Oklahoma to permit horse slaughter and meat processing
On Friday Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill permitting livestock owners to slaughter horses so their meat may be prepared and packaged. However, processing plants must still be authorized by the federal government.
Horses stand outside the riding stables at Beverly Farm in Godfrey, Ill., as a major snow storm blows through the area in February. On Friday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin approved legislation that will allow livestock owners to slaughter horses for their meat.
John Badman/The Telegraph/AP/File
Oklahoma City
聽took a step toward allowing livestock owners to slaughter horses for food on Friday when the governor signed a bill that permits the practice, but processing plants must first be authorized by the聽.
骋辞惫别谤苍辞谤听's action legalized the slaughter of horses so that their meat may be prepared and packaged for export. But slaughterhouses must get US Department of Agriculture authorization, Fallin said.
The slaughter of horses for food had been illegal in聽聽since 1963 and was carried out only in聽听补苍诲听听耻苍迟颈濒听聽stopped it in 2006. The congressional ban was lifted in 2011.
Fallin said horse slaughterhouses in聽聽would use more humane practices than those in聽聽because they would be inspected by federal authorities.
Horsemeat was at the center of a scandal that erupted in聽聽in January, when testing in聽聽revealed that some beef products also contained equine DNA.
罢丑别听聽and animal rights activists opposed the new law in聽, while livestock interests said the change preserves their private property rights and will benefit horse owners.