Below is another cross posting but since this morning when I
posted it first I have something to add. Just learned within the last
hour that a bill has already been drafted by a congresswoman from
California to do exactly what we need to do to get the equine products
protected. I'm waiting for details on that now. If it's true, the job
of protecting our supplements will be MUCH easier. With a bill already
in place, all that remains is to mobilize people to contact the American
Horse Council for their support, contact your senators and congressmen/women
to support the specific bill and in the meantime also let the FDA and your
state governors, state senators and congressmen/women and state agriculture
departments know you do not want any action taken to remove these products
from the market. Nothing puts the fear of god into, or motivates, an
elected official like the prospect of losing, or gaining, votes. The
FDA is also very sensitive to public opinion. We can do this. Horse
owners are 7.1 million strong and as long as we go about it in the right
way, presenting ourselves as responsible and concerned citizens, this
should be a no-brainer vote. OK. Here's the other post.
Remember though that as soon as I get some solid information on the CA
congresswoman and hopefully details of the bill and the bill number,
will be inserting that into the letters as "support house bill
#......".
> First, a list of things NOT to do: > > -
Do not be strident > - Do not express outrage > - Do not align your
letter with any group or cause that is not > directly related to the
issue in question > - Do not make references to plots, corporate interests
or the like > > The reason for these "nots" is to drive the
message, and the > proposed solution, home to those in power in as
clear and as least a > controversial manner as possible. Let the
opposition get emotional > and disorganized. We want to present a simple
position, with a simple > solution, in a very sane manner. >
> I would propose the following letter: > > Dear
..... > > There are currently an estimated 6.9 million horses in
the United > States, in an industry that involves 7.1 million Americans
and has an > impact of $112.1 billion on the U.S. gross domestic
product. (If you > can dig up statistics of any sort for the horse
industry in your > state, insert them here as well.) > > As
a horse owner (or trainer, veterinarian, etc.) myself I would like >
to express concern over the possibility that nutritional supplements
> I, and others involved in the care of horses, have come to rely
upon > may become unavailable due to technicalities in assigning them
status > as feed ingredients versus drugs. I am talking about
the very same > nutraceuticals and herbal supplements that are legal for
sale for > human consumption under the Dietary Supplements Health and
Education > Act (DSHEA) signed into law in 1994. I would like
to see the same > right to buy and use these products that already exists
for people > extended to our horses. I strongly object to movements
currently > afoot to ban the sale of nutraceuticals/functional foods and
herbs > for use in horses. I support the inclusion of the same
label > precaution, "Not for use in horses intended for food", as already
> exists on commonly used OTC and prescription products, as adequate
> protection against any ingredient inadvertently entering the human
> food chain. I encourage you to support efforts to expand the
scope > of DSHEA to include horses. > > Sincerely, >
xxxxxxx > > cc: > > ===================== >
> > This letter is designed to target your state and federal
legislators > the heaviest but can also be used to make your feelings
known to your > governor, your state feed control officials and the
FDA. No point in > targeting AAFCO's officials per se; you'll
be sending to the > individual member in your state. Be sure to
send one to the AHC - > the American Horse Council. This is the
lobbying body in Washington > to protect the interests of horse
owners. I was told by John > Breitsman yesterday (Breitsman is the
president of AAFCO) that they > have already received a call from the
AHC, which means the Horse > Journal article is starting to generate some
action. Let's keep the > ball rolling. Convince the AHC
that we need them and things will > start to happen. Convince your
governor and state and federal > officials that you are watching (and
your vote hangs in the balance) > and things will start to
happen. The FDA cannot change its position > on the legality of
these supplements since they are bound by existing > laws but they
are very sensitive to public opinion. Express your > displeasure at
the idea that sales would be banned. > > Send your letters by
e-mail, fax, ground mail (preferably certified > or priority for high
visibility) any way you like but send them and > be sure to give a
complete list of all parties you are sending it to > under your cc:
at the bottom. > > Contacts: > Use the AAFCO membership list
at www.aafco.org to find the feed >
control official in your state > Use your phone book to get contact
information for the Department of > Agriculture in general >
Find your state's web site for contact information for the governor >
(Tip: Go into the Yahoo search engine and enter the search: +"State
> of XXX" +"official website") > The web site for the AHC is www.horsecouncil.com. If you click
on > their "Join AHC" button, at the bottom of that page is an address
and > a fax number. > Also on the AHC web site is some very
good advice and solid > guidelines to follow when contacting
legislators. Click on the > button that says "Contacting your
elected officials". Under the > "Related links" option on the AHC
website you will find breed > registries and associations that are also
AHC members. Contact at > least the ones that apply to you directly
but it wouldn't hurt to > contact them all and while you're at it hit the
AAEP and the American > Farrier's Association and of course your own
vet, your feed store and > your tack shop. > >
Eleanor