Agriculture secretary expects first horse slaughter plant to open unless Congress acts quickly

The New Mexico plant (AP photo by Jeri Clausing)

The New Mexico horse-slaughter plant that passed a Department of Agriculture inspection last week could soon be open for business, unless Congress reinstates a ban on the practice, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Jeri Clausing of The Associated Press.The plant would be the first to operate in the U.S. in six years.

If Congress does not pass the ban, Vilsack said, "We are duty-bound to do what needs to be done to allow that plant to begin processing. . . . I would imagine that it would be done relatively soon."

President Obama's budget proposal would eliminate funding for inspections of horse slaughterhouses, which would prevent their operation. Congress did that in 2007 but repealed the ban in 2011, after concluding that the lack of a bottom in the horse market was worsening the horse crisis. (Read more)

We wrote about the plant passing inspection here, and have covered the controversial subject here, here, here, and here.