Last Remaining U.S. Horse Slaughter Plant is Shut Down
Equestrian News Release
(May 24, 2007) – Slaughtering horses for human consumption is now prohibited under a new Illinois law signed today by Governor Rod Blagojevich. The Humane Society of the United States praised lawmakers for enacting the legislation, which closes the only horse slaughter facility currently operating in the United States.
“The slaughter of horses now will become a historical footnote in Illinois, as it should be,” states Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. “Today, the Governor put an end to a cruel commercial enterprise that put rationalizations ahead of rational thinking.”
House Bill 1711, sponsored by Rep. Bob Molaro (D, 21) and Sen. John Cullerton (D, 6), makes it illegal for any person to slaughter a horse for human consumption. H.B. 1711 was passed decisively by the Illinois Legislature, with a Senate vote of 39-16 and a House vote of 74-41. Gov. Blagojevich signed the bill, which goes into effect immediately, today.
The Cavel International horse slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Ill., was the only active plant in the country killing horses for human consumption. It was shut down in March when a federal court ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture could not provide inspections of horses about to be slaughtered, but re-opened when the court of appeals decided to allow Cavel International to resume slaughtering horses while their appeal makes its way through the courts.
The HSUS wrote to Cavel International officials today to urge them to relinquish horses currently in their custody, en route to the facility or on Cavel property to sanctuaries. The HSUS and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation have offered to coordinate the rescue and adoption of those animals.
Representative Janice Schakowsky (D-9/Ill.) is leading the effort in the U.S. Congress to pass a separate bill, H.R. 503, which would ban horse slaughter for human consumption nationwide, and ban the export of horses for slaughter outside the U.S.
“The passage of the Illinois legislation makes enactment of the federal ban on horse slaughter a very urgent matter,” said Pacelle. “Thousands of horses face grueling trips to slaughter facilities in Canada and Mexico unless Congress acts now to protect them.”
Facts
-According to the USDA, 100,800 American horses were slaughtered in three foreign-owned slaughter houses in 2006. Another 30,000 were sent to Mexico or Canada for slaughter.
-Residents who live near the slaughter facilities joined The HSUS in filing suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The residents reported “blood spills and overflows that clog up the local wastewater treatment plant and septic systems,” “smell[s] so bad that we cannot open our windows,” and “horses' cries [that] wake me up in the night and upset me so much that I have trouble sleeping.”
-The court characterized the USDA's environmental review of these impacts as “deafening silence,” and concluded “there is no evidence whatsoever that the agency head – or any USDA official – even contemplated…environmental effect[s]" of the agency's actions.
-The plaintiffs in the case include The HSUS, The Fund for Animals, the Doris Day Animal League, Animal Welfare Institute, Society for Animal Protective Legislation, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They are represented by the public interest law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal and by counsel with the Animal Protection Litigation section of The HSUS.
Timeline
-May 16, 2007 – The Illinois Senate approves legislation to ban horse slaughter by a vote of 39-16.
-May 8, 2007 – The Senate Public Health Committee approves legislation to ban horse slaughter by a vote of 7-0.
-April 26, 2007 - U.S. House of Representatives passes H.R. 249 to restore a decades-old ban on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild horses first enacted under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, by a vote of 277-137.
-April 18, 2007 – The Illinois House of Representatives approves H.B. 1711 to ban the slaughter of American horses in Illinois for human consumption overseas, by nearly a two-to-one margin, a vote of 74-41.
-March 29, 2007- A federal district court ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop inspecting horses about to be slaughtered at the Cavel International slaughter plant, effectively closing the last operating horse slaughtering operation in the United States. The order was stayed pending appeal, allowing Cavel to temporarily reopen.
-March 21, 2007 – A committee of the Illinois legislature approves legislation to ban horse slaughter by a vote of 8-4.
-March 20, 2007 – The HSUS files a notice of intent to sue Cavel International for dozens of violations of the Clean Water Act.
-January 17, 2007 – Legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses nationwide, S. 311 and H.R. 503, is introduced by Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) and Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), John Spratt (D-S.C.) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.).
-January 19, 2007 – A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit unanimously upholds a 1949 Texas state law banning the sale of horsemeat for human consumption in that state. In March, the entire Fifth Circuit rejected the slaughterhouses’ petition for full court review, and on
-May 21, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court denied their petition for appeal, thereby rendering the Fifth Circuit’s decision final.
-September 7, 2006 – U.S. House of Representatives passes H.R. 503, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, by a vote of 263-146. The 109th Congress adjourns before the Senate can consider the bill.
-May 19, 2006 – U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passes the Rahall-Whitfield-Sweeney-Spratt Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill to restore federal protections from commercial sale and slaughter to wild horses and burros. The provision is stripped in conference from the final bill.
-February 14, 2006 – The HSUS and other animal welfare groups and residents file suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the USDA “fee-for-service” rule.
-February 7, 2006 – USDA announces its intention to circumvent the Congressional funding limitation by implementing a "fee-for-service" rule to continue inspections of horsemeat.
-November 10, 2005 – President Bush signs the Agriculture Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2006, including the funding limitation on horsemeat inspections. The horse slaughter provision is scheduled to take effect 120 days later.
-October 25, 2005 – House-Senate conference committee completes its work on Agriculture Appropriations Bill, retaining the funding limitation on horsemeat inspections.
-September 20, 2005 – U.S. Senate approves the Ensign-Byrd Amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill to prohibit the use of tax dollars to pay for inspections of horsemeat, by a vote of 69-28.
-June 8, 2005 – U.S. House of Representatives approves the Sweeney-Spratt-Rahall-Whitfield Amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations Bill to prohibit the use of tax dollars to pay for inspections of horsemeat, by a vote of 269-158.
-May 19, 2005 – U.S. House of Representatives approves the Rahall-Whitfield Amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill to restore federal protections from commercial sale and slaughter to wild horses and burros, by a vote of 249-159. The provision is stripped in conference from the final bill.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization—backed by 10 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education, and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty—On the web at humanesociety.org
Interested in taking action online to help animals? Then join our online community and sign up for our Humane Action Network. Go to http://www.hsus.org/join .
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