Posts Tagged ‘Albuquerque Journal’

Horse Slaughter “Want to Be” Meat Plant Fined for ‘Rotting’ Waste

Posted: August 18, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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By as it appears in the Albuquerque Journal

The slaughterhouse hauled away about 400 tons of composted cattle remains…

LAS CRUCES — The Roswell-area meat processing plant that sparked controversy with its bid to begin slaughtering horses for foreign consumption has been slapped with an $86,400 state fine for its handling of composted cattle remains.

The state Environment Department issued Valley Meat Co. a compliance order, dated Aug. 2, for the alleged failure to register a composting facility at a site next to the slaughterhouse and for failing to properly dispose of solid waste, according to Jim Winchester, the Environment Department’s spokesman.

Valley Meat attorney A. Blair Dunn said the company will contest the violations and request a hearing with state officials. Valley Meat received the compliance order on Tuesday — Aug. 14 — by electronic mail, Dunn said.

An employee of the Valley Meat slaughterhouse, owned by Rick De Los Santos, is a certified compost facility operator but, Dunn said, the company’s efforts to register the offal composting facility have been stalled because the state lost at least two prior applications. When the company filed a third one, it was denied because it was not filed on a timely basis, Dunn said.

The slaughterhouse hauled away about 400 tons of composted cattle remains as of May after two years of prodding by the Environment Department. The company would have hauled away more but, Dunn said, the state prohibited a Roswell landfill from accepting more waste.

Concerns about decomposing cattle remains on a site next to the Valley Meat slaughterhouse were initially raised in January 2010 by an official with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. The official wrote state environment officials to report that one pile of cow renderings stood about 15 feet tall and that, while the material was described as being composted, “rotting would be more accurate.”

In May, a Colorado-based horse advocacy group, Front Range Equine Rescue, urged the Environment Department to fine the company for violating waste disposal laws.

Several thousand cubic yards of previously composted material remain on the Valley Meat site, according to an e-mail from Winchester.

Valley Meat has not given up its effort to begin slaughtering horses for foreign meat markets.

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Editorial: Horse Slaughter Deal Unappetizing for U.S.

Posted: April 17, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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By on Tue, Apr 17, 2012
Would You Eat Trigger?

Do you think it’s OK for someone else to eat Trigger?

Gov. Susana Martinez says absolutely not.

But a bid to begin slaughtering horses near Roswell for human consumption will mean the equivalent of dining on animals that are icons of the West — spirited wild horses and faithful companion and working animals that helped build the nation.

“A horse’s companionship is a way of life for many people across New Mexico. We rely on them for work and bond with them through their loyalty,” Martinez says. “Despite the federal government’s decision to legalize horse slaughter for human consumption, I believe creating a horse slaughter industry in New Mexico is wrong, and I am strongly opposed.” Her sentiments were echoed by State Land Commissioner Ray Powell and state Attorney General Gary King.

The governor plans to urge the USDA to reject the application and to ask for the support of New Mexico’s congressional delegation.

From 2006 until recently, Congress has chosen not to fund the legally required USDA inspections of horses bound for slaughter. But last year Congress did fund the inspections in an agriculture spending bill signed by President Barack Obama.

With the barn door wide open, Rick De Los Santos, part-owner of Valley Meat Co., applied for USDA inspection of its meat processing plant so it can slaughter and process horses.

It’s bad enough that more than 100,000 horses a year are bound for slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada — and dinner tables in Europe and Asia — but it’s distasteful to think about the possibility of little Susie’s birthday pony being turned into taco meat right here in New Mexico.

And distressing to make it easier for deplorable situations to develop like the one at the Southwest Livestock Auction in Los Lunas where four horses were so emaciated and abused that three had to be put down and the fourth expired before it could be euthanized. The owner faces allegations of animal cruelty and neglect. But it’s not his first rodeo with animal cruelty and neglect allegations. In 1991, authorities couldn’t make 16 misdemeanor cruelty counts stick, mainly for lack of evidence — the horses were long gone.

The state Livestock Board and local prosecutors should ride such cruelty cases hard. And the USDA should make it clear: Americans don’t eat Trigger.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.

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