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.
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