'No Place for Horse Slaughter,' Bucks Congressman Says After USDA Approval

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa) is speaking out against an approval by the USDA that he says will pave the way for horse slaughter in the United States. 

Last week, the USDA approved an application by a New Mexico company seeking to convert its cattle slaughterhouse into a horse processing plant.

“There is no place for horse slaughter in the U.S.,” Bucks County’s congressman said.

The company, Valley Meat Co., is located in Roswell, N.M. According to a L.A. Times report, horse processing facilities in Iowa and Missouri may also soon receive approval.

“I am deeply troubled by the USDA’s decision to allow an American company to resume the brutal and unnecessary practice of horse slaughter. In approving the application of a plant in New Mexico—and reports that several more facilities could follow—the USDA’s decision flies in the face of both my constituents and congressional opinion,” Fitzpatrick said.

Horse slaughter has been banned in the United States since 2006. “A reversal of that ban fails to address the safety and humane concerns of exporting horse meat for human consumption,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said, “as an animal rights advocate on Capitol Hill, I will do everything within my power to work with animal rights organizations and like-minded lawmakers to reverse this decision.”