The lifting of a prohibition on funding USDA horse meat inspections means horses could again be slaughtered in the United States to produce meat for human consumption, although no money has been allocated for horse meat inspections.

A U.S. appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama on Nov. 18 lifted the prohibition on funding USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities, according to media reports.

The prohibition, which was put in place in 2006, led to the closing in 2007 of the last U.S. slaughterhouses that produced meat for human consumption. 

Horse slaughter proponents say cases of horse neglect and abandonment have risen since the practice ended in 2007.

Jay Hickey, president of the American Horse Council, told the Thoroughbred Times that the appropriations bill is only effective through September 2012, which would make it a risky business proposition to open a horse slaughter facility when the policy could potentially change again next year.

The article, on the publication’s web site, noted a Government Accountability Office report showing horses are being sent to Mexico and Canada for slaughter at rates similar to the number of domestic horses slaughtered in the United States before the ban. It said 137,984 horses were shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter in 2010.

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