That’s the finishing touch on a lengthy battle to open a
plant there.
District Judge Francis Mathew wrote that “Valley Meat
Company, LLC, Dairyland Packing, Inc., Mountain
View Packing, LLC, and Ricardo De Los
Santos, non-parties Jose Hernandez, Ryoichi Okubo, and
D’Allende Meats, LLC, and any person or entity in privity with the above, all are
permanently enjoined
from slaughtering horses for human consumption, and from
manufacturing, selling or distributing horsemeat products for human
consumption in New Mexico.”
In 2013 the State of New Mexico sued Valley Meat over plans
to slaughter horses in Roswell, N.M., and sell the products overseas.
The sale of horsemeat for human consumption is banned in the
United States, but the prohibition is subject to annual congressional
review. There is no federal law prohibiting the transport of horses across
American borders for slaughter in Canada or Mexico.
There are four Canadian plants, two in Alberta and two in Quebec.
Some American companies have tried to start up horse
slaughter plants in recent years but none has succeeded. However, thousands of
horses are transported each year to Mexico and Canada for slaughter.
Most of the meat is exported to Japan and Europe.
