Horsemeat - LOLgislation #043

FL Senate 2010: SB 1708
By Senator Victor D. Crist (R, Hillsborough-Pasco)

A Bill to be entitled

An act relating to the unlawful slaughter of horses; amending s. 500.451, F.S.; prohibiting specified acts relating to horsemeat for human consumption; providing penalties; increasing the classification of offenses relating to horsemeat for human consumption; …
 
 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
 
        Section 1. Section 500.451, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
        500.451 Horse meat; offenses.—
        (1) It is unlawful for any person to:
        (a) Sell in the markets of this state horse meat for human consumption unless the horse meat is clearly stamped, marked, and described as horse meat for human consumption.
        (b) Knowingly transport, distribute, sell, purchase, or possess horsemeat for human consumption which is not clearly stamped, marked, and described as horsemeat for human consumption or horsemeat that is not acquired from a licensed slaughterhouse.
        (2) A person that violates this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, except that any person who commits a violation of this section shall be sentenced to a minimum mandatory fine of $3,500 and a minimum mandatory period of incarceration of 1 year.
        (3) In addition to any penalties provided in subsection (2), any license of any restaurant, store, or other business may be suspended as provided in the applicable licensing law upon conviction of an owner or employee of that business for a violation of this section in connection with that business.
        Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 828.125, Florida  Statutes, is amended to read:
        828.125 Killing or aggravated abuse of registered breed horses or cattle; offenses; penalties.—Any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding:
        (1) Any person who willfully and unlawfully, by any means whatsoever, kills, maims, mutilates, or causes great bodily harm or permanent breeding disability to any animal of the genus Equus (horse) or any animal of any registered breed or recognized registered hybrid of the genus Equus (horse) or genus Bos (cattle) commits, or any recognized registered hybrid of the specified genera, shall be guilty of a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided by s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, except that any person who commits a violation of this subsection shall be sentenced to a minimum mandatory fine of $3,500 and a minimum mandatory period of incarceration of 1 year.

This bill makes it sound as if people are being fed precious ponies when they order beef at a butcher or restaurant. As if it's a labeling issue.

In reality horsesemeat is hard to come by, expensive, recognized internationally as a delicacy, and still legal in Florida. The people who are buying and serving and eating horsemeat know it's horsemeat. They want horsemeat.

The real problem is good old fashioned horse-thieving. Except people carve them up on the side of the road and then sell the meat from neighborhood establishments, or just person-to-person. (Specifically in South Florida.) What if a transporter or butcher simply labels his tucked-away black-market horsemeat as beef? What about the freezer full of horsecuts in some guy's garage? Were the people caught with illegally slaughtered horsemeat not punished previously?