After a five-year ban, horse processing will soon resume in the United States. In September 2006, the Senate had passed a funding limitation amendment which effectively banned horse processing.

On Nov. 18, an agriculture bill reinstated the use of federal funding for United States Department of Agriculture Inspection of horse meat for human consumption.

Although horses are mainly viewed as a companion animal in the United States, many horse enthusiasts are for the reopening of the horse processing plants.

“I think it’s a good idea. It’s another way to dispose of the end product,” said Peggy Miller, associate professor of animal science over a phone interview.

Ashley Tilton, a horse trainer from Schleswig, Iowa, agreed: “The reopening will help the economy by giving jobs to Americans, as well as helping to feed others around the world. It gets rid of horses who can not perform or are bound to breakdown with years and become crippled.”

The ongoing debate on whether or not to have horse processing plants is mainly based on the conditions and regulations of the processing houses. With the American processing houses in the past, according to the Humane Society myths and facts sheet, some of the plants were prohibited from processing after seeing undercover footage.

“New rules and new plant terms are being made in how to perform humane practices,” Miller said.

Although the bill was passed in November, currently the USDA is retraining employees for the new commodity in how to properly inspect and process correctly. This is more regulated than in the foreign plants.

“I’ve heard stories about Mexico, and that’s nasty,” said Jackie Coughenour junior in animal science, in a phone interview. “If we had the regulations and were doing everything correctly, I don’t have a problem with having them in the U.S.”

During the United States’s ban on horse processing, there were a number of horses throughout the country that were being bought and sold into foreign horse meat markets. The foreign policies are not as regulated as in America, creating harsh environments for the horses.

According the Humane Society, after kill buyers outbid others at auctions in America, horses would be shipped for more than 24 hours at a time in crowded double-deck trucks without food, water or rest. The regulations of how to properly and humanely end their lives are not strict. Although it is still a highly controversial topic, the reopening of American processing houses are hopefully the answer to the increase in horse abandonments, which happened after the ban was instated, according to a report from the General Accounting Office.

“When they took this outlet away from the horse industry, it created a lot of other issues and cruelty,” Miller said.

Along with more horses being abandoned, there was a decrease in prices, and horse exports went off the charts for overseas processing.

“The extent of the decline is unknown due to a lack of comprehensive, national data, but state officials attributed the decline in horse welfare to many factors, primarily to the cessation of domestic processing and the U.S. economic downturn,” according to the General Accounting Office’s report. “This gives people the option in deciding how they want to dispose of their horses, they know it will be humane, and they can still get some money.”