This document discusses the debate around horse slaughter and consumption in the United States. It provides background on the indecision around classifying horses as livestock or pets. It discusses the banning of horse slaughter in 2006 and reinstatement of federal funding for horse slaughter inspections in 2011. The conclusion notes the ongoing debate and indecisiveness around allowing horsemeat sales for human consumption in the US.

1. Horse Slaughter and Consumption
Literature Review Paper
Krista Willey: Environmental Regulations
Fall
14

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Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3
Importance of topic…………………………………………………………...3
Purpose Statement…………………………………………………………….3
Limitations of paper…………………………………………………………..3
Background…………………………………………………………………………3-4
Livestock or pets…………………………………………………………….3-4
Should horses be considered livestock or pets………………………3-4
The indecision……………………………………………………...…………4
The banning of horse slaughter in 2006………………………...…….4
The reinstatement of federal funding for horse slaughter in 2011..…..4
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..5-6
References…………………………………………………………………………..7-8

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Introduction:
A few years ago there was a ban on horse slaughter in Minnesota in order to
manufacture horsemeat. This ban was lifted in 2011 and has been an iffy subject long
before; no one can seem to agree on whether a ban on horse slaughter is more beneficial
than the opposing idea.
The purpose of this paper is to bring light to and discuss the subject of horse
slaughter. This paper will revolve around the 2013 Minnesota Statute 31A.12 in regards
to whether or not equine carcasses should be available to slaughter as well as horses
starving to death for preparation of their meat. This paper will also look a little into the
2013 Minnesota Statutes 31.591: slaughter must be humane, 31.621: sale of horsemeat
for human consumption, and 31.631: Minnesota approved meats and poultry; use of
label.
Background:
Livestock or pets?
Horses, like every other living creature, has a lifespan; when this lifespan is over,
why not use their meat? Putting an animal down costs hundreds of dollars, so slaughter
houses for older horses who have ran their course can be beneficial for the economy,
horse eaters, and horse owners. Horses should be considered pets until they are no longer
in working or acceptable owning condition. The problem with this method, is figuring out
who would make the call and what would be the line to distinguish when a horse is no
longer in a good enough condition to keep as a pet. However, this method would be
beneficial for the species because the older horses would not have to suffer through the

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pain that goes hand in hand with old age. This would also be beneficial for the species
because a slaughterhouse would be a more humane method of death than starving to
death, which is around 100,000 horses a year who are either starved to death or shipped
to Canada or Mexico for slaughter (Zezima, 2009).
The indecision
Horse slaughter was banned from the United States “in 2006 to try to improve
humane conditions” (Dinan, 2011); but then what was happening to all of the horses who
used to be slaughtered in the United States? According to Dinan (2011) and Zezima
(2009), most horses are being exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
The costs to banning horse slaughter in the United States in 2006 are: reduced
prices for horses, an increase in the number of horses being starved and neglected within
our borders, and the money spent exporting horses. Another bad thing about sending
horses to Mexico and Canada is that they do not participate in humane slaughtering as we
do in the United States. It seems after this ban in 2006, our laws on horse protection are
halfway in the middle. We either need to reinstate the acceptance of human horse
slaughter or ban the exportation of horses in order to balance the many costs we are
currently at in 2006.
In 2011, five years after the ban on horse slaughter in the United States, the
federal funding was reinstated for the inspection of horses directed to slaughterhouses.
The funding was reinstated because of the decline in horse welfare over the past few
years due to the “unintended consequences from cessation of domestic slaughter”
(Gentilviso, 2011).

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In April of 2013, the White House issued a budget proposal for 2014 to bring
back the ban against federal funding of horsemeat inspections that was in 2011. In
January of 2014, this budget proposal was passed by Congress and signed into law by
President Obama (Potter, 2014). This law still allows the personal slaughter of horses by
owners, just not the sale of the meat for human consumption, which shut down horse
slaughterhouses due to their impeding irrelevance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the debate on horse slaughter and horsemeat for human consumption has
been a steamy debate in the United States for quite a few years now. The fact that the
federal government keeps going back and forth between the acceptance and ban of
federal funding on horse inspections that are heading to slaughterhouses shows the
indecisiveness of not only the federal government, but also the people in America who
are commenting and petitioning both ways on this law. The big question that still remains
in this topic is whether horsemeat should be available to sell for human consumption.
This is the big question because if horsemeat is labeled acceptable for human
consumption then horse slaughterhouses would once again be relevant and go back in
order, causing the federal funding of horse inspections to continue. Another question is
whether we, meaning the people and the federal government, are doing enough research
and testing on this subject matter. There were no actual tests conducted between 2006
and 2011 to say whether the cause of horse neglect and abuse was due to the ban on horse
inspections for slaughterhouses and the lack of funding. If we conduced tests to try and
find out the main reason horse neglect and abuse went up over those years or even now

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that the ban against horse meat consumption is reinstated we would surely find a more
secure answer on whether we should or should not allow the consumption of horse meat
and horse slaughterhouses in the United States.

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References
Revisor of Statutes. (2013). 2013 Minnesota Statutes. 31A.12,. Retrieved October 1,
2014, from https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=31A.12&year=2013
Revisor of Statutes. (2013). 2013 Minnesota Statutes. 31.591,. Retrieved October 1,
2014, from https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=31.591
Revisor of Statutes. (2013). 2013 Minnesota Statutes. 31.621,. Retrieved October 1,
2014, from https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/statutes/?id=31.621
Full Statute Name: Minnesota Statutes Annotated. Agriculture (Ch. 17-42). Chapter 31.
Food. Meats, Generally. (2013, August 1). Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/mn-meat-chapter-31-food-meats-generally
Zezima, K. (2009, April 6). Surge in Abandoned Horses Renews Debate Over
Slaughterhouses. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/us/07horses.html
Dinan, S. (2011, June 23). Slaughter ban sending horses across borders. Retrieved
December 4, 2014, from
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/23/slaughter-ban-sending-
horses-across-borders/?page=all
Gentilviso, C. (2011, November 29). Horse Slaughter Ban Lifted: Congress Reinstates
Federal Funding. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/horse-slaughter-ban-
lifted_n_1119518.html
Potter, L. (2014, January 1). A Timeline of Horse Slaughter Legislation in the United
States - HorseChannel.com. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from

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http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-resources/horse-slaughter-timeline.aspx