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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: March 2007
Appeals Court upholds Texas horse slaughter ban
NEW ORLEANS--The 5th
U.S. Circuuit Court of Appeals on January 20, 2007 ruled that Dallas Crown
Inc. of Kaufman, Texas, and Beltex Corp., of Fort Worth, have killed horses
for human consumption in violation of a 1949 state law. The ruling in
effect reinstated the law, but halted horse slaughter at the two facilities
for only two weeks.
Holding about 100 horses who were already
on the premises or en route when the court ruled, Dallas Crown refused
an offer from the Humane Society of the U.S. to take them to a sanctuary,
and killed them on February 5, said HSUS media contact Polly Shannon.
"A trailer from Cosco Container Lines Americas, Inc. was seen parked
outside the plant," Shannon said, but what was actually done with
the horses' meat was unknown.
"In 2002," Shannon explained,
"then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued an opinion that the
1949 Texas law applies and may be enforced. The Tarrant County District
Attorney attempted to enforce the law, but in 2006 a Texas federal district
court ruled that the law was repealed by another statute and preempted
by federal law. The District Attorney appealed that decision."
Dallas Crown, Beltex, and the Cavel International
slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Illinois in 2006 killed 100,800 horses for human
consumption, up from 88,000 in 2005, according to USDA data. About 33,400
horses were exported to be slaughtered in Canada, Mexico, and Japan.
Illinois state representative Bob Molaro
(D-Chicago) on February 22, 2007 introduced a bill to prohibit transporting
horses for the sole purpose of slaughter for human consumption. Illinois
Governor Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois Department of Agriculture supported
a similar bill that cleared the Illinois Senate in May 2004 but narrowly
failed in the state House of Representatives.
The Illinois bill parallels a federal
bill introduced earlier by Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois).
Similar legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate. Most major U.S. animal
advocacy groups support the federal anti-horse slaughter bills, which
nearly won passage in 2004 and 2005, but the bills are opposed by the
American Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Humane Association
recently withdrew endorsements issued in support of earlier versions.
"Some of our board agree with the
AVMA findings that the proposed bill does not adequately address the long-term
welfare of unwanted horses, and may actually cause even more inhumane
transport of animals to neighboring countries for slaughter," American
Humane president Marie Wheatley told ANIMAL PEOPLE. Wheatley also mentioned
the "unaddressed fiscal impact of dealing with an increase in the
number of unwanted horses," potentially leading to more neglect cases.
At least 963 horses were neglected in cruelty cases before U.S. courts
in 2006, down from 1,890 in 2005.
"We continue to stand firm against
the inhumane treatment of animals, including horses transported or held
for slaughter," American Humane president Marie Wheatley told ANIMAL
PEOPLE. "But we feel we should not take positions on people's ultimate
choice of food, either in this country or other countries."
Reminded that this might imply that American
Humane accepts eating dogs and cats in Asia, Japanese whaling, and the
meat-producing portion of the Atlantic Canadian seal hunt, Wheatley said
she would take this up with the board.
American Humane actively opposed sealing in both Atlantic Canada and Alaskan waters from at least 1933 into the mid-1950s. It most recently affirmed opposition to the Atlantic Canadian seal hunt in 1989.