Horse slaughter legal once again

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) - Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections last month. The legislation once again clears the way for horse slaughter houses to legally operate in the United States, for the first time since 2006.

President Obama signed it into law on November 18.

The act did not allocate new money to pay for the horse meat inspections. The U.S. Department of Agriculture would need to find the money to fund such inspections in its own budget, which is likely to see more cuts this year.

Pro-slaughter proponents argue that since the ban went into effect, the number of horse neglect and abandonment cases has risen and are scrambling to open a plant in either Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska or Missouri, according to an Associated Press report.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, some 138,000 horses were transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter in 2010 - nearly the same number that were slaughtered before the ban.

Dave Duquette, president of United Horsemen, told the Associated Press that he has several investors lined up to finance a processing plant. "If one plant came open in two weeks, I'd have enough money to fund it. I've got people who will put up $100,000.

Animal activists are already gearing up to fight the provision.

Jackie Van Horn, who runs the Chesapeake-based Web of Life Animal Outreach Inc., didn't know the ban had been lifted.

"I'm just so frustrated it flew under the radar like that," Van Horn said.

Van Horn told WAVY.com that slaughterhouses are not the solution to cases of neglect and abandonment.

"That's just a horrible atrocity to do to these animals that have served us from the beginning of time. I think having the ban lifted, is gonna have people say, 'oh I can't take care of my horse anymore. Let me see what I can get per pound," added Van Horn.

Agriculture groups have argued that the ban didn't stop horse slaughter but took away a $65 million a year industry and sent it to Canada and Mexico. 

Van Horn says there are other ways to create business opportunities. "We're saying in this day and age the only way we can increase jobs is slaughterhouse production? C'mon! C'mon!"

Currently, there is no U.S. market for horse meat consumption but it is viewed as a delicacy in other countries.