After ALF Closes Horse Slaughterhouse, Plant May Return

Posted by Peter Young | 2 comments

Congress reverses federal ban on horse slaughterhouses, plans for new slaughterhouses in a dozen states.

Last week, Congress lifted the federal ban on horse slaughterhouses. In 1997, the Animal Liberation Front burned down one of the country’s only horse slaughterhouses, in Redmond, Oregon. The plant was forced to permanently close, and only three horse slaughterhouses remained. Soon after, one of the three – a slaughterhouse in Illinois – also went up in flames.

In 2006, Congress ended funding for government inspections at U.S. facilities that slaughtered horses for export, effectively outlawing horse slaughterhouses in the US and shutting down the remaining two. Last week’s move reversed the ban and laid the ground for horse slaughterhouses to reopen in the US.

With this move from Congress, it was reported a horse slaughterhouse would reopen in Oregon. It was not immediately clear if the new slaughterhouse would be built by Cavel West, the company that owned the plant burned down by the Animal Liberation Front in 1997.

Additional slaughterhouses may also be opening in: Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Georgia, Missouri, and four other states.

We can hope activists unafraid to use ALF tactics will be watching these new slaughterhouse constructions closely.

– Peter Young

 

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