Horse slaughterhouses being urged as funds to inspect them again made available

Public pressure helped to hasten the end of horse slaughter in the United States in 2006 when Congress cut off funding to inspect facilities that do the work. Without proper inspection and oversight, horse meat could not be shipped to overseas markets where it might be consumed. But such a ban has been tough on the horses that are being shipped to Canada and Mexico, reports The Wall Street Journal. It has also been disastrous for some horses whose owners, facing a bad economy, have left them abandoned and starving, to fend for themselves.

Congress re-authorized funds last year for slaughterhouse inspections. Some U.S. companies are again applying for permits to revive the industry in New Mexico, Missouri and California. Rick De Los Santos, spokesman for 0Valley Meat Co. in Roswell, N.M., says the proposed facility could supply as many as 50 jobs and could be open by the end of the summer. The pushback from animal rights activists and horse lovers -- even by New Mexico's own governor -- has been strong.