Jan. 21, 2007, 7:07PM
Appeals court rules against horse slaughtering in Texas
Associated Press
A federal appeals court has ruled that horse slaughter is illegal in Texas, home to two of the nation's three processing plants.
The decision, issued late Friday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, overturns a lower federal district court's ruling last year on a 1949 Texas law that banned horse slaughter for the purpose of selling the meat for food.
The lower court had said the Texas law was invalid because it had already been repealed by another statute and pre-empted by federal law.
But a panel of three judges on the 5th Circuit disagreed and said the law stood on its own merits and was still enforceable.
"The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon," Judge Fortunato Benavides wrote in Friday's ruling. "Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse."
The ruling involves two of the nation's three horse slaughtering plants — the Dallas Crown Inc. slaughter mill in Kaufman, Texas, and Beltex Corp. in nearby Forth Worth. A third plant run by Cavel International Inc. in DeKalb, Ill. is not affected by the ruling. All three facilities are foreign-owned.
Kaufman Mayor Paula Bacon was pleased with the decision.
"This business has not been a positive for our community at all," she said. "To have state law finally enforced and to have this business close its doors for good is fantastic news."
Mark Calabria, a lawyer for Dallas Crown, could not be reached for comment Saturday. Telephone messages left at the offices of Dallas Crown and Beltex were not immediately returned.
About 88,000 horses, mules and other equines were slaughtered in 2005, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
Horse meat is not marketed as table fare in the United States, but the slaughter plants process hundreds of horses each week and ship the meat overseas, where horse flesh is considered a delicacy in Europe, Japan and other places.
While proponents such as the American Veterinary Medical Association say slaughter is a kind way to deal with old horses and a better alternative to abandonment, opponents including Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens and country music star Willie Nelson have argued that the killing of equines is un-American — and many young horses are killed as well.
A bill pending before Congress would shutter all three operations.
The Humane Society of the United States, which filed an amicus brief in the case, lauded the fact that those involved in the horse slaughter business in Texas can now face criminal prosecution.
"This is the most important court action ever on the issue of horse slaughter," Wayne Pacelle, the society's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "When this ruling is enforced, a single plant in Illinois will stand alone in conducting this grisly business."
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Horse Meat Banned in Texas
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RedGlitter
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Accountable
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Horse Meat Banned in Texas
"The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon," Judge Fortunato Benavides wrote in Friday's ruling. "Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse."
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That's just silly, and hardly a reason for a court ruling.
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That's just silly, and hardly a reason for a court ruling.
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Accountable
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Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Hamster;525302 wrote: Do people actually eat horse meat still over there Red??
Americans squeamish over horse meat
By BILL MAXWELL, Times Columnist
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2002
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- If you relish cheval burgers with your onion rings and cold brew, do not look to menus in American restaurants. Sure, you can find horse meat in most states, but you will be hard-pressed to hear chefs trumpeting this fact.
In beef-loving America, eating horse flesh is anathema. We raise cows, hogs and sheep for food, not horses. Most us see horses as pets, companions, playmates and beasts of burden. We cannot imagine roasting or barbecuing the likes of Trigger, Silver, Flicka, Black Beauty and Mr. Ed.
But many other countries, especially those recently hard hit by mad cow and other disease, consider horse meat to be a nutritious staple and will pay big bucks for it. The Dallas Morning News reports that of the 6.9-million horses in America in 2001, 57,000 were slaughtered, mostly for human consumption.
Two U.S. companies, both in Texas, have cornered a large part of the world's equine flesh market. An Illinois company that sold horse meat burned down last year and has not rebuilt. With 150 workers, Dallas Crown Inc. and Beltex Corp. kill nearly 1,000 horses a week. The process -- from herding the animals into corrals, to condemning them to the killing room, to packing and shipping tasty loins -- takes all of four days.
The protein-rich, lean meat is sent to the butchers and restaurateurs of Asia, mainly Japan, and Europe, mainly France. Here in the United States, zoos buy the meat for their big cats and other carnivores.
In America, unlike in other horse-flesh producing nations, such as Romania and Belgium, public opposition to eating horse runs high. Animal-protection groups, led by the Texas Humane Legislation Network, are trying to shut down the multimillion-dollar industry.
Interpreting a 1949 Texas law as prohibiting possession, sale or shipment of horse meat for human consumption, the organization argues that Crown and Beltex are operating illegally. The network has gained the support of the Texas attorney general.
For their part, Crown and Beltex are mounting a vigorous campaign to save their skins. They see themselves as legitimate outfits serving at least two legitimate needs: They help satisfy the palates of millions of diners worldwide, and they pay owners to dispose of animals that have outlived their usefulness.
About the horses that are slaughtered, Oliver Kemseke, the owner of Crown, voiced his puzzlement over American's love of horses to the Morning News: "Most of (the horses) here are cripples or have back problems or are crazy in the head. We're a business just like any business. But it's a sensitive matter what we do. . . . These people don't understand. . . . We don't kill a horse unless there's something wrong. . . . There are a lot of horses in this country, and you people don't eat it. It's just a piece of meat."
Critics believe that Kemseke, a Romanian, and his colleagues tell only part of the story. Greedy horse dealers, critics argue, sell healthy horses to Crown and Beltex. As a result, an everything-is-fair-game atmosphere has developed. Many horse thieves are said to steal for and sell only to the slaughterhouses.
But Kemseke and officials at Beltex enjoy strong support in some surprising places, according to the Morning News. Many horse owners who cannot or are unwilling to pay for caring for injured or old mounts like Kemseke. These owners do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for traditional disposal, which involves injection, perhaps burial or transport to a dump.
Another surprising supporter is Dr. Tom Lenz, president-elect of the 7,000-member American Association of Equine Practitioners. "The issue is what do you do with unwanted horses," he said. "Some people can't afford to keep them."
Lenz, who has witnessed slaughters at Beltex, said the industry kills horses "humanely." The companies use the same method used to kill cows and other live stock that we eat: a quick killing blow of a stun gun to the head. Veterinarians worry that if the Texas network succeeds in banning horse meat processing in this country, our unwanted animals will be sent to the busy killing floors of Canada and Mexico.
A mystified Kemseke believes that Americans' sentimentality has made the horse a sacred cow. Further, the closing of U.S. plants would result in the needlessly expensive, unintended consequence of euthanizing and burying tens of thousands of horses annually. Kemseke reasons that if we are going to kill horses anyway, why not use the meat as food? In reality, he said, Americans cannot stop horse slaughtering everywhere in the world.
Americans squeamish over horse meat
By BILL MAXWELL, Times Columnist
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2002
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- If you relish cheval burgers with your onion rings and cold brew, do not look to menus in American restaurants. Sure, you can find horse meat in most states, but you will be hard-pressed to hear chefs trumpeting this fact.
In beef-loving America, eating horse flesh is anathema. We raise cows, hogs and sheep for food, not horses. Most us see horses as pets, companions, playmates and beasts of burden. We cannot imagine roasting or barbecuing the likes of Trigger, Silver, Flicka, Black Beauty and Mr. Ed.
But many other countries, especially those recently hard hit by mad cow and other disease, consider horse meat to be a nutritious staple and will pay big bucks for it. The Dallas Morning News reports that of the 6.9-million horses in America in 2001, 57,000 were slaughtered, mostly for human consumption.
Two U.S. companies, both in Texas, have cornered a large part of the world's equine flesh market. An Illinois company that sold horse meat burned down last year and has not rebuilt. With 150 workers, Dallas Crown Inc. and Beltex Corp. kill nearly 1,000 horses a week. The process -- from herding the animals into corrals, to condemning them to the killing room, to packing and shipping tasty loins -- takes all of four days.
The protein-rich, lean meat is sent to the butchers and restaurateurs of Asia, mainly Japan, and Europe, mainly France. Here in the United States, zoos buy the meat for their big cats and other carnivores.
In America, unlike in other horse-flesh producing nations, such as Romania and Belgium, public opposition to eating horse runs high. Animal-protection groups, led by the Texas Humane Legislation Network, are trying to shut down the multimillion-dollar industry.
Interpreting a 1949 Texas law as prohibiting possession, sale or shipment of horse meat for human consumption, the organization argues that Crown and Beltex are operating illegally. The network has gained the support of the Texas attorney general.
For their part, Crown and Beltex are mounting a vigorous campaign to save their skins. They see themselves as legitimate outfits serving at least two legitimate needs: They help satisfy the palates of millions of diners worldwide, and they pay owners to dispose of animals that have outlived their usefulness.
About the horses that are slaughtered, Oliver Kemseke, the owner of Crown, voiced his puzzlement over American's love of horses to the Morning News: "Most of (the horses) here are cripples or have back problems or are crazy in the head. We're a business just like any business. But it's a sensitive matter what we do. . . . These people don't understand. . . . We don't kill a horse unless there's something wrong. . . . There are a lot of horses in this country, and you people don't eat it. It's just a piece of meat."
Critics believe that Kemseke, a Romanian, and his colleagues tell only part of the story. Greedy horse dealers, critics argue, sell healthy horses to Crown and Beltex. As a result, an everything-is-fair-game atmosphere has developed. Many horse thieves are said to steal for and sell only to the slaughterhouses.
But Kemseke and officials at Beltex enjoy strong support in some surprising places, according to the Morning News. Many horse owners who cannot or are unwilling to pay for caring for injured or old mounts like Kemseke. These owners do not want to pay hundreds of dollars for traditional disposal, which involves injection, perhaps burial or transport to a dump.
Another surprising supporter is Dr. Tom Lenz, president-elect of the 7,000-member American Association of Equine Practitioners. "The issue is what do you do with unwanted horses," he said. "Some people can't afford to keep them."
Lenz, who has witnessed slaughters at Beltex, said the industry kills horses "humanely." The companies use the same method used to kill cows and other live stock that we eat: a quick killing blow of a stun gun to the head. Veterinarians worry that if the Texas network succeeds in banning horse meat processing in this country, our unwanted animals will be sent to the busy killing floors of Canada and Mexico.
A mystified Kemseke believes that Americans' sentimentality has made the horse a sacred cow. Further, the closing of U.S. plants would result in the needlessly expensive, unintended consequence of euthanizing and burying tens of thousands of horses annually. Kemseke reasons that if we are going to kill horses anyway, why not use the meat as food? In reality, he said, Americans cannot stop horse slaughtering everywhere in the world.
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
I couldn't eat Kangaroo or Horsemeat, my daughter hasn't eaten meat for years as she relates the meat to the animal :yh_sick :yh_sick
I am nobody..nobody is perfect...therefore I must be Perfect!
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
I'm the opposite! I need to know which part of the animal it's come from!
If it had a face, I like to picture it smiling!
If it had a face, I like to picture it smiling!
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Elvira;525377 wrote: I'm the opposite! I need to know which part of the animal it's come from!
If it had a face, I like to picture it smiling!
Please don't mention that if we go for dinner, actually probably help with my weightloss
If it had a face, I like to picture it smiling!
Please don't mention that if we go for dinner, actually probably help with my weightloss
I am nobody..nobody is perfect...therefore I must be Perfect!
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Diuretic;525379 wrote: I don't blame either of you Suzy. Many years ago I stopped eating red meat and never touched it again until twenty-something years later. I won't explain why because it's not pleasant. And yes I will own up to being a hypocrite because I continued to eat chicken and fish (just not anything else).
Me too, i eat chicken and fish, but i do cook meat for Jim and my son
Me too, i eat chicken and fish, but i do cook meat for Jim and my son
I am nobody..nobody is perfect...therefore I must be Perfect!
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
SuzyB;525380 wrote: Please don't mention that if we go for dinner, actually probably help with my weightloss
If you come to dinner at my house, I'll do you a nice fish, and draw a face on it with icing!
If you come to dinner at my house, I'll do you a nice fish, and draw a face on it with icing!
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rainbowsmiles
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Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Ew, I didn't know people ate horse meat. Call me naive (<spell?)
I'm a vegan and I grew up with horses so now I'm traumatized :-1
I'm a vegan and I grew up with horses so now I'm traumatized :-1
Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Like Diuretic, I don't eat red meat.
The idea of eating horses is repugnant...but so's the idea of eating swine or cattle. However, if the practice were limited to old animals, I can actually see the wisdom/logic in using them as food if it's desired for pet food/foreign trade.
Do you know how VEAL is obtained? Think about LAMB....what's the difference, really?
The idea of killing foals (and calves, piglets) is hard for me to take, but I see emotionalism and a kind of hypocricy in that view--within myself.
The idea of eating horses is repugnant...but so's the idea of eating swine or cattle. However, if the practice were limited to old animals, I can actually see the wisdom/logic in using them as food if it's desired for pet food/foreign trade.
Do you know how VEAL is obtained? Think about LAMB....what's the difference, really?
The idea of killing foals (and calves, piglets) is hard for me to take, but I see emotionalism and a kind of hypocricy in that view--within myself.
My candle's burning at both ends, it will not last the night. But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--It gives a lovely light!--Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Accountable
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Horse Meat Banned in Texas
Lulu2;526430 wrote: The idea of killing foals (and calves, piglets) is hard for me to take,
That's understandable.
That's understandable.