| H.R. 3161 which would fund the U.S. Department of
Agriculture for Fiscal Year 2008 included language that would have cut-off
funding necessary for USDA to operate quarantine facilities and to pay
personnel to approve and facilitate the import and export of horses for
exhibition, competition, sale or breeding. The bill would have cut off
direct funding to USDA and eliminated it's authority to impose user fees,
which support the operation of the three major USDA animal import centers
and land border ports along the Canadian and Mexican borders.
The language, an apparent attempt by proponents of legislation to end the slaughter of horses for human consumption by taking the USDA out of the process, would have had a far greater impact and would have affected the movement of all horses. Many equine organizations (including the American Horse Council) opposed the overly broad language, which was removed before final passage of the bill.
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