Bill Would Ban Moving Horses in Multiple-Level Truck Trailers
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Two U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would ban the interstate transportation of horses in motor vehicles and trailers containing two or more levels.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), is similar to a bill that stalled in a Senate committee last year. The new bill calls for a fine of $100 to $500 to be assessed for each horse transported.
A spokesman for Kirk declined comment on the bill. However, Kirk said in a column published in June in The Hill newspaper that the practice of transporting horses in a double-deck trailer is “not only inhumane and insensitive, but also dangerous to truck drivers and nearby motorists.”
Sean McNally, a spokesman for American Trucking Associations, said the trade organization’s Agriculture and Food Transporters Conference “has opposed similar legislation in the past and continues to do so.”
In a statement, the Professional Rodeo Stock Contractors Association said the bill would have “serious negative effects” on the rodeo industry and small businesses transporting horses and bulls to more than 600 sanctioned rodeos held annually across the United States.
There are about 80 professional stock contractor transportation companies in the United States that generate tens of millions of dollars and more than $25 million for charity, the association said.
The group also said supporters of the legislation have a “misguided understanding” of the modern technology of double-deckers and the careful standards that motor carriers have adopted for the safe and efficient transportation of rodeo stock.
Jim Korkow, the owner of the Korkow Ranch in Pierre, S.D., said in a statement that modern trailers protect the horses from injury and ensure they are ready to perform at peak standards.
“I do not know of a rodeo sponsor who wants injured horses participating in their rodeo,” Korkow said.
The Animal Welfare Institute, which supports the bill, said the American Veterinary Medical Association and the National Agriculture Safety Database have recommended ceiling heights no lower than 7 feet to 8 feet to transport horses safely, while average double-deck trailer ceiling heights range from 4 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 11 inches.
Because the Department of Transportation requires bridges to have a vertical clearance of only 14 feet in both rural and urban areas, it is impractical to build or modify a trailer large enough to transport horses on two levels, AWI said.
