HOUSTON (AP) A federal appeals court has ruled that horse slaughter is illegal in Texas, home to two of the nation's three processing plants.

The decision, issued late Friday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, overturns a lower federal district court s ruling last year on a 1949 Texas law that banned horse slaughter for the purpose of selling the meat for food.

The lower court had said the Texas law was invalid because it had already been repealed by another statute and pre-empted by federal law.

But in the 5th Circuit s decision, Judge Fortunato Benavides wrote that "The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon. Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse."

The ruling involves two of the nation s three horse slaughtering plants the Dallas Crown Inc. slaughter mill in Kaufman, Texas, and Beltex Corp. in nearby Forth Worth. A third plant run by Cavel International Inc. in DeKalb, Ill. is not affected by the ruling. All three facilities are foreign-owned. Mark Calabria, a lawyer for Dallas Crown, could not be reached for comment today.

Telephone messages left at the offices of Dallas Crown and Beltex were not immediately returned.

About 88,000 horses, mules and other equines were slaughtered in 2005, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Horse meat is not marketed as table fare in the United States, but the slaughter plants process hundreds of horses each week and ship the meat overseas, where horse flesh is considered a delicacy in Europe, Japan and other places.

While proponents such as the American Veterinary Medical Association say slaughter is a kind way to deal with old horses and a better alternative to abandonment, opponents including Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and country music star Willie Nelson have argued that the killing of equines is un-American and many young horses are killed as well.

A bill pending before Congress would shutter all three operations.

The Humane Society of the United States, which filed an amicus brief in the case, lauded the fact that those involved in the horse slaughter business in Texas can now face criminal prosecution.

"This is the most important court action ever on the issue of horse slaughter," Wayne Pacelle, the society's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "When this ruling is enforced, a single plant in Illinois will stand alone in conducting this grisly business."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON (Jan. 20, 2007) – The Humane Society of the United States, which has been campaigning to ban the slaughter of American horses for export for human consumption, hailed a decision yesterday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturning a lower court decision that invalidated a Texas state law banning the sale of horsemeat for human consumption.  The HSUS filed an amicus brief in the case in March 2006, arguing in defense of Texas ’ state law barring the slaughter of American horses for human consumption overseas.

"This is the most important court action ever on the issue of horse slaughter. A federal appeals court has ruled that America’s horses can no longer be slaughtered in Texas and shipped to foreign countries for food,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO for The Humane Society of the United States. “When this ruling is enforced, a single plant in Illinois will stand alone in conducting this grisly business.” 

The criminal code of Texas has long prohibited the sale or possession of horse meat, but the law has never been enforced.  In 2002, responding to citizen and local government concerns about the two foreign-owned horse slaughter plants in the state – Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Beltex in Fort Worth – then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued a written opinion that the 1949 Texas law applies and may be enforced.

In response, the Tarrant County District Attorney attempted to enforce the law, but last year a federal district court in Texas ruled that the law was repealed by another statute and preempted by federal law.  The District Attorney appealed that decision last year, and was supported by The HSUS in briefing before the Court of Appeals.

In its decision, the court flatly rejected the slaughterhouses’ arguments that the ban on the sale of horsemeat does not protect horses from theft and abuse, and that regulating horse slaughter can achieve those same purposes, noting instead that “it is a matter of commonsense that…alternatives…do not preserve horses as well as completely prohibiting the sale and transfer of horsemeat for human consumption.”  The court noted that the horse on the Texas trail is a cinematic icon, but “not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse.”

The Court of Appeals also quickly brushed aside the slaughter plants’ arguments that the Texas law at issue was invalid under state and federal law, noting that the Texas law “has not been repealed or preempted by federal law,” and that “several states have already banned its commercial use for human consumption.”

“The Texas law prohibiting the sale of horse meat for human food could hardly be any more explicit," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS. "The court’s decision means that any individual employee or corporation involved in the horse slaughter business in Texas now stares straight ahead at criminal prosecution. "

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 100,800 American horses were slaughtered in three foreign-owned slaughter houses in 2006.  Opponents of the slaughter ban argue the practice constitutes a humane way to kill old animals, but investigations by The HSUS show cruelty and abuse throughout the process. USDA statistics show that more than 92 percent of horses slaughtered in the U.S. are not old and infirm but in good condition.

Legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses nationwide was introduced this week in the 110th Congress, and this court ruling will give further momentum to the federal legislative effort.  In the U.S. Senate, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, S. 311, was launched Jan. 17 by Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.), with 12 original cosponsors.  In the U.S. House, Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), John Spratt (D-S.C.), and Nick Rahall (D-W.V.) introduced a companion bill, H.R. 503, the same day with 62 original cosponsors.

The measure received tremendous bipartisan support in the 109th Congress, winning a vote of 263 to 146 in the House. It stalled in the Senate in late 2006, however, and was not brought up for a vote before Congress adjourned, even though a similar effort had been overwhelmingly approved by the Senate in 2005.

Also :  http://www.saplonline.org/Congress begins...


Senate sessions ends without a vote on Horse Slaughter... It's not over Yet!