Lifted ban means horse slaughter will likely resume by spring

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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — A ban on killing horses for meat has been lifted by members of Congress who dropped a provision in a spending bill that barred funding for the inspection of slaughtering facilities, the Oklahoman reports. The legislators pointed to a report from the General Accounting Office that the ban, put in place in 2006, had led to unintended consequences, including an increase in horse abandonments, price decreases and a jump in horse exports for overseas slaughter, the newspaper noted. “Horse welfare in the United States has generally declined since 2007, as evidenced by a reported increase in horse abandonments and an increase in investigations for horse abuse and neglect,’ the GAO report said. “The extent of the decline is unknown due to a lack of comprehensive, national data, but state officials attributed the decline in horse welfare to many factors, but primarily to the cessation of domestic slaughter and the U.S. economic downturn.”

By William Spain of MarketWatch