Senate panel OKs keeping horse slaughter ban

The Senate Appropriations Committee's recently passed agriculture appropriations bill includes an amendment prohibiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture from inspecting horse slaughterhouses, which would continue the horse-slaughterhouse ban in the omnibus budget bill passed earlier this year.

The committee approved the amendment, introduced by Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), by an 18 to 12 vote, the American Horse Council reports. The ban was first enacted via an appropriations bill in 2007, but expired in 2011. Other legislation would put the ban into law, eliminating the need for annual appropriations language.