Hi, Please help spread the word. Every year thousands of horses are stolen with many ending up at an equine slaughter house. There owners grieve terrible not knowing what ever happened to their pet horse. If we can ban slaughter many fewer horses will be stolen for slaughter as evidenced in CA when the banned slaughter in 1998 and theft of horses dropped 34%. Please help if you can. My name is Tom and together with my wife Julia own and operate The Laughing Horse Sanctuary a 501(c)3 non-profit equine rescue. I am asking your help in stopping our American horses from being slaughtered in three foreign owned slaughter houses in IL and TX. There meat is being shipped overseas as a delicacy for the Italians, French, Japanese etc. This year over 60,000 healthy American horses will be slaughtered and they are not old crippled or blind horses. (It is against federal law to ship a blind or crippled horse). The slaughter industry will not take old skinny horses. The horses being slaughtered range in age from six months to 13 years of age. If you think horse slaughter is wrong, or you just want more information on horse slaughter so you can make an informed decision about it please contact me. Polls across America show that 74%-90% of people are opposed to horses being slaughtered. Currently there are bills in both the House and the Senate (HR 857 and S2352) that would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the transport of horseflesh or live horses out of the country for the purpose of slaughter. HR 857 currently has 226 co-sponsors, over half the House, but is being held up in the Agriculture Committee by Bob Goodlate, VA Congressman Sixth District. If allowed to the floor for a vote it would pass today. Please contact me and I will explain why horse slaughter is so wrong in so many ways. Contact your Congressman and Senators and ask them to co-sponsor this important legislation. If you can’t actively support this battle against horse slaughter Please consider a 100% tax deductible contribution to: The Laughing Horse Sanctuary 8317 Grassland Drive Sandy Level, VA 24161 Phone 434-927-5298 Fax 434-927-5534 Tom@LaughingHorse.org http://www.LaughingHorse.org All proceeds are used to rescue and care for equines. Please pass this on to all contacts and friends. Together we can end horse slaughter!!!! Friends of all equines, Tom and Julia Durfee Southern VA state coordinators for the American Horse Defense Fund http://ahdf.org/main.shtml Please consider joining.