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Monday, January 06, 2014

New Mexico judge extends temporary restraining order against opening of horse slaughter plant

A New Mexico horse slaughter plant has still not opened in New Mexico. On Friday, a state judge extended his temporary restraining order preventing Valley Meat Co. from opening for 10 days until he could hold a hearing in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Gary King "alleging that the company's operations would violate state food-safety and water-quality laws," Daniel Enoch reports for Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter.

King filed the lawsuit last month after a federal court lifted an emergency stay on Valley Meat and plants in Missouri and Iowa, paving the way for the companies to begin processing horse meat for export. Rains Natural Meats in Missouri has "horses on site ready to open but has run into its own roadblocks with its state environmental permits," the companies' attorney said, Jeri Clausing reports for The Associated Press. "The Iowa company switched to cattle after being blocked from opening in August by the filing of the lawsuit by The Humane Society of the United States and other groups."

In a news release, "King said the lawsuit was filed because commercial horse slaughter 'is a new, untested enterprise that poses health and environmental risks to New Mexicans,' adding that horses are often administered drugs that are forbidden for use in food animals," Enoch writes. The Valley Meat attorney said "the horses destined for slaughter are being held in feedlots for about six months to purge any drugs in their systems." (Read more)

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