ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) — A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for horse slaughterhouses to resume operating in the U.S. as early as next week.
U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo in Albuquerque threw out a lawsuit by The Humane Society of the United States and other animal protection groups that alleged the Department of Agriculture failed to conduct proper environmental studies when it issued permits to Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, New Mexico, and an Iowa company to slaughter horses for human consumption.
The decision ends, for now, a two-year battle by Valley Meat to open the slaughterhouse.
The issue of horse slaughter has divided horse rescue and animal welfare groups, ranchers, politicians and Indian tribes about what is the most humane way to deal with the country's horse overpopulation and what rescue groups have said are a rising number of neglected and starving horses as the West deals with persistent drought.
The plants would become the first horse slaughterhouse to operate in the U.S. since Congress banned the practice by eliminating funding for inspections at the plants in 2006. It restored that funding in 2011, but the Department of Agriculture did not approve the first permits for horse slaughter plants until this summer.
The companies want to ship horse meat to countries where it is consumed by humans or used as animal feed.
The Iowa company converted to cattle because of the court fight. But attorneys say Valley and Rains Natural Meats of Gallatin, Missouri, are poised to open as early as Monday.
A temporary order blocking a return to domestic equine slaughter had expired Thursday night. Attorneys for the groups that sued the Agriculture Department over its permitting procedures then filed a motion Friday seeking an extension of the restraining order.
Blair Dunn, who represents Valley Meat and Rains Natural Meats, said he would fight any further attempts to keep the plants closed. He said he had calls into the Department of Justice, which represents the Department of Agriculture, to get inspectors dispatched to the plants.
"Rains Natural Meat in Missouri will be ready to go on Monday," he said.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Its was horse sushi.
Horse is meh. Try frogs. And I'm serious frogs can be eaten. :))Frogs legs, stereotypical french delicacy?
Horse is meh. Try frogs. And I'm serious frogs can be eaten. :))
Horse is meh. Try frogs. And I'm serious frogs can be eaten. :))Frogs legs, stereotypical french delicacy?
^^ I'd eat that, of course I would eat a horse to....I mean so long as I wouldn't die I'd eat most any animal that was properly cooked :D
^^ I'd eat that, of course I would eat a horse to....I mean so long as I wouldn't die I'd eat most any animal that was properly cooked :D
Could you?
:o
Even a dog or cat? HAHA
I would only eat horse meat if it was not killed for its meat. (Had a normal horse life then died)
I'm against horse production for food
I would only eat horse meat if it was not killed for its meat. (Had a normal horse life then died)
I'm against horse production for food
I don't understand why people are somehow alright with going to Wendy's and gobbling down a butchered cow but not horse. Cows and horses are very similar, they're both livestock. I think social stigma probably has a lot to do with people's views.
I don't understand why people are somehow alright with going to Wendy's and gobbling down a butchered cow but not horse. Cows and horses are very similar, they're both livestock. I think social stigma probably has a lot to do with people's views.
And if more people saw where most cows actually come from (in the usa) they probably wouldn't be eating beef either, the cow we had butchered than came from the field next to our home was much tastier, cooked better etc than ground beef you buy in the store.
And if more people saw where most cows actually come from (in the usa) they probably wouldn't be eating beef either, the cow we had butchered than came from the field next to our home was much tastier, cooked better etc than ground beef you buy in the store.
Meat production as a whole is pretty horrendous with poultry and cows being some of the worst. Goats and sheep tend to be raised in somewhat better conditions, but poultry are in overcrowded pens and often live with dead and rotting animals before they get discovered, and just all around deplorable conditions. I'm vegetarian, but I'd eat free range, pasture raised, hormone and antibiotic free beef or poultry. Like you said, it tastes better. Even their eggs taste better (chickens, not cows).
You also against cattle production for food and if so why?
I don't understand why people are somehow alright with going to Wendy's and gobbling down a butchered cow but not horse. Cows and horses are very similar, they're both livestock. I think social stigma probably has a lot to do with people's views.
^^ I'd eat that, of course I would eat a horse to....I mean so long as I wouldn't die I'd eat most any animal that was properly cooked :DShow Image(http://cutestuff.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/cute-bunny-fell-over.png)
Could you?
:eek:
Had some horse in Italy. It was good, almost a bit of sweetness to the meat although it's a weird color. Like an off yellowish red meat.