Persuasive Speech

Pass the SAFE Act

This is our time to show what weve got
ITS OUR TIME
S.A.F.E. stands for Safeguard American Food Exports, its named this because if we
continue to send out tainted horse meat to foreign countries for them to eat, it could have a big
impact on all other American exported products. This bill was introduced on April 22, 2015.
What this bill will do if and when it gets passed is that it will make it illegal for horses to get
transported outside of the American borders with intent for human consumption, it will also
make it impossible for slaughter houses to open on American soil, even though there havent
been any open since 2007. According to mic.com congress has been extremely dysfunctional
lately. In fact when the 112th Congress came to a close in the year 2012, it was deemed the least
productive on record, having passed only 561out of the 6,845 bills that were introduced, which
was well below the average of 758 bills that are passed each season. When a bill is first
introduced it goes into committee. A committee is a legislative sub-organization that takes care a
specific bill. Between 2013-15 only about 15% of all the bills made it out of committee. Last
year this bill had 120 co sponsors supporting it also Popvox polling showed an overwhelming
majority of users who supported the S.A.F.E. Act. The bill was never brought up or voted on.
April of 2015 was not the first time this bill was introduced. The original bill was introduced to
congress in 2013 to the 113th congress, no further actions were taken so the bill died.

America was built on the back of a horse. Transportation, Lifting and pulling heavy things,
companions. Horses are the forgotten soldiers the number of horses who died in world war 1 far
exceeds the number of humans who died in world war one. History.co has a short article called
The Real War Horse History of horses during WWI; this is a few select sentences from the
article,
When war began in 1914 the British army possessed a mere 25,000 horses. The War Office was
given the urgent task of sourcing half a million more to go into battle. They were essential to pull
heavy guns, to transport weapons and supplies, to carry the wounded and dying to hospital and to
mount cavalry charges. Between 1914 and 1917 around 1,000 horses were sent from the United
States by ship every day. At the end of the war some of the surviving horses were sold as meat to
Belgian butchers, being regarded as unfit for any other purpose. But for the few that returned
home there was a joyous welcome and reunion. It would be the last time the horse would be used
on a mass scale in modern warfare.

According to Animals in war.org eight million horses mules and donkeys died in WWI alone.
Horses are the forgotten soldiers. For centuries horses have served by mankinds side through
thick and thin. Horses are one of those rare creatures who will undoubtedly follow you to the
ends of the earth to hell and back. 80% of the horses going to slaughter are not too old to leave
productive lives. Also recent polls show that 80% of people are opposed to horses going to
slaughter. This just shows how much the government actually ignores its people.
There are many sources of slaughter bound horses there are; backyard breeders, horse
racing, summer camps, irresponsible owners, etc. Yes I did say horse racing. Thousands of
people enjoy events such as The Kentucky Derby but are brainwashed into thinking these horses
are actually loved and taken care of. For the horses who make the big money and win the races
that may be true but what happens to the horses who didnt make the cut to participate in the
races? Well I have an example of one of those horses who didnt make the cut. If you pay
attention to the big name horse race training families you probably know the Lukas family in
particular D. Wayne Lukas. He has had many Kentucky Derby winners such as Winning Colors
who came in first place in the Kentucky Derby in 1988, also Thunder Gulch 1995, Grindstone
1996, and Charismatic the most recent winner in 1999. The typical horse race family is not afraid
to breed a bunch of horses at once, some might breed 20 horses at one time in hopes of finding
that one super star, the rest of them are just basically throwaways. Through my barn we run a
rescue called Equine Warriors and we rescue horses from kill pens, horses who are at their 11th
hour on death row, primarily at New Holland up in Pennsylvania. While at one of our most
recent rescues at New Holland my riding instructor, Tina Snyder, bought a large pony or so she
thought. After paying for the pony, she went to find him little did she know that someone had
switched the hip tags and in the ponies place was a large chestnut thoroughbred with a serious
gash in his back leg. She describes this as, she went to get a pony and God said to her Tina you
need a large chestnut thoroughbred. So she brought him home and named him Karma. Shortly
after arriving at quarantine upon further inspection a tattoo was found on his lip, and when we
looked it up online we found out that his real name was Donsafactor and he was bred and trained
by the Lukas family. Yet he ended up in a kill. Even though New Holland is a kill pen they still
have some standards. Karma wasnt allowed to be put through the auction itself because of the
gash in his back leg. We think that a man named George Morris switched the tags. George Morris
is a kill buyer, he also adopts out some of the horses that he buys, but only for the pure reason as
to make money and then buy more horses that next week. That is the problem with buying horses
from him even though it is rescuing. However the horses who dont get adopted do end up going
to the slaughterhouses. Karma sadly had to be put down due to neurological issues. There was
something wrong with his spine where his brain waves werent reaching his body parts and he
couldnt walk and he would run into things so that was the best thing for him. On a lighter side
of this event on the same day Ms. Tina brought home another horse. This horse also was not able
to go through the auction, not because of any cuts or gashes or anything but because of his
weight. He was so skinny that they didnt allow him to go through. He had a bit of a
nontraditional fate that you would normally expect from a livestock auction. His fate was

decided that he was going to go to a zoo and become food for the lions, hence how he got his
name. This is Leo, a.k.a. Lion Hearted. Leo is an appaloosa gelding old as dirt but he is one of
the pushiest horses Ive ever met! He started out severely underweight but soon after rescuing
him we found out he was perfectly sound and we think that he might have been a western speed
horse due to how he acted when we would handle him. When it got to the point where we could
start learning about his training a little more we found out that he had been ridden at one point
and he didnt care that there was someone on his back! Hes currently looking for a home!
These two stories are just two of thousands of stories about horses who were on
death row and about people who have turned their lives around and are in better places because
of being rescued. The S.A.F.E. Act will make sure every horse gets their own success story. To
make sure that this year the S.A.F.E. Act gets brought up and voted on this year, everyone needs
to step up and make a ton of noise. Recent polls have stated that 80% of Americans dont agree
with horse slaughter well its time to actually do something about it. We need to prove that if all
of the 80% of the Americans made one phone call to their legislators congress would have to
vote and pass along the bill to the House of Representatives. But that will only happen when we
decide what is right, what is wrong, and what needs to happen.
Thank you!

Sources:
THE REAL WAR HORSE
History of horses during WWI
http://www.history.co.uk/shows/the-real-war-horse/articles/history-of-horses-during-wwi
2015 AETN UK All Rights Reserved.

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http://www.horsenation.com/2015/09/09/understanding-the-safeguard-american-foodexports-act/
Understanding the Safeguard American Food Exports Act
September 9, 2015Kristen KovatchKristen Kovatch#LET'S DISCUSS, #SLAUGHTER, Equine LawLeave a
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