Update to last week’s post:
A federal judge ruled Friday to allow a horse slaughtering plant in northern Illinois to resume operations temporarily while challenging a state law that forced it to close last week.
Belgian-owned Cavel International Inc. filed a lawsuit May 25 claiming a new law banning the slaughter of horses intended for human consumption is unconstitutional.
U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Kapala granted the temporary restraining order that prevents state and DeKalb County officials from enforcing the ban while the suit is considered.
The DeKalb plant operated legally for 20 years. It closed twice this year over the horse meat issue, first temporarily in March after a federal court said plant inspections were being improperly funded by the Agriculture Department, and then again last week after Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a law banning the import, export, possession and slaughter of horses intended for human consumption.
Cavel shipped horse meat to Europe and was the only horse-slaughtering facility still operating in the U.S.
The company claims the state has no constitutional authority to ban the slaughter of a particular species because some people object on moral grounds. The suit also says the law would restrain interstate and international commerce and infringe on federal authority over slaughterhouses.
Friday’s ruling noted that the company has laid off 54 of its 63 workers and lost more than $350,000 in revenue since the law went into effect.
The restraining order expires after June 14. Hearings in the case are scheduled for June 12 and 14.
Until March, the Agriculture Department had been offering horse slaughter plant inspections for a fee after federal lawmakers stripped money for horse inspectors’ salaries and expenses from the 2006 agriculture spending bill in an effort to end horse slaughter.
But Cavel resumed operations after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided May 1 to grant the slaughterhouse’s emergency request for a stay as it considers an appeal of the ruling to end the fee-for-service inspections.
Bridlepath 
defrost- have you been following the shit thats been happening down in mexico? lisa sandberg of the san antonia/houston cronical just started tapping into the fallout of the us plant closings. mysa.com chron.com beware, the pics will stay with you awhile.
I think Horses slaughter should stop beacuse it is not right and to be honsted It is a waste of a horse waht could cost up to 10 thousuned pound and you are killing it and it can come to so much more use!
The slaughter of such magnificent animals is a shame and a blot on a society that thinks itself to be cultured ,educated and informed.
The press and the net has shown how much the American people abhor the slaughter of dogs and horses.
But what about cows,pigs and chicken.They feel the same pain of slaughter as the above.
We should stop all slaughter :1) because it is inhumane and 2) it is environmetally damaging our fragile eco systems caused by extensive grazing and feeding crops to animals which could/should be directly and efficiently fed to the human population.
Hey,
i think horse slaughter is mean
I am doing a project on horse slaughter to try and stop it.
do you know what it should be illegal because its disgusting, cruel and how would you humans like being tortured by animals it is stupid!!!
STOP CRUELTY TO ANIMALS KNOW!!!!!
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I think the punishment for slaying an animal without cause should be bigger than it is. Not to the same degree as killing a human, but a little more severe than it is.
I like how the article states that there is no right to ban something that is of moral question……..Since when did flat out abuse of an animal become a moral issue and not against the law? Someone should slaughter that judges family pet in the same manner and make him watch.
Makes me sick all these wanna be do gooders!!!! There is blood on the hands of everyone who is involved in this directly or indirectly or those encouraging it! God made us superior to animals and that superiority was given to us in trust that we would not abuse that position and be a good stewart to what we are in control of……I think many people will be going to hell over this! This country was built on the backs of those creatures…..and this is how we repay them!
Oh please, all people who want to ban horse slaughter need to wake up and realize that there are many unwanted horses out there that people can’t afford to feed, don’t know how to take care of, shouldn’t have bred in the first place. Do you have a clue that all the rescue places are full now that there is no place to send these horses?
Horses are livestock. we love them, but some people eat them. if you want to stop horse abuse and not allow slaughter, then I suggest you take one of these horses home.
They were selling colts at the local auction for $5.00 two weeks ago, because there is no market now for really nice babies.
do some research and stop living off emotions people!
I am a huge animal lover but my favorite animal is a horse. These animals have been around for a long time and i dont think it is right to kill them it is wrong.
i think this is descracefull it should STOP
If you had a clue about horses you would know that the only way to control the over load of horses is through slaughter, here in the states. The inhumane things that are happening are now that the us slaughter houses have been closed these horses get bought at auction and shipped in trailers crammed full of mares stallions babies and geldings all together with out rest or water or food and driver across the us border to be slaughtered in Mexico and Canada. That is abuse, I own 4 horses and I have always loved them as an animal and also as a part of my family but face it when they can no longer be useful to me I need to re-home or make the choice to put down this animal. I can not afford the $3000 a year min. bill to own and care for a horse. because of the lack of slaughter houses in the states people are opting to turn horses out with the wild mustangs. This is another form of abuse and cruelty as theses horses hooves usually wont hold up to the life of a wild horse and they will suffer a slow painful death. It is a balance that must be maintained to keep everything healthy. Animal slaughter is a part of that balance. If you grew up on a farm you would understand that balance, everything has a place and a job, and when they can not longer perform that job and there is no other job they can do they usually end up on the table. Dogs and cats and horses excluded but the horses are usually sent off with the slaughter truck for the dog food plant, or drug out behind a hill for the Big Cats and Bears to scavenge and eat. some times they are burred but that can contaminate the water tables that you drink from. It is a part of life.
Hi, you have a very interesting blog. I also have a page about animals which, although in Germany but the top left is a menu English but also you can read everything in english. Greetings from Germany 🙂
Sorry… my english is not perfect *fg*