On March 21, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke with reporters and said that “Congress should come up with a better solution for handling unwanted horses than slaughtering the animals for meat for human consumption.” This is coming a little too late and does not help the horses whose lives are at stake.
As is now well known, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is entertaining five applications to slaughter horses – for human consumption – right now.
Vilsack mentioned that another way, “a third way,” should be thought up that deals with the nation’s horse problem rather than killing horses or slaughtering them. He did suggest that horses could help veterans returning from war or, perhaps, horses could be used for prisoners to teach job skills.
Because horse slaughter is again legal in the United States thanks to Congress and the Obama administration, USDA is now required by federal law to provide inspections to qualified horse meat businesses. There are five pending applications at this time under consideration by FSIS.
Vilsack told reporters that science has improved “monitoring equine drug residues.” This very fact is getting primary attention in the current applications.
After the ban was imposed, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of Congress studied the issue of unwanted horses in the U.S. and found sharp increases in starving and abandoned horses after the domestic slaughterhouses went out of business. It is a burdensome trend for many tribal and county governments.
For the last several years, horses have been transported to both Mexico and Canada for slaughter.
Please read also read this informative article: Secy. Vilsack - USDA Cannot Enforce Horse Slaughter Laws, 15tv
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