Posted January 22, 2014
In passing the FY 2014 omnibus spending bill, Congress blocked
horse slaughter in the United States for the foreseeable future, according to
an article by NPR available here.
The provision bans funding for USDA inspections at
horse slaughter facilities. Thus,
without inspections, slaughterhouses can’t do business.
“Americans do not want to see scarce tax dollars used
to oversee an inhumane, disreputable horse slaughter industry,” said Wayne
Pacelle of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in a press
release. “We don’t have dog and cat
slaughter plants in the U.S. catering to small markets overseas, and we
shouldn’t have horse slaughter operations for that purpose, either,” Pacelle
said.
Supporters of horse slaughter say that it is a
“practical way handle the problem of abandoned horses.” Senator Jim Inhofe
(R-OK) said, “Without these facilities, aging horses are often neglected or
forced to endure cruel conditions as they are transported to processing
facilities across the border.” A press
release from Sen. Inhofe’s office is available here.
The last domestic horse slaughter facility closed in
2007, after Congress cut funding for inspections, according to an ABC
News article here.
In 2011 after funding was restored, Valley Meat Co. in
New Mexico and plants in Iowa and Missouri tried to open slaughter
facilities, but have been blocked by court orders.
Efforts are also underway to block the export and
slaughter of horses for human consumption, according to an HSUS press release
available here.
U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Lindsey Graham
(R-SC), and Reps. Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), introduced
the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which would prevent house slaughter
facilities in the U.S. and end “the current export of American horses for
slaughter abroad.”
For more information on animal welfare, please visit
the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
