Now that the Congress has passed agricultural appropriations legislation with no limit on federal inspection for horse meat, the focus among many is now finding a suitable plant for processing. Sue Wallis is a State Representative in Wyoming and co-leader of United Horsemen and the International Equine Business Association.
She says they have a great network across the country looking for facilities in places where meat processing is common practice. Wallis says the horse processing facilities that were shuttered in 2007 when amendments passed banning the USDA from inspecting horse meat will not be reopened because the states where they are located – Texas, Illinois, California and Florida – have passed laws banning horse it.
Wallis says the tide turned away from the animal rights/anti-processing movement when the Congressional GAO report this spring detailed the problems that were caused by the elimination of horse processing in the U.S. She believes knowledge and understanding of the situation will prevent most other states from enacting horse slaughter bans in the future.
Source: NAFB News Service
Audio from Julie Harker
Posted by Haylie Shipp
