A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the Agriculture Department from providing horse meat inspections for a fee.

The decision in a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States is another setback for the horse slaughter industry.

In January, a federal appeals court upheld a 1949 Texas ban on the slaughter of horses for the purpose of selling the meat for human consumption overseas. The ruling forced two plants in Texas to scale back operations.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the humane society, said the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia effectively shuts down operations in an Illinois horse slaughter plant, the only plant still operating in the U.S