Emergency Injunction Halts Horse Slaughter in US

Equine slaughter in the United States continues to be a back-and-forth battle for animal-welfare advocates and animal agriculture proponents. Earlier this week, the Humane Society of the United States filed an appeal in Denver’s 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals following the dismissal of its lawsuit (which questioned the US Department of Agriculture’s environmental oversights of slaughter plants) last Friday. The appeal led the US Circuit Court to issue an emergency injunction, effectively stopping the USDA from conducting inspections of equine plants in New Mexico and Missouri, preventing the resumption of horse slaughter operations. This is a temporary measure, but it gives the HSUS additional time to appeal to legislators. “We are redoubling our efforts in Congress to secure a permanent ban on the slaughter of our horses throughout North America,” says Wayne Pacelle, the organization’s CEO.