Future of horse slaughter industry in US in limbo

Tuesday's Horse

Posted by VGFarrell on Jun 11, 2012 in Horse Slaughter

Trailered horses. Destination slaughter.

CLAY COPPEDGE writing for the Country World reports:

Several states have applied to the USDA to inspect such a [horse slaughter] facility, but legal hurdles and a groundswell of popular opinion against the slaughter of horses have slowed, stalled or, in some cases, stopped the application process. The USDA has turned down three proposals because the plants would also process cattle, which is illegal under provisions of the Food and Safety Inspection Service. At the same time, bills that would make the slaughter of horses for human consumption illegal have been introduced in Congress.Ward Stutz, senior director of breed integrity with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) in Amarillo, said that nothing much has changed for horse owners since President Obama signed an agriculture appropriations bill last fall that reinstated funding for federal inspections of horse slaughter facilities.

“There is an application pending in Roswell for a plant that will process horses, which is the closest one to Texas that’s been proposed,” Stutz said. “Several other states are taking a look at it, but there is some reluctance to do anything until they know for sure that some kind of future legislation funding won’t take it away again.”