Appellate Judge Rules Horse Slaughter Illegal in Texas

On Friday, January 19, 2007, an appellate judge in New Orleans ruled that horse slaughter is an illegal act in the state of Texas. Two out of three horse slaughterhouses are located in Texas. We are not looking for the plants to cease operations tomorrow, although anything is possible. Texas slaughterhouses only have three options now- they have 14 days to ask for a hearing in New Orleans, or 90 days to petition the Supreme Court, or they can give up and go away. In that case, they have the option of setting up shop in another state. Given our success in blocking the opening of any new slaughterhouses, doing that might take so long that the federal bill gets passed. The Supreme Court can refuse to hear the case, which would leave both slaughterhouses open to prosecution, with penalties possibly being higher than the slaughterhouses make in several years. At this point, slaughterhouse Attorney, David Broiles is saying that giving up is not being considered, he plans to ask for a hearing or petition the Supreme Court.

This case began in 2002 when an old law on Texas' books was revealed to state that horse slaughter in Texas is illegal. Texas Attorney General John Cornyn ruled that the law was legal and valid. That opened the door for the Tarrant County District Attorney's office to begin prosecution amidst imminent plant closings. Attorneys for the slaughterhouses quickly filed for a temporary injunction. In August of 2005, a federal judge ruled that since the law was written that outlawed horse slaughter, Texas had taxed it, and one cannot tax an illegal act, therefore the law was invalid. His ruling made the temporary injunction become permanent. Tarrant County appealed, hence the reversal of the injunction. The county successfully argued that no state or federal laws pre-empted or repealed the original law, nor did the federal commerce clause, which regulates interstate trade. "We got ‘em all", The Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney who has prosecuted this case from the beginning was quoted as saying. Ms. Anne Diamond has dedicated countless hours and a huge amount of effort in attending to this important case.

Three slaughterhouses are involved in this legal battle. Dallas Crown and Bel-Tex, as well as a Mexico slaughterhouse, which transports horsemeat through Texas airports. These companies have a lot to lose, probably as much as the horses (the stakes being life itself), but humans can fight back, and with Bel-Tex alone making $35 million dollars per year, we cannot expect the slaughterhouses to see anything other than dollar signs, in their favor.

Once horse slaughter plants in Texas are shut down, if the federal bill is not in effect, many more horses will be shipped live to Mexico for slaughter. In Mexico, horses are stabbed in the spine, just behind the ears, with a short knife, as many times as it takes to nick or sever the spinal column. HSUS video shows this stabbing (view it online here) http://www.hsus.org/video_clips/horse_slaughter_cruelty.html. A horse is stabbed twice, then it's head is roughly lifted up by the killer, who then proceeds to saw the spinal column in half with the same tiny knife, after which time the horse begins violently shuddering. Additional footage shows horses continuing to shudder as they stack up to await being gutted and bled out, because in Mexico, as in the U.S., horses must die by being bled to death. Severing the spinal column does not, nor is it intended to, stop the heart from beating.

It was no accident that our bill did not get voted on in the Senate in 2006. We do not have as much support there as we do in the House, and Senators made comments to the media indicating that they considered horse slaughter far too unimportant when compared with the Iraq war, border security, and other issues more pertinent to the safety of the American people. Additionally, representatives who do not support our bills are still in belief of the lies told by the pro-slaughter side. They are worried about all the "unwanted horses" that will have no place to go if slaughter is outlawed. USESR has already given you the ammunition to fight this lie. Please do not hesitate to begin using it to educate the misguided souls on Capitol Hill. Now is not the time to let up on our calls, letters, and faxes. We must rush to educate more of our peers, now that Texas is potentially involved in a race to save horses from Mexico's slaughterhouses. Time, like never before, is of the essence.

Find your representative: Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org)