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Fun With Loos Lips

OldDog/NewTricks

Well-known member
Taken From Loos Lips
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Whether we like it or not, the business of lawmaking is a game. Unfortunately, I am not really sure those who play the game understand the impact they have on the lives of others.

Our recent experience at the Illinois State Capitol truly illustrated the rules of the game. The old cliché certainly comes to mind - the world is ruled by those who show up and, honestly, we have not shown up often enough.

The plan was for me to testify against banning horse harvesting in the state of Illinois, but my testimony was not heard by anyone because as I headed to the chair, the chairperson called for a vote. The vote was 7-0 in favor sending HB 1711 to the full Senate for vote, which will likely happen next week.

Frank Bowman, president of the Horsemen’s Council of Illinois, did get the opportunity to testify and presented tremendous information that no member of the committee wanted to hear. The horse species stands to suffer greatly if we do not continue to harvest horses in the U.S. Even though those sentiments were not heard by the members of the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee, hundreds did hear the message in front of the state capitol a couple of hours earlier.

Prior to the hearing, 40 responsible horse owners gathered on the front lawn of the Illinois State Capitol to oppose efforts by animal rights organizations to prohibit horse slaughter as an humane way to cull unwanted and unemployable animals from the nation's horse herd. For those of us in agriculture, the issue is a matter of private property rights preservation and the removal of a viable end of life decision for horse owners.

The rally attracted local pedestrians and hundreds of school-age children from across the state and offered the opportunity for a valuable dialogue on the option of horse slaughter and our rights and responsibilities as animal producers, which I remind you are both critical for the continuation of our industry.

Two hundred "horses" also were in attendance and arrived in a horse trailer promptly at 11 a.m. in front of the Capitol. Their arrival was obviously anticipated by local law enforcement officials, who were quick to swarm toward the trailer. They were rather surprised when stick horses were herded off.
 
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