Horse Slaughter for Human Consumption Still Illegal in Texas

Senate Votes to Kill Amendment, Not Horses

(Austin, TX) – July 5, 2003 – Facing intense pressure from pro-horse slaughter forces, Senator Robert Deuell (R-Greenville) stood his ground to keep his Senate bill free of an unwelcome House amendment to legalize horse slaughter for human consumption.  The controversial amendment was hurriedly tacked on in the House as a final attempt to decriminalize the activities of two foreign-owned horse slaughter plants operating in Texas.

Legislation to protect these plants, the only two remaining in the United States, was originally introduced in the House and sponsored by Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell) as House Bill 1324.  The bill was approved by the House, but efforts to get the bill to the Senate floor for a vote failed when Senator Rodney Ellis  (D-Houston) used a procedural move to hold the bill in committee.

In response to Senator Ellis’ efforts to stop the bill in the Senate, the pro-slaughter forces in the House pulled a last-minute maneuver last week to resurrect horse slaughter legislation by adding an amendment to Senator Deuell’s omnibus agriculture bill, Senate Bill 1413, an otherwise popular piece of legislation that faced little opposition in either the House or the Senate.

Senator Deuell stripped the amendment from his bill in a conference committee and was supported by three of four other senators on the committee including Senators Barrientos, Jackson and Madla.

A statewide voter survey concerning horse slaughter was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research from May 4 through May 6 this year.  The survey revealed that 77 percent of Texans are opposed to changing state law to legalize the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

If the amendment has passed into law, not only would the two foreign-owned slaughter plants be able to slaughter American horses and sell their meat to foreign countries, but they could also sell horse meat in Texas and the rest of the United States.  This amendment would have overturned a 2002 Texas Attorney General’s ruling that the two horse slaughter plants, French-owned Dallas Crown in Kaufman and Belgian-owned Beltex in Fort Worth, are operating illegally and must shut down or face prosecution.

Horses have traditionally played an important role in American history. A fact strongly illustrated as their image has been continually depicted on coins, state seals and bronze statues such as this one outside the Texas State Capitol Building .

Tracy Young sits outside the State Capitol building in Austin, Texas, while taking a break from the committee hearing conducted inside.

Now the Young’s have also been asked to speak to Congress regarding the Federal Bill HR 857 to ban the slaughter of all horses in the United States.  “Over the past 10 years, we have had thousands of supporters ask how they can help us make a difference,” Tracy said, “and NOW is the time!  We need supporters of this bill to contact local Congressman and share their views on banning the horrific slaughter of American horses.”

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YORK COUNTY STATE SENATORS & REPRESENTATIVES (2003)