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 News from Around the Americas | October 2007 
US Ban Urged on Horses Exported for Slaughter
 Cox News Service
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 |  | U.S. law already prohibits the slaughter of any horse, despite its condition. |  | |
The Humane Society of the United States urged Congress this week to put an end to shipments of American horses to Mexican slaughterhouses, calling the sales "utterly inhumane."
Airing a video of Mexican plants where horses are butchered for human consumption, it asked Congress to move a pending bill to end the legal shipments across the Texas border by the end of this year. The footage shows tired horses being whipped and dragged across the floor as they enter one such plant. One scene shows a horse repeatedly stabbed in the neck until it choked to death from its own blood.
Last month, the last remaining American plant of this type was shut down after the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Illinois' decision to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Two such Texas plants were shuttered earlier this year following similar state bans. All three were run by foreign companies that sold the horse meat to countries that consider it a delicacy.
The proposed bill, sponsored by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., would prohibit the export of American horses for slaughter. It would also impose a federal prohibition against any resumption of domestic horse slaughter. A nearly identical House bill passed in 2006.
A recent separate bill approved by the House contains a provision that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from spending money on inspecting or certifying slaughtered horses. This bill would protect many wild horses, specifically wild mustang herds found throughout Colorado. The Senate version of this bill, expected to pass by the end of the year, does not contain a horse-slaughter provision.
U.S. law already prohibits the slaughter of any horse, despite its condition. Lawmakers suggest horse owners use alternative procedures, including euthanasia for old or sick horses. |
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