The president of Responsible Transportation, a Sigourney, Iowa slaughter house which had planned to begin horse slaughter on August 1, announced on Tuesday they have dropped all plans to slaughter horses. The plant has spent the last six months renovating their facility for the slaughter of American horses; the meat would be exported overseas for human consumption or sold within the U.S. to zoos.
According to ABC News.com and the Associated Press, President Keaton Walker, owner of the second horse slaughter facility in the United States to be granted a federal permit, stated he could not afford to wait any longer and had reapplied for a federal permit to slaughter beef. He hopes his slaughterhouse is functional within a month.
On August 2, United States District Judge Christina Armijo issued a temporary restraining order against Responsible Transportation and Valley Meat Company of Roswell, N.M.
The Humane Society of the United States, Front Range Equine Rescue, Marin Humane Society, Horses for Life Foundation, Return to Freedom, and numerous private citizens applied for an injunction under the National Environmental Protection Act for the failure to conduct environmental reviews. Front Range Equine attorney Bruce Wagman told Judge Armijo that no environmental impact study had ever been done to realize the effects of horse slaughter since horses ingest drugs labeled carcinogenic to humans.
A statement issued by the Humane Society on Tuesday said, "horse meat is a product of cruelty that Americans don't want to buy, and which pollutes the air and water wherever it occurs. It has no place in Iowa or any other state."
More than 80% of Americans are against the slaughter of horses.
Valley Meat Company president Rick De Los Santos insists they are prepared to continue the fight.
Both the House of Representatives and Senate appropriations committees have already voted to halt all funding for horse slaughter in FY 2014. A request for Congress to prevent tax dollars from supporting horse slaughter was also included. In addition the Safeguard American Food Exports Act would ban slaughter operations in the U.S. and end the export of American horses for slaughter in order to protect consumers from eating toxic meat.
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