Hopes that horse slaughter will resume in the United States
have dimmed.
Valley Meat Co. has withdrawn its application for a waste
disposal system for a packing plant at Roswell, New Mexico.
The company’s lawyer has written a letter to the New Mexico
Environmental Department withdrawing the plant's application for a permit to
operate a wastewater discharge lagoon.
A permit is required to dump blood and other slaughtering
wastes into tanks and lagoons on the company's property.
Lawyer Blair Dunn said Valley Meat is withdrawing its
application "and any plans for operating a livestock processing facility
at this location at this time."
Dunn complained about "predatory litigation" by
state Attorney General Gary King, who filed court action seeking a ban on horse
slaughter in New Mexico.
The last horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. closed in 2007, a
year after Congress withheld inspection funding.
There are two horse slaughter facilities in Canada, one in
Alberta, the other in Quebec.
