Editorial: Horses reflect our heritage

Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.

F aced with decisions on such weighty issues as national security, immigration and the war in Iraq, it may seem frivolous that Congress is expected to spend the first few days of its fall session debating a bill that would ban the slaughter of horses.

But the measure, which is backed by most of Nevada's congressional delegation, is long overdue and should be passed quickly. It calls for banning the slaughter of horses and other equines, such as burros, for human consumption.

Horse meat is sold in European and Japanese markets. The three foreign-owned slaughter plants that operate in the United States - two in Texas and one in Illinois - slaughtered roughly 90,000 horses last year for such markets overseas.

Congress attempted to halt the practice last year by passing legislation that blocked the use of federal meat inspectors at the three plants. Without inspections, lawmakers figured, the plants would be forced to close. But a loophole in the law allowed plant owners to hire private inspectors, the reports of which the Department of Agriculture could accept.

The measure under debate this week is more direct. It seeks to ban "shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possession, purchasing, selling or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption." Supported by the Humane Society of the United States, this bill does not mean that people cannot euthanize ailing horses. It means that they cannot do so if the carcass is to be sold for human consumption.

In the United States, horses are loyal companions, respected coworkers, beloved pets, prized performers and symbols of the American West. They are not human food. Banning their slaughter for human consumption should be something Congress can do swiftly, as it should have banned this practice long before now.