Member of the American Horse Council
PROTECT THE RIGHTS AND INTERESTS OF ALL HORSE OWNERS & HORSE INDUSTRY
President
– Loretta Watkins 360/
264-7154
Legislative - Eddie
Armstrong PH : 360-352-5883 FX : 360-352-6149
OFFICE : Sharon Call – PH : 360-769-8083 FX : 360-769-8164 E-Mail :wshcouncil@aol.com
Horse Council Testifies On
Animal Issues
Eddie Armstrong- WSHC Legislative Representative
We are very busy in the Horse Council with
all the issues affecting the horse industry in the state as well as at the
National level.
Within the state we are working on the
mainstream of funding in the Governor’s Budget which provides funds for State
Parks and Department of Natural Resources.
This is something we need to assume that all legislators feel is a good
idea, as well as a desperate need. There
are many issues ranging from open space, irrigation water, animal
identification, manure disposal, stream setbacks, livestock nutrients,
concentrated animal feeding operations, and agriculture taxation issues, which
will bear careful watching.
The Animal Rights folks are on the scene
with a legislative proposal, HB 1499, that would take away or impede normal
animal husbandry practices as well as barring a livestock owner being allowed
to take immediate action against marauding stray dogs, chasing or killing your
livestock. There are some good features
in the proposal that we can support, such as stiffer penalties for people who deliberately
torture, maimed, kill,
abuse, starve to death, etc. animals. We
and the state veterinarian have testified to ask for the removal of those parts
of the proposal that would be detrimental to the agriculture community.
The federal government is in the process
of making traceability of all animals to point of origin a primary focus as a
result of the recent cases of Mad Cow disease.
There are many herds of cattle in the seven western states on a pilot
program using metallic ear tags as well as a large plastic
ones. These tags identify state,
original owner, and the animal ID number.
This is similar to Social Security numbers for people. Chickens will have a flock number and all
other animals will have
ID numbers.
It is thought the brand in horses will be
sufficient from point of origin, but upon transfer or sale,
we are working with Washington State Department of Agriculture to come up with
the next phase. We will need industry
input if we are to have a successful program that horse owners can support.
Once again the Animal Rights folks at the
national level, have re-introduced the slaughter bill, H.R. 503 and the purpose
continues to be of concern when we see : prohibit the
shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing,
selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human
consumption, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
In addition this bill now gives authority to: DETAIN FOR EXAMINATION, TESTING, OR TAKING OF
EVIDENCE- ANY HORSE AT ANY HORSE SHOW, HORSE EXHIBITION, SALE OR AUCTION WHICH
IS SORE AND HAVE PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE IS BEING SOLD IN VIOLATION OF THE
LAW. Time for everyone
to get on the phone and voice your concern for this bill. We do need laws that protect our friends from
theft and sale to slaughter, but this law does not do that nor will it provide
adequate financial resources for confiscated animals or certification of rescue
facilities. Having an improved
identification system for tracking ownership is vital to the protection of our
animals. We need to protect our right to
manage our animals and decide when and how we will provide for their humane
disposal. We don’t need special interest
groups interfering with our individual right to decide how we will manage our
animals and what we will eat, for if it is cruel to eat horses why then not the
cuddly rabbit, innocent lamb or soft eyed cow.
I have managed the humane disposal of my old horses in the past and feel
I am perfectly capable of continuing to make those decisions.
Horse Council Fund
Raisers Will Benefit WSU Vet Program
Sharon
Call – WSHC NEWS
Members of the horse community met on
Monday, February 7, to discuss activities to raise funds for the Washington
State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Program. This program has seen a 76% reduction in
state funding and is currently funded through state educational funds, gifts
and grants.
As a member of the WSU Equine Health
Advisory Board, the Horse Council has offered to gather equine groups and provide leadership
of fund raising events to benefit the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine.
A prize ride and WSH “B” system approved horse show
are in the planning stages as fund raisers.
The prize ride, “RIDE FOR RESEARCH” has been scheduled for July 22-23-24 at the Evergreen
Sportsman’s Club in Capitol Forest and the horse show “WSU BENEFIT HORSE SHOW “is to be held Labor
Day Weekend at the Kitsap Saddle Club in Port Orchard. These activities give a wide range of
activities the horse community can support with a donation or through
participation in these events.
WSU is hoping to develop a stronger
relationship between the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Program
and each of the many horse groups in the state to advance the health and
welfare of
The school is the fifth (5th)
oldest vet school in the nation and the only school to have an
magnetic resonance imaging equipment capable of evaluating lameness and
neurological disorders in horses. This
equipment has rapidly moved WSU to the forefront of veterinary medicine and has
changed diagnosis and treatment of horses with lameness problems that cannot be
readily diagnosed from traditional radiograph.
The information gained as a result of this technology is of interest to
equine practitioners and horse owners.
In addition the school has the
capability of diagnosis of upper airway problems through use of an endoscopy and equine
treadmill, which is also valuable in the diagnosis of heart, lung and muscle
disorders. They currently have ongoing studies of Equine
Pain Management, Nutrition and Navicular, all issues of interest to horse
owners that deserve our support.
The Coalition is the founder and chief
advocate for the Washington Wildlife & Recreation Program (WWRP), a state
grant program that helps communities fund
new parks, trails and public lands.
Most new state funding for WDFW, DNR and State Park acquisitions also
comes from this program
In 2005, the Coalition will lobby the
legislature for a $60 million appropriations to fund
the best of 122 park and habitat grant proposals. They will also try to expand the WWRP grant
program by reintroducing legislation to protect and restore land along our
rivers and streams, and to conserve precious farmland.
One
example of the current proposals for funding is the Centennial Trail,
Despite the success in funding the WWRP
projects, our growing population needs more parks and trails and precious
habitat for many species is rapidly disappearing. As the price of land, and the size of our
population increases, WWRP funding needs to increase, too! Please contact your legislators to support
our request. It makes sense to build
parks when people need jobs and to buy land when interest rates are low. To find out who your legislators are, visit www.leg.wa.gov
and email them or call the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000.
American Warmblood Society Announces Seminar and Inspection Dates
AWS
News Release
An Inspection and Branding will be held in
a Sport Horse Breeding Seminar Format at Wildwood Farm in
The American Warmblood
Society’s Inspections are offered in an educational format. The initial Inspection is always free to AWS
registered horses. Come learn about good
Sport Horse qualities for performance and/or breeding through open
discussion. All horses are to be shown
IN-Hand. Observers are welcome and
encouraged to attend.
The Inspection Seminars will be limited
to 30 entries with the top three scoring registered horses (
regardless of age) receiving the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. The AWS designations are: Supreme 80% or higher, Blue Preferred 75% -
79.99%, Red Preferred 67% - 74.99%, Certified 62% - 66.99%.
All American Warmbloods
are required to satisfy registration performance requirements. This inspection is one of the seven ways to
satisfy the requirements with a 62% or higher score. The performance requirement can also be
satisfied through Dressage, Eventing, Combined
Driving, Show Jumping, Sport Horse In-Hand classes or through AWS registered
foals performance records.
Entries are
limited to 30 and must be sent to the AWS office postmarked at least 15 days
prior to the inspection date, or pay a $50 rush fee. For registration forms or to observe the
inspections please contact Heather Carder of Wildwood Farm 360/ 675-3474 or
email info@wildwoodfarm.com and Victoria Bearden of
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