Despite broad Thoroughbred industry support, those who seek to keep the slaughter pipeline active are flexing their muscles in Washington D.C. in the hopes of trying to kill progress. One such group is the Public Lands Council (PLC), a nonprofit representing cattle and sheep farmers who graze herds on public land.The National Thoroughbred Alliance sent a letter to the PLC's executive director Kaitlynn Glover, reprinted below for industry awareness, after a PLC publication indicated their active opposition to the Van Drew–Titus Amendment which passed last week, calling these accomplishments an “attack from animal rights activists,” and asserting an interest in trying to stop its further movement through Congress.Rebutting misinformation in a timely fashion is a necessary part of the campaign to, once and for all, end the practice of shipping horses, never intended for the food chain, to slaughter.————–Dear Ms. Glover,I am writing on behalf of the many Thoroughbred farms, farmers, owners and breeders across America, most especially in Kentucky, who raise, sell, race, breed, and transport tens of thousands of horses each year. These farms employ thousands and play a key role in contributing billions in economic impact to our region and this country.They are not activists.Upon reading your recent PLC newsletter describing supporting a ban on transporting horses for slaughter as “a standard attack from animal rights activists who want to restrict all transportation of livestock for human consumption,” we were quite surprised. While we respect the Public Lands Council's longstanding commitment to defending agricultural producers, your more broad-based assertion does not, in any way, describe Thoroughbred horse farmers, breeders or owners.There is no desire amongst them to restrict the transportation of livestock raised for human consumption. Food animal farmers operate under a rigorous and costly framework to ensure their produce is safe to consume: from USDA inspection requirements to strict FDA veterinary drug protocols and testing for prohibited substances in the food chain. Farmers bear these compliance costs because their animals were raised from the beginning with that purpose in mind.Horse farming has never operated within that system, because our horses are not raised as food animals, and the veterinary care they receive across their lifetimes reflects that reality. What can be a safe and effective, veterinarian-prescribed treatment for a horse can cause serious harm if that animal's flesh is consumed by an unsuspecting person, even many years after the treatment. This is not an activist position, but an agricultural and food safety reality with consequences that reach well beyond our farms.Peer-reviewed research published in 2019 found that ten percent of beef samples tested across six Mexican cities contained horse meat, seemingly without the knowledge of the vendors selling it. The same study found the presence of veterinary drugs not approved for food-producing animals and known to be harmful if consumed by humans. This is a documented public health risk that directly undermines the reputation and integrity of the beef supply that cattle producers have worked so hard to protect–and as you know, Mexico is one of America's largest beef export markets, receiving more than $1 billion in U.S. beef annually.For nearly two decades, Congress has acted to defund USDA inspection of horse slaughter facilities. More recently, President Trump has included the defund language in his budget. This reflects a broad national recognition that horses occupy a unique place in American agriculture and American life. What begins as livestock on our farms frequently transitions. A racehorse becomes a breeding animal, a sport horse, a work horse, a therapy horse, a pleasure horse, or a companion. The lifecycle of a horse does not follow the same arc as a steer, and the care provided across that lifetime reflects that from the very beginning.We are not asking the Public Lands Council to abandon its members or its mission. Horsemen have no interest in policy for cattlemen. We are asking you to recognize that the horse farmers, owners, trainers and breeders supporting an end to horse slaughter shipments to Mexico and Canada are not your opponents, but rather your peers. We share your commitment to agriculture, to rural economies, and to the integrity of American farming. We simply ask that the conversation reflect the genuine distinctions that make this issue different from livestock transportation broadly.–Patrick Cummings is the Executive Director of the National Thoroughbred Alliance.The post Letter To The Editor: Pushing Back On Opponents Of The Slaughter Ban appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.