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Honoree Greg
Fett (right) displays the Animal Welfare Institute’s
prestigious Schweitzer Award with
ArTex Animal Welfare Founder and President, Dixie Wilson.
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Washington, DC – The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)
honored Greg Fett of Arkansas on Tuesday with the Albert Schweitzer
Award for outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal
welfare. Fett successfully detained the drivers of a livestock
trailer at his tire shop while awaiting authorities to seize the 11
malnourished horses being transported.
One horse, too ill to stand, was
lying trampled beneath the hooves of the others on the trailer
floor. The equines were traveling from Tennessee to slaughter in
Mexico, where killing horses for the consumption of their meat still
occurs. Since the destination was death, no hay or water was
provided during the trip, nor any time to rest or much needed
veterinary care.
“It was pure animal cruelty,” Fett
says, “and I wasn’t about to let it pass me by.”
For Fett, the day’s events were
history repeating. Astonishingly, two years prior, he staged a
similar intervention when a trailer of 19 horses broke down en route
to slaughter. While authorities ultimately rendered Fett’s rescue
efforts unsuccessful that year, his above-and-beyond commitment to
animal welfare has garnered accolades from AWI.
“Greg Fett’s efforts prevented the
certain death of those horses,” said Cathy Liss, president of AWI.
“He is an example to us all that we can make a difference and ensure
no animal is treated inhumanely.”
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Honoree Greg
Fett (left) accepts the Animal Welfare Institute’s prestigious
Schweitzer Award from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John
Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
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Chairman John Conyers (D-MI)
bestowed Fett with AWI’s prestigious Schweitzer Award at a ceremony
in the nation’s capital on Tuesday. In 1951, Dr. Albert Schweitzer
gave his permission to the organization to strike the medal in his
honor. Schweitzer is heralded today as the 20th century pioneer of
animal welfare.
Each year, more than 100,000 horses
are purchased by killer-buyers for export to Canada and Mexico,
where they are brutally slaughtered for human consumption in Europe
and Japan. While killing methods involve activities such as knife
stabbing, it is the deplorable conditions in transport leading up to
slaughter that constitute some of the most horrific abuses.
AWI has been the champion of ending
horse slaughter, urging Congress to pass legislation that makes both
the transport and slaughter of American horses a federal offense.
The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008, HR 6598, carries
criminal penalties for the purchase, sale, delivery or export of
horsemeat intended for human consumption including fines and prison
time. Introduced on July 24, 2008 by House Judiciary Committee
Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Representative Dan Burton
(R-IN), the bill would amend Title 18 of the US Code, providing US
government officials and law enforcement officials with the tools
necessary to ensure that American horses are protected from the
brutal trade for their meat.
A 2006 national poll conducted by
Public Opinion Strategies found that almost 70 percent of Americans
already support a federal ban on horse slaughter.
For more information, visit
www.awionline.org. To speak
with a local spokesperson in your area about HR 6598, contact Robert
Jameson at 202-715-8835 or
Robert.jameson@dittus.com.
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For more than 57
years, the Animal Welfare Institute has been the leading voice for
animals across the country and on Capitol Hill to reduce the sum
total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. To learn more
about us, please visit
www.awionline.org.
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