USA Today is reporting this news:

“A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the Agriculture Department from providing horse meat inspections for a fee.

“The decision in a lawsuit filed by the Humane Society of the United States is another setback for the horse slaughter industry.”

Read the whole story here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-28-horse-slaughter_N.htm?csp=34

It figures that such an emotional issue would boil down to decisions made in court rooms. I wonder if any of the attorneys cashing in on this will donate a cent toward helping some homeless horses. It seems that reform issues like transport regulations and conditions at the slaughterhouses are completely off the table and we are down to either/or: slaughter or no-slaughter.

Meanwhile, the EU keeps touting new regulations for horse medication use on horses intended for human consumption. And over here, we have been shipping horse meat over there from horses whose medical histories would fill the Manhattan phone book. If I did eat horse meat, would I want to eat meat from an ex-racehorse from the USA? The EU apparently doesn’t like genetically-modified ingredients in feed supplements sold for horses but does allow US horse meat to be sold to humans. Does anyone else see a disconnect there?