The Issue
The
first agenda item at the May 16th, 2009 Arabian Horse
Association Board of Directors meeting was a closed
session discussion regarding horse slaughter. This
discussion resulted in motion #16-5/16/09-BOD
calling for the AHA to officially endorse the re-opening
of equine slaughter plants in the United States.
In
a stunning display of utter disregard toward the
approximate 37,000 AHA members, the 29 members of the
Board of Directors then voted unanimously to approve
this motion.
Despite
assertions by the Board of Directors that the "vast
majority" of members support and approve this
endorsement, it is based merely on verbal assurances by
the Regional directors who claim that the 'majority of
members' they have spoken with agree with the Board's
decision.
An estimation by
the Board of Directors that a majority of the membership
supports this motion based merely on 'verbal assurances'
by the Regional directors, is baseless and deceptive.
Ignoring
protests that member input should have been solicited
prior to the vote, the Board of Directors continue to
turn a deaf ear to opposition. At the August, 2009 board
meeting a request was made to review and reconsider the
motion, but it was rejected.
Endorsing
re-establishment of US equine slaughter facilities is not
in keeping with the AHA Mission of promotion and
preservation of the Arabian breed.
Based
on the directives of the Mission statement, it is not
appropriate for the Arabian Horse Association, an
organization whose mission is to promote, preserve, and
protect the Arabian horse, to take any official position
on horse slaughter.
We
have members who are opposed to horse slaughter and those
who support it. These individual
members are free to promote their personal views in
political debate but the Arabian Horse Association should
remain neutral and not take a position.
There is no benefit for the organization, it divides the
membership, and projects a conflicting public image of the
association at a time when we are struggling to build positive
momentum for the breed.
It
is not necessary for the AHA to take a position on
horse slaughter, we are an organization to promote the
Arabian horse.
Horse
slaughter is a political and personal issue for the people
of the US and the individual states to decide and is not
the purview of a breed organization whose focus is
supporting the Arabian horse.
The
negative response to this motion by the equine community,
along with significant unflattering press, is damaging to
the organization and does little to promote the Arabian
horse.
As
a Breed Association, it is the Arabian Horse Association's
directive to promote and preserve the
Arabian
Horse: a slaughter endorsement by the Board of Directors
is not in keeping with the Association's mission
and is a
betrayal of the very breed it is supposed to represent.
AHA
Mission Supporters is group of people who, as members of
the Arabian Horse Association, are emphatically opposed to
the Arabian Horse Associations recent motion to endorse
the re-establishment of equine slaughter houses in the
United States.
We
recognize that horse slaughter is an emotional and highly
charged issue that is an individual's right to support or
oppose.
We
believe that the Board of Directors of the Arabian Horse
Association overstepped their authority in making this
public endorsement on behalf of its approximate 37,000
members without the membership’s knowledge or
authorization.
The
slaughter endorsement is incompatible with both the
Arabian Horse Association's Mission and Vision statements.
As
a result, we call upon the Board of Directors of the
Arabian Horse Association to rescind their original
motion, #16-5/16/09-BOD,
that endorses the reopening
of horse slaughter facilities in the United States.
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