The document is a letter opposing proposed Tennessee legislation (HB 3619) that would encourage the establishment of horse slaughterhouses in the state. The letter argues that passing this legislation would [1] violate citizens' right to adequate access to justice, as challenging permits in court would require large surety bonds, [2] define "without merit" in a way that discourages legal challenges, and [3] go against public opinion in Tennessee which has rejected horse slaughter facilities multiple times in the past. The letter urges voting against the bill.

1. By Tammi Anderson Pickett (Revised):
This letter is to please ask you to vote NO on HB HB 3619 by *Holt ( SB 3461 by *Faulk).
From KnoxNews.com :
NASHVILLE — Legislation to encourage horse slaughterhouses in Tennessee won approval of a
House committee Tuesday, five months after Congress lifted what amounted to a national ban
on processing the animals for food.
As introduced by Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, HB3619 simply called on the state commissioner
of agriculture to keep statistics on horses on a website.
As amended before approval by the House Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, it instead erects
a legal hurdle for lawsuits against horse slaughterhouses and inserts into law a declaration that
"the General Assembly intends to encourage the location of equine slaughter and processing
facilities in Tennessee that meet all sanitary, safety and humane slaughter requirements." ---- .
It seems to me that this should be violating Tennesseans rights to Adequate Access to Justice.
An Alternative Aspiration: Adequate Access to Justice
The final section of the paper sketches the outline of that system, one with an aspiration
more plausible than equal justice—namely adequate access to justice. In giving content
to that ideal, courts, bar associations, law schools, legal aid providers, and community
organizations must work together to develop comprehensive, coordinated systems for
the delivery of legal services. Under such systems, legal procedures and support
structures should be designed to maximize individuals' opportunities to address law-
related problems themselves, without expensive professional assistance. Those who
need, but cannot realistically afford, lawyers should have reasonable opportunities for
competent services.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/rhode/equal-justice.html
Under the proposed new law, anyone who sues to challenge issuance of a permit for
horse slaughter would have to post a surety bond equal to 20 percent of the estimated
cost of building the facility or, if it is already open, to its operational costs. – Again Those
who need, but cannot realistically afford, lawyers should have reasonable opportunities
for competent services.
Also, if a judge finds the legal challenge "without merit," the person or group filing the
challenge is subject to paying the slaughter facility's court costs, attorney fees and "all financial
losses the facility suffers" as a result of the legal action. – And who would define “without
merit”

2. The idea, said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, is to
show prospective horse processing operations that "we are going to be fair and friendly toward
them." – This has been voted down several times.
Nicely, who unsuccessfully pushed horse slaughter legislation in the past, said he is aware of
potential slaughterhouse operators already looking to locate operations in Tennessee. The
people of TN made it clear in 2007-2101 that we DO NOT WANT SLAUGHTER IN TN.
Holt said a federal ban on horse slaughter within the United States, which took effect in 2006,
has dramatically diminished the value of horses and led to thousands of animals being
neglected or abandoned to starve. This statement is untrue. Tennessee and other states need
to enforce animal cruelty laws. They are responsible for these animals and the law should
enforce this! Over breeding is the problem. Would a manufacturing plant keep making Diesel
Trucks if Diesel was $10/ gallon? No, because there would be no demand. It’s all about supply
and demand.
Please read information from HSUS
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/horse/usda_horse_slaughter_let_020112.pdf
At the same time, Holt said, export of American horses to Canada and Mexico, which still
permit horse slaughter, has surged. Especially in Mexico, he said horses face inhumane
slaughter conditions. – This is impossible. It was not done when slaughter was open here in the
US before. This is why they are closed. “I have mentioned only the pollution issue, but this is
but one negative aspect of horse slaughter. I have subsequently learned of a USDA document
containing 900 pages of graphic photos that show the horrors that the horses were subject to.
Behind the privacy fences of these plants, trucks arrived continuously and on those trucks was
every form of inhumane violation one can imagine from mares birthing foals to horses with
eyes dangling from their sockets and legs ripped from their bodies. – Paula Bacon”
"Areas like Tennessee suffer disproportionately because they're so far from the Canadian and
Mexican markets," he said, adding that Tennessee had about 142,000 horses at last count and
ranks sixth among all states in horse population. --- What about that accident in Nashville last
month. Those horses were being transported to slaughter in TX. Some of those horses were
abandoned at the Mexican border because thewere too sick to slaughter. They only want the
healthy ones!
Passing the bill, Holt said, opens the door to providing jobs in horse meat production within
Tennessee as well as to more humane treatment of horses than being trucked to another
country for slaughter or dying of starvation. This is not the case. Please refer to Paula Bacon’s
letter. Texas is just now starting to recover. “The more I learn about horse slaughter, the more
certain I am: There is no justification for horse slaughter in this country. My city was little more
than a door mat for a foreign-owned business that drained our resources, thwarted economic
development and stigmatized our community. Americans don't eat horses, and we don't raise

3. them for human consumption. There is no justification for spending American tax dollars to
support this industry at the expense of Americans and our horses.” Paula Bacon
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=384555206878
Finally, if you are Christian, you must believe that the Bible does not say to eat horses– shall we
defy God and slaughter his horses?
“You shall not eat any abomination.
These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle,
the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Every
animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among
the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you
shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the
cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof
but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch.
“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may
eat. And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
“You may eat all clean birds. But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the
bearded vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the falcon of any kind; every raven of any
kind; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; the little owl and the
short-eared owl, the barn owl and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the
cormorant, the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. And all winged
insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. All clean winged things you may eat.
Deuteronomy 14:3-20
http://www.planetpace.com/?bible-meat-diet,20
The people in Tennessee have spoken time and time again. We DO NOT WANT HORSE
SLAUGHTER!!!! Please do not allow this bill to become law!