe horse slaughter is wrong.
dia
I still witness these trailers in the state of pa ,,so they are still on the road for what ever reason, I’ve also witness at the horse auction over 300 + horse go through ther in middleburg pa ,, some they well not let you see ,, rather abused by amish or who ever , we need tougher laws to charge the abusers ..amish in deed do most of the damage here they are not so innocent ,, i seen on amish pair driving ther horse , with only 3 legs working an one of this poor horses foot was jus floping around poor thing [horse ,, so much for ther religon,,??
D. Masters
Mr. Harper:
Thanks for the reply and I appreciate your perspective on this issue of horse “protection”…actually, I don’t like the use of that word in the context of this issue. It’s more about decent treatment, even if it means the horse will die. However, I digress.
Additionally, you did not answer my question. Your claim to fame (commentary credentials) are that you are the webmaster for WW? Hhmm..you aren’t Mr. Harper from/of the CATO Institute? Just a patriotic citizen working the web re:Congressional issues? Hhmmm…interesting. No, I don’t need your ssn.
In closing, why don’t you ask for input from DDHorse supporters and anti-DDHorse folks for some perspective? Even Dr. T. Grandin has advocated and been verified that one must charge the transporters for damage to animals and death experienced from transport for traditional US meat livestock prior to slaughter.
Mr. Harper, I am not “upset” with you. Just trying to understand what proverbial dog you have in this fight, err… debate. I don’t blame you for anything other than failing to reach out to opposing camps on this issue and publishing their stated positions. Could be hard though, understand the entire body/verbage of the resolution has still not been posted on thomas.gov. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Sherri Michaels
Please stop the slaughter of horses. It is as cruel and inhumane as the slaughter of unwanted dogs and cats, as well as the carrying of animals in the double decker trailers.
vicki
Carol, did you mean safety alone says YES to this vote? No means you are for double deckers!
Cindy O'Dell
Anyone who thinks this type of transport is humane please report to the nearest truck stop where you will be picked up packed in as tight as possible into a double decker truck and shipped for days to a gruesome death. If this sounds familar you are right 6 million people went thru the same horror.It was beyond wrong then and it is still an insult to life!
D. Masters
Mr. Harper:
Now I am becoming a bit distressed; no, make that annoyed. You have “google” ad sponsors for cattle and horse hauling.
Have a problem here, sir. They are not disinterested. The first two advertised sponsors I know ship responsibly for equids. The other two I have no knowledge of. Better question is: In an attempt to facilitate internet presence and ergo, revenue you have signed up for ISP promotion of equid related issues? Fine, I’m all for business and making a moral buck. But where is the conflict of interest disclaimer?
You realize that you are taking ads from people who depend on the shipping of horses for a living; no, make that profit? As I said, the first two advertisers ship with intent to deliver live, healthy horses and provide a quality service (check out their fees). The other two, I’m not sure of. Check out the fees for DDHorse transport, if you can find it. Something just bothers me about your feature of HR305 (other than I know how much interest was generated from the last polls-HR6598/110th Congress).
Tell me I have something wrong here.
Jim Harper
Thanks for writing again with your concerns, D. Masters.
My day job is indeed with the Cato Institute. That is posted on the “about” page and mentioned from time to time on this blog. WashingtonWatch.com is a project I run myself, though, and it has no affiliation with my employer.
It is fair of you to inquire, but I don’t really have any dog in this fight. In my job, I do technology policy – privacy, intellectual property, telecommunications, and the like. I have spent most of my time over the last two years advocating against a national ID and I have been doing some work on counterterrorism recently.
I don’t have any expertise on this issue, which is why the post asked questions. The questions were . . . actual questions! It was an invitation to others to discuss, as they are doing. (Thanks, folks!)
As to the Google ads, they are served by Google based on the words found on this page. You’ll find that there are similarly tailored ads on every page. Any person or group that advocates against cruelty could advertise there just as easily as a horse transporter. I do make a small amount of money if someone clicks on an ad, but it doesn’t make any difference what the ad is for. I don’t pay attention to what ads run, and I don’t know what ads are clicked on.
Please, again, I just raised the issue because of the interest I know exists among users of this site. I have succeeded, I suppose, in ginning up some of that interest, but I’m not grinding any particular ax.
Pat
Go there to see why. The picture will tell you. It is not rocket science to see that double decker trucks were not made to haul horses. Maybe as a human you would like to travel in a 2×5′ cargo hold on a airplane flight for 24 hours to experience something similar Jim Harper? And the destination is Iraq where you will be killed. Not shot. You will be stabbed in the back, not once but quite a few times to make you fall on the floor. Then you will be hoisted by your leg and your throat slit to bled you out while you are still conscious. And I hope you are over 6′ so you know what it feels like to hold you head down for 24 hours and not be able to at least stand up staight. Don’t write like you know what you are talking about and minimize the horror to horses that transport in these trucks are. I am ashamed they are still being abused in them today.
Pat
Here is my website:
http//:wyoming-aahs.bloggingupdates.blogspot.com
Very graphic images from horses hauled to US slaughter plants.
http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/foia.htm
You say you don’t know anything about this? Then to be informed about what you are writing to the public about, you HAVE to look at the photos on the last one. No one can say one word about horse slaughter or transporting horses to it until they look at what really happens.
Jim Harper
I fail to see where *asking questions* about things I don’t know about is writing like I know what I’m talking about and minimizing the horror to horses.
Here’s a note about persuasion: Be nice to people.
When you come across people who are neutral, or who don’t know a lot about your issue, don’t berate them and accuse them of malice. You will have more success bringing people to your side with care and kindness.
Jim Harper
Here’s the email sent to me by “D. Masters”:
“OOoohhh…this is getting good, the prick in the ivory CATO tower (ergo Washington insider) is claiming ‘neutral’ ignornace. Yeah, right!”
D. Masters
Not only am I mortified, I deeply apologize. I will no longer post or monitor same. The horses and those that support this cause do not need my kind of “help”.
Thank you for your understanding. I apologize to all.
Mel
Double decker trailers are horrific places for horses. They were not made for horses. Anybody that uses these trailers for horses knows that. I dont believe cattle should be shipped in them either. The way these trailers carry their weight makes them easy to turn over and cause MAJOR problems for the animals in the trailers, the rescuers and the innocent passengers on the road.
R. Woods
Does anyone actually know the head clearance in a double decker trailer in measurements of height in feet per deck? Just checking numbers here
vicki
R. Woods, the first article in the second section (from Animal Law Coalition) on this page has the numbers you’re looking for. http://www.vickitobin.com/id30.html
Judy D
Jim Harper -
I apologize for the crass jerks that (sometimes) linger on these types of lists/polls/etc.
you have it right – there are a LOT of emotion and passion related to this issue. you’ve got to take the sum total and skim off the ‘fat’, if you will. there are going to be those that are wingnuts and then there are the real thinking ppl with real thoughtful answers and opinons. please take them and use those as your solute.
Kathryn M. Contarino
Transportation of horses in these trailers is cruel and inhumane. The current practice of butchering horses while they are still alive and screaming and while other watch and wait their turns is beyond cruel and inhumane. Horses were never meant to be eaten. Think of their heritage and their service to America and treat them with kindness and respect and allow them their freedom and their dignity. Thank you all for your concern and for taking the time to reach out.
who's stupid here
Horses will go down in trailers and get hurt whether there is 1 horse or 30 horses. Things happen whether we like it or not. A local “rescue” here where I live just had one DIE on a trailer, they didn’t even give it the dignity of immediate burial. They simply pulled in our county fairgrounds, drug it off, covered it with a tarp and left it lay there in the cold, snow and freezing rain for at least 2 days. Now if that isn’t hypocritical I don’t know what is!!!!! Now I’m sure they won’t share that info and if they do they will have a million excuses why the horse died on the trailer, typical rescue methods IMO. Case in point: HORSES DO DIE ON TRAILERS whether they are double deckers, or horse specifically designed trailers.
who's stupid here
Does Campbell’s soup render every chicken unconscious humanely before they cut thier heads off to make soup? I doubt it. I personally used to work at a poultry farm and have seen a dozen chickens per crate stuffed in hundreds of crates and placed on a trailer to be shipped to the poultry processing plants. There were no soft sided trailers with air conditioners, heat, running water or any of the ammenities that you seem to think horses need to be hauled. WAKE UP Congressmen, Senators, House of Reps. Defeat this bill and everyone that comes at you after it. Yes animals have rights,,, however so do the owners of those same animals. No one including the government and or so called rescues should dictate to us as Americans what we can and can’t do with regard to our horse, cattle, swine, etc. I say open up the slaughter houses, build more of them, give hundreds of people new jobs and boost the current problems with the economy and recession issues! Those who don’t want their horse to go down that road need to feed them, love them, keep them till they die or have to be euthanized and bury them as long as they have room to. Keep contaminating our water supply with dead decaying animal waste. Makes sense to me?
who's stupid here
Accidents involving double deck trailer loads of horse aren’t as common place as what you people seemt want to make it sound as if they are. I just recently saw on the news where a regualr slant load trailer headed to Texas wrecked and 2 of the 4 horses on board had to be euthanized due to injury. I see far more “horse equipped trailers” in accidents than I have ever seen double deck trailers with horses. Have been and OTR owner operator for 18 yrs and have traveled millions of miles in this country. Do the manufacturers not build goose neck trailers with a standard 6.5 ft. head clearance? I believe they still do. Yes there are taller built trailers, however everyone has their own preference. Are we going to in turn ask the government to force the manufacturers to stop building smaller trailers to satisfy the desires and beliefs of rescue groups?
who's stupid here
Better quit building 2-horse straight load trailers too, I have seen horses who refuse to go into them because they seem to have that tunnel effect of fear. Not much room in one of those either.
transporter & proud of it
I think if this bill passes, all those who voted for it should have to buy all of the DD trailers in the country and replace them with legal trailers for the families who make a living hauling livestock. Just a thought. I know what I paid for my DD and I don’t think you can afford to buy them all. We are defintitely talking about livelihoods here. Any takers on paying my mortgage and feeding my wife and children?
vickitobin
transporter & proud of it, perhaps you should have read the bill before posting. HR 305 has nothing to do with the transport of livestock. Your double deckers will still be legal for livestock.
who’s stupid here, 99% of horse owners are responsible and care for their horses in life and death. Slaughter serves 1% of horse owners. Perhaps you should ask the 99% what they are doing, why they don’t have environmental issue and why they don’t need slaughter. While you’re at it, why don’t you ask the puppy mill of the horse world, the AQHA if they’re going to bring another 140,000 foals into the population this year? Surely they’ll want to keep the dubious distinction of having the number one breed going to slaughter…
http://www.vickitobin.com
Jennifer Flood
THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Are you kidding — this shouldn’t be even up for discussion! NO HORSE SLAUGHTER! NO TRANSPORTATION OF HORSES TO OTHER PLACES FOR SLAUGHTER! PERIOD! Get a clue people, – or at least an education!
lj
Jim Harper, thank you for bringing up this very emotional subject. I’ve worked in the horse racing industry for 40+ years, and can tell you that the Double Decker transport vehicles are not meant to haul horses. It is a cruel act to haul horses in such a vehicle as to force the animals into unnatural positions. The act of slaughter is cruel enough, and these horses should not be tortured enroute to the plants where the torture is pretty extreme! I know this as I did visit the plants when in operation here in TX. and can tell you, they were anything but humane!
Jim Harper
Thank you for the information, lj. I (and more importantly, other visitors to this blog) appreciate the information – courteously provided.
Thanks also to Judy D for the kind words.
AHDF Prez
The USDA has ruled that Double Decker (DD) trailers cannot be modified or made humane for the use in transporting horses. I assume that everyone can agree that this agency can’t be considered overly humane, so their decision can be viewed as fair. The USDA has tried to enforce this but have been hindered by a loophole that they are attempting to correct to prevent horses from being transported in this trailers. Even those supporting the slaughter of horses agree that they are unsafe for horses. I also want to make it clear to the professional driver who just bought the trailer that if he is transporting horses he needs to stop before he is fined and if it is for transporting cattle or pigs this bill wouldn’t affect him at all.
The reasons these trailers are bad for horse is simple. Horses hold their heads upright and these trailers, designed for shorter necked animals, do no allow them to raise their heads properly. Horses transported with their heads lowered experience respiratory difficulties and tend to develop shipping fever. For the trailer to be modified to carry horses on multiple levels it would exceed height restrictions.
As for the accident factor. These trailers, when involved in accidents, cause more damage and take MUCH longer to “clean up” than other trailer accidents. Usually it runs into 6-10 hours where the roadway is blocked, and the use of hundreds of man hours and that is if they have the proper training. That is because of the number of animals involved. The documented accidents (which do appear, at least to rational folks, to happen far too frequently) have a death rate of 80% compared to 25% of the horses hauled in trailers designed for horses. These trailers are more top heavy than other trailers on the road. Also, most hauling to slaughter, which is against the USDA regulations as the 10 year phase out has expired, the trailers are usually also overweight and avoid weigh stations and DOT inspections making them even more dangerous to EVERY driver on the road with them. All accidents involving these trailers have resulted in multiple citations.
I do support the bill, but it isn’t the answer to all the problems that I and my organization have with horse slaughter. It wouldn’t change the fact that horses going to slaughter can be transported more than 24 hours without food or water. It wouldn’t stop the transport of horses into Canada and Mexico where the horses are treated inhumanely both before and during slaughter. This bill ONLY stops the use of these trailers which are inhumane for the transport of horses for dozens of reasons, more than I have time to list here.
I hope this answers the questions.
Here’s a New Bill About Horses - The WashingtonWatch.com Blog
[...] Double-Decker Horse Transport – Inherently Cruel? [...]
Here’s a New Bill About Horses | Blogging Hope
[...] Horses are one of the site’s most passionate subjects, as illustrated by this discussion. [...]
Mark & Shayann
Double decker trailers should not be used in the transport of horses. Give us better regulations on how are horses are transported, regardless of the destination!
vicki
We contend the entire process of slaughter is cruel and abuse at its worst. The transport of horses is part of the process. In an effort to do damage control to a FOIA we published clearly depicting the cruelty of slaughter, the pro folks on another thread (HR 503) are disputing the report claiming the horses arrived in the condition in the pictures.
If you read through the posts on this thread, it is clear that the pro folks don’t want to stop the inhumane transport that caused it. The very point the pro folks are using to do damage control is yet another result of the inherent cruelty and abuse caused by slaughter and yet, they oppose the transport legislation that would stop it.
Way to go pro slaughter, your greed and support of the cruelty and abuse is coming through loud and clear.
http://www.vickitobin.com
Christine Berry
Here are the problems with civil penalties & the solution:
Public cannot call 911 to report a violation upon observing a double decker with horses on board.
How will the U.S. Attorney General know how many violations unless the trailer is stopped by law enforcement so the number of horses can be counted and documented for court?
Is the Public expected to investigate, collect, document, and then provide the evidence of the violation to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office?
Unless a trailer is stopped, it is impossible to document the number of horses on the trailer.
Private citizens often observe these trailers while traveling the opposite direction on a limited access highway making it impossible for them to observe or obtain a license plate or any other identifying information. Without this information, how can the U.S. Attorney General’s Office know who to arrest?
Past experience has demonstrated that even with a description of the truck, law enforcement has been unable to locate a truck reported to be transporting horses in a double deck trailer.
Private citizens have reported violations of the Commercial Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Act of 1996 only to be told by APHIS that APHIS does not accept reports of violations from the public!
State and local law enforcement cannot enforce a law with civil penalties, only criminal penalties
State and local law enforcement have no incentive to contact the federal government on a law with civil penalties and no related state or local law.
The federal law enforcement agencies do not respond now to calls from state law enforcement agencies regarding motor vehicles stopped with illegal aliens. If the feds will not respond for a van full of human cargo, why would they respond for a truck loaded with horse cargo?
Enforcement will only happen when:
there is an accident because law enforcement will investigate the accident, thus collecting the evidence needed to prosecute.
In states where there is a law banning doubles, PA, NY, MA, MD, RI, VT, state and local law enforcement can enforce the state law, and the U.S. Attorney General could file federal charges because the evidence will be collected by law enforcement.
At the U.S. border, if the U.S. border patrol, USDA, and U.S. Customs officials are aware of the law. Again, the Commercial Transportation of Horses to Slaughter Regulations demonstrates that this does not happen. U.S. D.O.T and Motor Carrier inspectors are not aware of the law and do not report suspected violations to APHIS.
The failed enforcement of the federal regulations, which has Civil Penalties, compared to the successful enforcement of the NY and PA state laws with criminal penalties proves that Civil Penalties are not effective.
State legislators will point to a federal law banning doubles as a reason not to pass state legislation. As pointed out above, in states where there is a law in place, is where the federal law could be enforced.
Solution?
Amend the law to a chapter in Title 49 Transportation that has criminal penalties. Title 49 Chapter III Part 393 provides criminal penalties and would allow law enforcement state law enforcement officers who have been trained and authorized to enforce the federal motor carrier safety program laws.
Kirk’s office maintains that the high fines will be a deterrent. Facts prove that the death penalty does not act as a deterrent. Facts prove that Arlow Kiehl and Don Nickerson, Nickerson Livestock, were not deterred by Carper’s conviction and $11,000 fine in NY, or Three Hills Rodeo was not deterred by New Holland and Sugarcreek Livestocks’ convictions.
For more information on double deck trailers please visit the Equine Protection Network’s website:
http://www.equineprotectionnetwork.com/transport/transportindex.htm
I urge you to please contact Rep Kirk’s office requesting that HR 305 be amended with criminal penalties as recommended above. If you have any doubts regarding what I am telling you, contact law enforcement agencies tasked with patrolling the interstates and ask them if HR 305 will be enforced with civil penalties. Contact the U.S. Attorney General’s Office and ask them what evidence they would need to file charges and what they would need to successfully prosecute a case.
Something is not better than nothing…
Deborah L Frazier
Double decker trailers were not designed to transport horses. Period.
Animal cruelty is against the law.
I rest my case.
Sheri
The gruesome truth about transport and slaughter lies within public documents. Please investigate and decide to help stop this cruel practice.
Doug Stewart
Of course, no horse will be ‘happy’ in a trailer, as it is a completely unnatural condition for a horse, not only in that it is inclosed but also that it is bouncing up and down on the road during transport. However, I’ve never seen anyone happy on a long-haul airplane in economy, but that does not neccessarily mean that they are cruel or should be outlawed.At http://www.wowhorses.com/horse-transport.html one can see suitable options, usage guidance and regulations.
In fact, there are a number of suitable trailers which (if used properly, with proper rest breaks) can transport horses humanely and safely. Trailers should not be outlawed. However, double-decker trailers are not a suitable form of trailer for horses and this particular kind should be outlawed.
Annie Miller
I think double-decker trailers r basically like putting horses in there death traps. Please stops. Horses are just as valuable as humans. Treat them like it then.
Annie Miller
I think putting horses in double-decker trailers is basically like putting them in there death traps. Horses mean just as much as humans do, so I dont think you would like to be stuffed in these trailers, well then show the horses some respect please!