End Horse Slaughter

In August 2002, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn gave his opinion (Opinion No. JC-0539) that horse slaughter was illegal in Texas because of a 1949 Teas law against the sale, possession, and transport of horse meat for human consumption.

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In August 2002, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn gave his opinion (Opinion No. JC-0539) that horse slaughter was illegal in Texas because of a 1949 Teas law against the sale, possession, and transport of horse meat for human consumption. District attorneys from Kaufman and Tarrant Counties started prosecution using the law (Agricultural code 149). Within days, Beltex and Dallas Crown filed suit in federal court to block prosecutors from closing the plants. Three years later, the injunction is still in federal court. (Editor’s note: See breaking news story on page 16 regarding horse slaughter law in Texas.)


I recently spent two days in Kaufman, Texas, home to the Dallas Crown Packing Company. Over those two days, Dallas Crown Packing was the topic of discussion. I spent time in the neighborhood where the plant is located. I spent time in the city where this plant is located. According to Kaufman Mayor Paula Bacon, Dallas Crown has been out of compliance with city ordinances since 1991, yet this plant still operates. I went because Robert Eldridge, a resident in the neighborhood near Dallas Crown, is standing up for his community. This community has suffered for over 10 years from the stench of death emanating from uncovered trailers full of freshly stripped horse hide and larger trailers full of all the things left after the kill that cannot be used.


The repeated violations of this plant are well documented by the city of Kaufman. While I was there, the city council sent a unanimous decision to the Board of Adjustments (Zoning Board) to terminate Dallas Crown’s operating permit. This plant has thumbed its nose at the people in their neighborhood by ignoring their pleas, at the city ordinances, and at the Texas State law. The city and its residents have had enough.


I write this letter in response to two terribly misleading articles published in the August 2005 issue of The Horse. When the House of Representatives voted on the Sweeney/Spratt amendment to HR 2477 on June 8, the vote was overwhelming. The Horse would have you believe that all 269 Representatives who voted in favor of this amendment were stupid or at the least ill informed. Not only are these legislators ignorant to the facts, as stated in the articles, but they have also wasted a great deal of time on this amendment

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