In a story I've been covering for the last three months, it appears that the last slaughterhouse that processes horsemeat for human consumption--albeit to be shipped overseas--will remain closed.
The shuttered slaughterhouse, owned by the Belgian firm Cavel International, is located in DeKalb, Illinois, sixty miles west of Chicago.
Cavel's lawyers
will appeal Thursday's ruling by federal judge that kept a the plant open during the appeal process. Governor Rod Blagojevich signed into law banning the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption last month.
On the federal end, a different federal judge ruled that slaughterhouses didn't have the authority to directly pay US Department of Agriculture meat inspectors. Last year, a law took effect that fulled public funding of the inspectors.
Cavel has two big legal obstacles to overcome to re-open--its struggle may not be insurmountable, but it's darn close.
I got a lot of heat from commenters on my earlier horse-slaughter posts. It looks like that horse lovers have won, but it'll be interesting to see what becomes of horses that owners no longer want to care for. And because of the push for ethanol, animal feed costs are skyrocketing.
Related posts:Bo Derek rallies horse slaughter opponents to victory in Ill. HouseHorse of a different color on abandoned equines storyAbandoned horses in Eastern KentuckyHorses reprieve from slaughterhouse only temporary: UPDATEDHey, another horse slaughter postLast US horse slaughterhouse shut down, unwanted horse problem will worsenTechnorati tags:
horses
horse
law
business
animal activism
animal rights
animals
Illinois
slaughter
politics
Cavel
Belgium
belgique
belgie
DeKalb