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                                         
           
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          |Ayes:|Galgiani, Conway, Fuller, |     |                          |
          |     |Hill, Ma, Mendoza, Yamada |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Tom Berryhill             |     |                          |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
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           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
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            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
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          "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 


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