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H.R. 305 The Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2009

Summary:

• HR 305 amends title 49, United States Code, to prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate transportation in a motor vehicle containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another.
  
  
• A civil penalty of at least $100 but no more than $500 will be assessed per horse transported in a motor vehicle containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another.

AVMA Position: Active Pursuit of Passage

Justification:

• HR 305 is consistent with the AVMA policy on Humane Transport of Equines:
  • http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/animal_welfare/equine_transport.asp
    
    
• The AVMA has consistently supported related proposals to protect the welfare of horses in transit to slaughter.
  • AVMA representatives were members of a group that worked with USDA to draft regulations adopted in 2001 (see http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_ahhorses.html).
  • The AVMA also supported the extension of these regulations to equines bound for slaughter but delivered first to an assembly point, feedlot, or stockyard in its response (see http://www.avma.org/advocacy/federal/regulatory/animal_welfare/APHIS-2006-0168_AVMA_Response.pdf) to a proposed rule published in the November 7, 2007 Federal Register (Docket No. APHIS-2006-0168 (see http://www.avma.org/advocacy/federal/regulatory/animal_welfare/APHIS-2006-0168-0001.pdf).
  • In December 2008 the AVMA followed up its Federal Register response with a request for expeditious action on the proposed rule.
    
    
• Scientific Data and Reasoning
  • Limited data within the scientific literature indicate increased rates of injury associated with the use of double-decked conveyances for transporting horses.
  • The National Agriculture Safety Database and various manufacturers producing trailers specifically for horse transport recommend heights of 7 to 8 feet as being necessary for the safe and comfortable transport of horses (i.e., adequate headroom for the horses to stand comfortably with their heads in normal position).
  • Current interstate highway regulations require a minimum vertical clearance under overhead structures of 16 feet in rural areas and 14 feet in urban areas, with vertical clearance through truss bridges of at least 17 feet.
  • It will exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to meet such recommendations via the use of currently configured double-deck trailers, particularly for taller horses.

AVMA Contact:
Dr. Angela Demaree, Assistant Director AVMA-GRD; ademaree@avma.org or visit www.avma.org/grd