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Cattle Raisers ‘disappointed’
horse slaughter ruled illegal in Texas
FORT
WORTH, Texas, January 22, 2007–Leaders of Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers
Association expressed disappointment in a federal court ruling
declaring horse processing illegal in Texas, but vowed to
continue the fight for the basic right of livestock owners to
manage their animals in a humane and legal manner.
The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans
issued a ruling Jan. 19 that overturned a lower court decision
on a Texas law that banned the slaughter of horses for human
consumption. The law had been on the books since 1949, but had
never been enforced.
Two
of the three horse processing plants in the United States are
in Texas–one in Fort Worth and the other in Kaufman. The
third plant is in Illinois. Opponents of horse processing
mounted a campaign in 2002 to close the Texas plants on the
basis of the 1949 law.
John
Cornyn, who was then Texas Attorney General, ruled that the
law could be enforced. Supporters of the plants appealed,
arguing the law had been repealed by subsequent legislation
and was also preempted by federal law. A District Court judge
agreed in 2005, leading to the appeal just decided.
The
Appeals Court rejected the premise that the 1949 law is
invalid, saying specifically that it “has not been repealed
or preempted by federal law.” The Court also disregarded
plant supporters’ arguments that a ban on the sale of
horsemeat does not protect horses against theft or abuse.
“It is a matter of common sense that…alternatives…do not
preserve horses as well as completely prohibiting the sale and
transfer of horse meat for public consumption.”
TSCRA
is concerned that the court went beyond law and invoked
emotion in making its decision.
“The
lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic
icon,” wrote Judge Fornato Benavides. “Not once in memory
did the cowboy eat his horse.”
TSCRA
President C. R. “Dick” Sherron acknowledges that horse
processing is an emotional issue, but asserts that a legal
decision based on emotion is alarming and has threatening
implications for owners of other types of livestock
“This
law represents an undue limitation of the property rights of
horse owners to manage their animals under well-established
federal regulation and is an infringement on their basic
rights as livestock owners and managers,” he declared.
In
theory, the 1949 law would not affect using the plants for
humane disposal of old and unwanted horses. However operators
of the plants say it would be economically impractical to keep
them open without the income from foreign countries, which
purchase the meat for human consumption.
That
leaves livestock owners without an inexpensive, humane
alternative for their animals, says Sherron.
“It’s
expensive to pay a veterinarian to euthanize a horse and then
pay a shipper to transport it to a rendering plant. And there
are environmental concerns on top of that. In many areas,
state or local laws make it illegal to bury a horse on private
property or to dispose of the carcass in a landfill.”
Sherron
pointed out that there are approximately 9.2 million horses in
the United States. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show
that about 88,000 horses, mules and other equines were
slaughtered in 2005.
“That’s
fewer than 1 percent,” he says, “which is a good
indication that slaughter is not a decision horse owners make
indiscriminately.”
The
two Texas plants are considering whether to challenge the
Appeals Court decision, said former U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm.
That includes an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Stenholm is
a spokesman for the plants and a coalition of about 200
organizations who want to preserve the option of humane
slaughter.
Texas
and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a member of
that coalition.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a
129-year-old trade organization whose 14,300 members manage
approximately 4.9 million cattle on 66.6 million acres of
range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma
TSCRA-3-2007 |
