K A S H R U T . C O M_©

The following news is from the FoodManufacturing.com on May 1, 2013.

The first U.S.-based horse slaughter plant in six years will open soon unless Congress reinstates a ban on the practice, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday. Valley Meat Co. has been fighting for more than a year for permission to slaughter horses. The Obama administration opposes horse slaughter. Its recent budget proposal eliminates funding for inspections of horse slaughter houses, which would effectively reinstate a ban on the practice. Congress eliminated that funding in 2006, which forced a shutdown of domestic slaughter facilities. But Congress reinstated the funding in 2011, prompting Valley Meat Co. and a handful of other businesses around the country to seek permission to open plants. At issue in the debate over domestic horse slaughter is whether horses are livestock or pets, and how best to control the nation's exploding equine population. The number of U.S. horses sent to other countries for slaughter has nearly tripled since 2006. Many animal humane groups are pushing for a ban on domestic slaughter as well as a ban on shipping horses to Mexico and Canada.