US Agriculture Bill Could Halt Horse Slaughter Plans
A wide-ranging agriculture bill set to be dealt with by Congress in mid-January could bury plans to resume horse slaughter on US soil. This legislation aims to defund federal inspections required for horse slaughter, effectively reinstating a prohibition that was in place from 2007 to 2011.
Potential Impact of the Agriculture Bill
Three plants in the US have approval from the US Department of Agriculture to slaughter horses, but the upcoming agriculture bill could again defund the federal plant inspections required for abattoirs to slaughter horses for human consumption. Its passage would mean such plants could not operate on US soil.
The House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations bills include identical language that would stop the inspection. The wording was added during committee markup in both chambers and was requested for the first time by the US Department of Agriculture in the president’s budget.
Industry and Public Reaction
One plant, set up by Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, New Mexico, said it could open its doors as soon as January 1. Michael Markarian, the chief program and policy officer of the Humane Society of the United States and president of The Fund for Animals, emphasized the urgency of the law change due to the pending opening of horse slaughter plants in the US.
“It makes no sense for the federal government to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to oversee new horse slaughter plants at a time when Congress is so focused on fiscal responsibility,” he said.
Markarian also highlighted the potential health risks, citing the discovery of horse meat in beef products in Europe as a warning. He stated that horse slaughter was cruel and could not be made humane, noting widespread public opposition.
“The horse slaughter industry is a predatory, inhumane enterprise. They don’t ‘euthanize’ old horses, but precisely the opposite: they buy up young and healthy horses, often by misrepresenting their intentions, and kill them to sell the meat to Europe and Japan,” Markarian added.
Legal and Economic Considerations
The US Department of Agriculture’s approvals for three plants face a legal challenge, with the Humane Society and other horse advocates arguing that the agency should not have given approval without first obtaining a proper environmental impact report. A temporary restraining order was issued to prevent the plants from opening, but it was recently lifted by a judge.
The last slaughter plant closed in the US in 2007, in Illinois. However, the absence of slaughter facilities in the US led to an increase in horses being transported to abattoirs in Canada and Mexico. Slaughter supporters argue that regulated US abattoirs would be more humane than unregulated plants in Mexico and claim that the lack of facilities has contributed to a rise in horse neglect.
Opponents counter that slaughter is inherently cruel and that economic factors, not the absence of slaughter facilities, are behind the rise in neglect cases. They also point to overbreeding as a significant issue.
Originally Posted By Horsetalk.co.nz