Sweeney-Spratt amendment could end horse slaughtering

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The Sweeney-Spratt amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Bill passed 269 to 158, and it may end horse slaughtering in DeKalb and Texas, therefore, nationwide.

The amendment means the USDA will not be funded to perform plant inspections for horse slaughtering. Yet, meat must be inspected by the USDA before it can be exported from the United States.

Therefore, it would not be possible for the Belgian company Cavel International to continue its operations, which provide horsemeat for human consumption to some countries—Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Mexico and Japan—where horsemeat is considered a delicacy and can sell for about $15 lb...

In its recent newsletter, the Utah Humane Society urged its members to support the Sweeney-Pratt Amendment and argued, “Last year, almost 66,000 American horses were slaughtered in just one of the three foreign-owned, U.S.-based facilities located in Texas and Illinois.”

They noted the potential of the Sweeney-Pratt amendment and urged humane society members to contact their legislators to support HR 503.

A coalition of thousands of animal rights supporters has been working both nationally and in the Illinois legislature to shut down the industry.

...The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, based in Washington, D.C., reports that each year, thousands of horses are slaughtered in this country. In 2002, according to USDA records, 42,312 horses were killed for human consumption alone. Thousands more are shipped out of the country for slaughter elsewhere...[READ ENTIRE ARTICLE]