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Email This Article (09-08) 04:00 PDT Washington -- The House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday banning the transport and slaughter of horses for human consumption, which would end a practice critics label inhumane that was first outlawed by California voters in 1998. Lawmakers of both parties voted 263-146 for the measure, which aims to shut down three foreign-owned plants in the United States that slaughter horses and ship the meat to countries such as France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Japan, where it is served at upscale restaurants as a delicacy. The vote came after hours of fiery debate in which backers of the bill invoked the names of legendary racehorses, including injured 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, to call for an end to the killing of an estimated 90,000 horses each year for their meat. But critics of the bill said it violates the property rights of horse owners to dispose of an injured or unwanted animal as they see fit, including selling the meat to a horse processing plant for a few hundred dollars. "At the end of the day this bill is not about protecting horses," said Rep. "All it will do is limit the options of horse owners and burden them with additional costs for care and disposal." Congress thought it had ended horse slaughter last year when it passed an amendment to an agriculture spending bill that banned the use of taxpayer funds to inspect horse processing plants. But the Agriculture Department, lobbied by the owners of the plants and their allies in Congress and the livestock industry, issued new rules in March to let the plants pay for their own inspections, which allowed horse slaughter to continue. It's legal to eat horse meat, but Americans are generally repulsed by the idea of consuming what many view as a companion animal. But in Europe, horse meat sells for as much as $15 a pound. Japanese diners order horse meat thinly sliced as sashimi, and restaurants in Belgium charge as much as $40 a plate. The emotional issue has caused sharp divisions among horse lovers, breeders and veterinarians over how best to deal with aging or injured horses. Supporters of the bill include animal welfare groups and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which joined the effort after Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, was slaughtered at a plant in Japan. Country singer Willie Nelson, actress Bo Derek and Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, were among the celebrity horse owners who lobbied Congress to pass the measure. Opponents of the bill include the American Quarter Horse Association, the largest equine group in the country, and major veterinary groups, including the American Association of Equine Practitioners, which said the bill could lead to increased abuse and neglect of unwanted horses. "Horse owners will have to send their horses out to already overcrowded rescue centers and sentence them to live out their final years in suffering," warned Rep. But animal welfare groups pointed out that most horse owners who want to get rid of their horse simply hire a vet to euthanize it for as little as $50 to $100, although disposing of the carcass can add hundreds more to the cost. Sponsors of the bill also noted that warnings of dire consequences for horses have not been borne out in California, which banned horse slaughter for meat after voters passed Proposition 6 California has seen no increase in abuse or neglect cases, and horse theft has fallen by about 34 percent, according to state data. "This has been the law in California for many years and all these naysayers, these predictions of bad (things) happening, it just hasn't happened in California," said Rep. Backers of the bill showed photos of stallions that were bloodied when crammed into trailers during transport to the plants. During slaughter, a bolt gun drives a metal rod into the horse's brain to stun it before the animal is hoisted by a leg to have its throat severed. Despite the lopsided vote in favor of the measure, some lawmakers mocked GOP leaders for using one of the few days left on Congress' short fall calendar to address horse slaughter. "With all the pressing political issues that confront our nation ... I do not think this is the issue the American people expect their elected representatives to be considering," said Rep. But even backers of the bill say they're not sure the Senate will consider the issue before it recesses this month.
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