American, Delta warned to quit shipping horsemeat
The U.S. Humane Society warned American and Delta airlines in a letter this week to stop shipping horsemeat from slaughterhouses in Texas to Europe and Asia for human consumption.
The Humane Society's letter follows a federal appeals court ruling last week upholding a 1949 Texas law making the possession of horsemeat for human consumption illegal in the state.
A Humane Society investigation last fall documented American and Delta employees loading horsemeat into cargo bins outside the Dallas Crown slaughterhouse in Kaufman, Texas. The society noted that the shipments violate the published shipping policies of both airlines.
'The foreign-owned horse slaughter industry is already operating on burrowed time, and we urge American and Delta to get out of the illegal and grisly business of slaughtering American horses for human consumption overseas now,' said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society, in a statement. 'American and Delta cannot be selective in obeying the laws of the state of Texas.'
In addition to Dallas Crown, Beltex in Fort Worth, Texas, also slaughters horses for their meat.
Earlier this month, the Humane Society wrote to American, Delta and Continental asking the companies to end their involvement in horsemeat shipping. American and Delta declined to meet with the society on the issue. Continental told the Humane Society that it had already voluntarily stopped shipping horsemeat overseas.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 100,800 American horses were slaughtered in three foreign-owned slaughterhouses in 2006. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was introduced in the both the Senate and House on Jan. 17.
American, Delta warned to quit shipping horsemeat
