Tuesday, March 30, 2010

MO Moves Closer to Harvesting Horses

Mo. House endorses legislation seeking to bypass federal ban on horse slaughter inspections
By Associated Press
6:08 PM CDT, March 29, 2010

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri House has endorsed legislation designed to allow the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

The legislation is intended to get around a federal ban on meat inspectors working in horse slaughtering plants.

The House bill would levy fees on slaughterhouses that the state would then transfer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was approved by voice vote Monday and needs another vote before moving to the Senate.

Congress has barred federal funds from being spent by USDA to inspect horse slaughtering plants.The horse meat bill also includes a provision aimed at blocking initiative petitions restricting agriculture. Link

As the horse market continues to reside in the cellar and unwanted horses burden so many individuals and government entities there are efforts still moving forward to re-instate the harvesting of horses. Since the practice ended in the United States, the number of horses that are suffering has skyrocketed. It’s a classic example of what happens when emotional decisions meet the real world.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bully for you! It's about time someone/a state trys to get around this! As a person in the horse industry, I have seen the prices of quality, well-bred horses hit the ditch due to the elimination of horse slaughter by well-meaning but misinformed and non-agriculture-based people who place emotional human thought lines onto the romanticized qualities of horses. This is neither reasonable nor practicle. The reality is that a balance needs to be found. Good for you.

MaryAinMI said...

"Since the practice ended in the United States, the number of horses that are suffering has skyrocketed."

Maybe you actually believe that the reason the price of horses and the supposed increase in abuse is due to the closing of the US slaughterplants, but I suspect you know the plant closings have nothing to do with those situations and that you are more happy about this legislation because it attempts to block "initiative petitions restricting agriculture."

As you know, horseslaughter is still fully available to anyone in the USA who wants to take advantage of it. Meat buyers will pick up your horse from your farm or buy it at any auction and deliver it to Mexico or Canada for slaughter. The reason prices are down is actually because of the terrible US economy. The demand for horsemeat overseas remains unchanged, so horses are being gathered by the meat buyers to fill the demand, just as always.

~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ said...

Troy- do you know anyone that is doing a study on the number of miles that a horse now travels to processing as opposed to how many miles prior to 2005-2007? It might be 2002 when the first plant closed. I would like to do a study, or find someone that has done one.

Thanks!

Jenn

@thesdcowgirl