NEWS
Court decision clears way to end horse slaughter in Texas
Posted: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:25 PM
by Frank Angst
A decision by a federal appeals court in Texas takes a big step toward ending horse slaughter in the Lone Star State.
The Fifth United States Court of Appeals in New Orleans on January 19 ruled that a 1949 Texas law prohibits the slaughter of horses for human consumption overseas. The state’s two horse slaughterhouses, Beltex Corporation and Dallas Crown Inc., argued that the state law went against federal law but the court disagreed.
“We hold that Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 149 has not been repealed or pre-empted by federal law,” the court ruled. “Chapter 149 is in force and survives the constitutional challenges raised by the slaughterhouses.”
Barring further appeals, the decision clears the way for local district attorneys to pursue legal action against the slaughterhouses.
The two slaughterhouses had filed for an injunction in federal court to continue operating, but this decision clears the way for local prosecutors like Tim Curry, district attorney for Tarrant County, Texas, where the Beltex plant is located, to close its doors. Curry was the defendant in the case.
The two Texas plants and one slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Illinois, are the only three plants in the United States that slaughter horses.
“This is the most important court action ever on the issue of horse slaughter,” said Wayne Pacelle, President of The Humane Society of the United States. “When this ruling is enforced, a single plant in Illinois will stand alone in conducting this grisly practice.”
The Texas case dates back to 2002 when then Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said the two Texas horse slaughter operations were in violation of Texas law.
Section 149.002 of the state’s Agriculture Code says, “a person who sells horse-meat as food for human consumption commits a criminal offense.” Cornyn said the law applied to the horse slaughter operations in the state.
Previously, the law had not been enforced. In 2002, citizens and local governments raised concerns about the horse slaughter plants.
Cornyn, now a United States Senator, said the 1949 law barred the plants from operating.
The Tarrant County District Attorney attempted to enforce the law but a federal district court in Texas last year ruled that the law was repealed by another state statute and pre-empted federal law.
Fifth Circuit Judges Rhesa Barksdale, Fortunato Benavides, and Priscilla Owen overturned that decision. Benavides said the state law is clear.
“The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon,” Benavides said. “Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse.”
Frank Angst is senior writer of Thoroughbred Times
