GAO Report on Horse Processing Released

The Government Accountability Office issued a report June 22 investigating how processing plant closures have
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The demise of the horse processing industry in the U.S. has not prevented horses from being sold for slaughter and has contributed to a rise in equine neglect and abuse incidents, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued Wednesday (June 22). The GAO is an independent nonpartisan agency established to provide Congress with objective, fact-based information intended to improve performance and accountability of federal agencies.

Horse processing has not taken place in the U.S. since 2007, when the last processing facilities operating in Texas and Illinois closed after Congress stripped the USDA of funding for food safety inspections at processing plants. The USDA continued to provide inspections on a fee-for-service basis until a federal judge ruled against the inspection for fee arrangement. Since then horses have been transported to Mexico and Canada for processing.

During its consideration of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, the U.S. Senate Appropriations’ Committee ordered the GAO to study how the horse processing plant closures have affected the U.S. horse industry. The study authors investigated how processing plant closures have influenced the number of horses sold, exported, adopted, or abandoned in the United States, how the closures have affected farm income and trade, and how the USDA has overseen the transport of horses to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.

In its report released on June 22, the GAO concluded that from 2006 to 2010 the number of horses exported to Mexico for processing rose 660%. The number of horses exported to Canadian processing plants increased 148% during the same time period

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Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

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