BILL ANALYSIS SJR 22 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SJR 22 (Florez) As Amended August 2, 2010 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :27-7 AGRICULTURE 7-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Galgiani, Conway, Fuller, | | | | |Hill, Ma, Mendoza, Yamada | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Tom Berryhill | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Memorializes congress to support federal legislation to protect American horses from slaughter for human consumption. Specifically, this resolution : 1)States that California voters passed a ban, in 1998, on the slaughter of horses and the sale of horses for human consumption, and that California horses continue to be transported or sold out-of-state, requiring a passage of a federal ban on the movement of horses for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption. 2)Claims that the slaughter of American horses has continued unabated despite the closing in 2007 of the remaining operating U.S. horse slaughter facilities. 3)States there is federal legislation introduced as Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009, that would prohibit the possession, shipping, transporting, purchasing, selling, delivering, or receiving of horses and other equines, in interstate or foreign commerce, for slaughter for human consumption. 4)Claims that horse slaughter has been detrimental to communities where slaughter facilities are located, causing significant adverse impacts, from nuisance odors to chronic sewer and environmental violations, and that the methods used to kill American horses in Canada and Mexico are cruel and SJR 22 Page 2 crude, causing suffering to the animals. 5)Claims that findings support that horse slaughter provides a quick and likely untraceable avenue for disposal of stolen horses, and that it is not a means of control for unwanted, abandoned, or neglected horses, but a for-profit operation driven by demand for horsemeat in certain foreign countries. 6)Claims American horses are not raised, fed or medicated in accordance with the Federal Drug Administration's guidelines for food animals, creating a potentially unsafe, unfit product for human consumption. 7)Claims American horses are an icon of our history, traditions, culture, revered for its contributions to the building of this country, their companionship and bond with people. 8)States that the California Legislature, both Senate and Assembly, jointly urges Congress to support federal legislation to protect American horses from slaughter for human consumption. 9)Directs the Secretary of the Senate to send copies of SJR 22 to the President and Vice President of the United States (U.S.), Majority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, and to each Senator and each House Representative from California serving in Congress. EXISTING LAW makes it a felony to import or export from California, or to sell, buy, give away, hold, or accept any horse with the intent of killing or having it killed, if the known purpose is that it will be used for human consumption. Statute defines "horse" as any equine, including, horse, pony, burro, or mule. Establishes a violation is punishable by state imprisonment for 16 months, or two or three years. Prohibits the offering for sale of horsemeat for human consumption and makes it a misdemeanor violation punishable by a fine of not more than $1000 or confinement in a jail for not less than 30 days or more than two years, or both a fine and jail. Further, statute provides that subsequent violations are punishable by imprisonment in state prison for no less than two years and not more than five years. (Penal Code Section 598c and 598d.) FISCAL EFFECT : Legislative Counsel has keyed this resolution SJR 22 Page 3 "non-fiscal." COMMENTS : In 1998, an Initiative Statute, Proposition 6, was place on the ballot and approved by the California electorate, that created a crime for the slaughter of horses for the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. While California did not have any facilities being used to slaughter horses for human consumption at the time, several other states did. Since 1998, and with the various efforts by supporters, including federal legislation, all horse slaughter facilities have been either closed or have stopped processing horses. According to the author, although horse slaughter has ended in the U.S., horses remain subject to "intense suffering and abuse through transport and slaughter" at slaughter facilities outside our boarders (Canada and Mexico), that are being supplied animals from the U.S. Further, these foreign facilities have been found to use non-stunning methods that may or may not paralyze the animal, and could leave the animal conscious while being bled-out or dismembered. Related Federal legislation : HR 503 (Rep. Conyers, D-MI, and Rep. Burton, R-IN), and S 727 (Sen. Landrieu, D-LA, and Sen. Ensign, R-NV), in 2009-2010, bans horse slaughter in the U.S. HR 503 (Rep. Sweeney, R-NY, and Rep. Spratt, D-SC) and S 1915 (Sen. Ensign, R-NV, and Sen. Landrieu, D-LA) in 2005-2006, created a ban on horse slaughter in the U.S.; also, in 2005, the fiscal year 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill was amended on the House and Senate floor to de-fund taxpayer funded inspections for horse slaughter. Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084 FN: 0005221