Groups in federal court to block horse slaughter
Source: Associated Press
Groups in federal court to block horse slaughter
By JERI CLAUSING Associated Press
Posted: 08/02/2013 03:07:31 AM CDT | Updated: 44 min. ago
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Federal officials failed to consider environmental hazards when they issued permits for the first legal horse slaughters in the U.S. since 2006, attorneys for groups seeking to halt the opening of two slaughterhouses said Friday.
The Department of Agriculture issued the permits in June, and a New Mexico company and an Iowa company plan to open their slaughterhouses on Monday. Animal welfare groups have sought a restraining order.
Bruce Wagman, a lawyer for Colorado-based Front Range Equine Rescue, told a federal judge in Albuquerque on Friday that no environmental impact study has ever been done to examine the effects of horse slaughter. Horses are given more than 100 drugs not approved for other feed animals, he said.
"We just don't know about the dangers that lie ahead," he said.
But lawyers for the federal government said there is no proof that any hazardous material would harm the environment if horse slaughter resumed.
"There is speculation. There is innuendo. But there is no evidence," said Andrew A. Smith, a lawyer with the U.S. Attorney's office.
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http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_23781770/judge-decide-whether-block-horse-slaughter
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