Ag Policy Blog

Horse Slaughter Making a U.S. Comeback

Chris Clayton
By  Chris Clayton , DTN Ag Policy Editor
Connect with Chris:
@ChrisClaytonDTN

Horse slaughter appears to be making a comeback in the U.S.

Last week, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to lift the state's 50-year-old ban on processing horse meat with a push to export the products. Fallin cited that animal abuse is a common problem with abandoned horses and processing the meat would give owners another option. Already, the U.S. is shipping more than 160,000 cattle to Canada and Mexico slaughter facilities.

Commercial horse processing in the U.S. for human consumption effectively ended in 2007 when Congress chose to stop funding USDA meat inspectors for facilities. Again, virtually all of the meat was exported, mostly to Europe. But zoos and other facilities that feed large carnivores also relied heavily on those horse-slaughter facilities as well. 

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Oklahoma currently doesn't have a facility set up for such processing. Fallin noted her office would be working to help start up a processing plant in the near future.

New Mexico and Wyoming also have been pushing the idea opening horse-slaughter operations. The Casper Star-Tribune reported a group of investors are watching what happens in Oklahoma and nationally before potentially moving forward on an operation. The article also cites that a facility could open as early as this month in New Mexico.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was quoted last week saying it has taken time to create a rule to allow meat inspectors to work in horse-processing facilities. He also said Congress could reinstate the ban.

States are moving ahead with plans for processing horse meat also while Europe remains embroiled in a horse-meat scandal. The events in Europe had nothing to do with food safety, but at least some food processors have been accused of using horse meat for products such as lasagna and labeling the meat as beef.

Casper Star-Tribune article: http://dld.bz/…

News release from Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin: http://www.ok.gov/…

I can be found on Twitter @ChrisClaytonDTN.

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Tom Durfee
4/2/2013 | 8:14 AM CDT
If the cattle are pushing tainted horse meat for human consumption I wonder just how safe the beef is? Horse meat is unfit for humans to eat. Food and Chemical Toxicology, Volume 48, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 1270-1274 Association of phenylbutazone usage with horses bought for slaughter: A public health risk Nicholas Dodman, Nicolas Blondeau, Ann M. Marini I have always said they donâ?™t how many people they poison as long as they make a buck. Here is the first warning to a horse killer from the FDA for falsified EID and the horse was positive for bute. http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2012/ucm313462.htm Horse Owner Survey Shows NSAID Use Trends In a recent survey, 96% of respondents said they used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to control the joint pain and inflammation in horses, and 82% administer them without always consulting their veterinarian. More than 1,400 horse owners and trainers were surveyed to better understand attitudes toward NSAIDs, in a project sponsored by Merial, the maker of Equioxx (firocoxib). http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14073 Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - prohibited as well Phenylbutazone, known as "bute," is a veterinary drug only label-approved by the Food & Drug Administration for use by veterinarians in dogs and horses. It has been associated with debilitating conditions in humans and it is absolutely not permitted for use in food-producing animals. USDA/FSIS has conducted a special project to for this drug in selected bovine slaughter plants under federal inspection. An earlier pilot project by FSIS found traces less than 3% of the livestock selected for testing, sufficient cause for this special project. There is no tolerance for this drug in food-producing livestock, and they and their by-products are condemned when it is detected. Dairy producers must not use this drug in food-producing livestock and if it is found, those producers will be subject to FDA investigation and possible prosecution.