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Horse slaughter plants preparing to open

horse
gnuru
/
Flickr
Until 2006, about 150,000 horses annually were sent to slaughter for meat.

After months of legal wrangling and false starts in a battle to resume domestic horse slaughter, plants in Missouri and New Mexico are working to begin processing equine for human consumption.

The efforts come on the heels of an order late Friday by a federal appeals court that lifted an emergency stay on the companies' plans.

Blair Dunn, an Albuquerque attorney who represents Valley Meat Co. of Roswell and Rains Natural Meats of Gallatin, Mo., says the plants Monday "are pushing full steam ahead to be ready to go as soon as possible."

Rains Natural Meats, he says, even has horses on site. But it's unclear if the plants will open before Christmas or wait until after the holidays.

The Humane Society vows "the fight for America's horses is not over."

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