Legal Slaughter of Horses in the US Could Resume Monday

Whether slaughterhouses in Iowa and New Mexico can resume processing horses is expected to be determined by a federal judge in Albuquerque on Friday. If the judge rules in favor of Valley Meat Co. of Roswell, N.M., and Responsible Transportation in Sigourney, Iowa, the slaughtering of horses for meat will be legally allowed again in the United States for the first time since it was effectively banned in 2006.

The two slaughterhouses plan to begin processing horses as soon as Monday. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal rights groups have called for an injunction, contending the US Department of Agriculture failed to conduct the proper environmental reviews before issuing permits to slaughter horses after a Congressional ban on the domestic slaughter of horse meat was lifted in 2011.

The slaughterhouses would process equine meat for domestic zoos and for human consumption abroad.

Slaughtering horses is an emotionally contentious issue in the United States where eating horse meat is taboo and the animals enjoy a companion status similar to dogs and cats. Opponents of horse slaughter say the practice is inhumane and that because of the cocktail of drugs typical horses are administered, consumption of horse meat is unsafe.

Proponents of domestic horse slaughter contend that there are many unwanted horses overgrazing on rangeland intended for other purposes and that transporting unwanted horses to Canada or Mexico, where equine slaughter is legal, is costly and has its own set of cruelties. On land belonging the the Navajo Nation, there are an estimated 75,000 horses, including many that are dying of dehydration and starvation, according to an Associated Press report.

Bruce Paynter, president of the Iowa Horse Council, told The Des Moines Register that horse slaughter is "an issue that's very emotional to people."

"I'm all over the map on my own feelings about it," he said.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals conducted a poll in Iowa and found that about 70 percent of Iowans are opposed to horse slaughter and three-quarters of Iowans oppose having a slaughterhouse in their community, the Register reported.

But Jeff Johnson, Sigourney city councilman and head of the Sigourney Area Development Corp, told the Register that while he's aware of the opposition, the feedback he's received from his constituents has been mostly positive, largely because as many as 30 new jobs would be created in the community.

"This is an agricultural community ... they understand the processing of animals and meat," Johnson said.

But opposition to the practice has a fair share of high-profile backers, including numerous State officials and the actor Robert Redford.

"Horse slaughter has no place in our culture," Redford said, according to the AP.

"It is cruel, inhumane, and perpetuates abuse and neglect of these beloved animals. We must oppose it with all of our might. We need to ensure horses have safe and kind treatment during their lives and are afforded the peaceful and dignified end they deserve."

His sentiments may be lost on the world at large, however, as horse meat is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world and a rudimentary foodstuff in others.