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
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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
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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
FN: 0005221