Source: KTAR of Arizona
“Our main focus now is going to be beef…”
LINCOLN, Neb. – An Iowa company is dropping plans to slaughter horses in the wake of a federal judge’s ruling that temporarily banned the practice as animal welfare groups challenge it in court, a company executive said Tuesday.
Keaton Walker, the president of Responsible Transportation, told The Associated Press Tuesday that the company can’t afford to wait for more deliberations in court.
A federal judge issued a restraining order earlier this month in a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States and other groups against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The case has sparked an emotional national debate about how best to deal with the tens of thousands of wild, unwanted and abandoned horses across the country.
Walker’s company had been given federal approval to slaughter horses at the company’s Iowa plant starting Aug. 1. Walker said his Iowa plant will instead convert to a beef-only operation and seek new federal approval.
“We just can’t sit with our heads down,” Walker said. “We have to get back to work. Our main focus now is going to be beef.”
Responsible Transportation was one of two companies that have secured federal permits for horse slaughter. Valley Meat Co. of Roswell, N.M., has been at the fore of the fight, pushing for more than a year for permission to convert its cattle plant into a horse slaughterhouse.
The Department of Agriculture in June gave the company the go-ahead to begin slaughtering horses. USDA officials said they were legally obligated to issue the permits, even though President Barack Obama’s administration opposes horse slaughter and is seeking to reinstate a congressional ban that was lifted in 2011.
Blair Dunn, an attorney for Valley Meat Co., said the company was “still prepared to stay the course.” But he said the United States Humane Society and other groups have filed such lawsuits because they know the companies “can’t afford to sit around and wait.”
Click (HERE) to comment directly at KTAR
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Good for Iowa!
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A New Mexican candle in the horse slaughter darkness!
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Great news with hopefully more on the way!
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I am so glad to hear this. Now if the other states where this is being contemplated will quit trying to open horse slaughtering plants, we can be happy. There must be some concentrated efforts to solve the problem of sick and unwanted horses. There must be ways to help people who cannot afford proper euthanasia and disposal. The damn killer buyers, the transporters and the slaughter plants and auctions have all gotten fat off of the business of slaughtering our horses….now is the time to take it out of their evil hands. You can be assured that they will all be thinking of ways to circumvent any laws put in place to protect the horses.
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Bear in mind how the rattlesnake recoils and then slithers away only to be found one dark night under ur woodpile to strike out when you go to get a rick for your firw. In others words we witnessed recoil, now this is slither away, now we wait but beware, they may just be laying in wait for their opportunity to strike! I think they are going for the money, but i doubt because killing horses was such a bad idea, so my concern is that we applaud it but take heed the Forestry Service lied to us already, so keep your eyes open to this cpmpanies whereabouts, comments, and intent. Pro slaughter doesnt just go away, as we witnessed by blm.
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cynthia~~~~so right “hope for the best-but expect the worst” to many times have we been blind sided by pro slaughter-maybe we had better be looking in all directions now- I smell a rat.
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Couldnt agree more. Never to be trusted especially in a state with an ag gag law etc.
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thank god there stopping the slaughter plan for now hopefully we can get the law to put the ban on it for every!!!
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Doink has a release on his facebook thats interesting. Whenever the enemy is actually losing a battle they start with insulting you to back off, they puff up, puff up then blow and if the putrid doesnt scare you away then they try to confuse while completely confusing themselves as demonstrated by Suey. Then when else fails you print a story online saying they horses destroyed the reservation, killed all the wildlife off, drained their wells w uranium, ecoli, and arsenic in them causing mass devestation equal to the decimation Sue wallis professed recently. So when all else fails you go to talk to the guy at the lead of the lawsuit against you, wayne pacell, act like you didnt insult him or represent those tbat do daily in order to ASK him to drop lawsuit as a Wait for it……… Compromise! Dead horses are dead horse, live are living, therez no compromise, they either are dead or live what do they give in this ,ompromise? Not insulting him as much? Maybe not killing all the horses they normally would? Come on! Read it for yourself, they are desperate, desperate gets crazy, crazy thinks they are normal talking to wayne pacell like they are frienemies!
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Does anyone else feel like the pro slaughter side is blaming their reckless overbreeding of not enougb horses on causing the modern day reservation Armegedeon which apparently is taking place without any evidence or actual proof? I also read the myth or fact bloopers page on thw BLM site, not only written unprofessionally, Declan has a more professional manner of reporting information than a Federal Bureau! Today has been eye opening, the fight is NOT over, WE, are just getting warmed up, maybe doink and suey dont recognize it but were just scratching the surface while they are trying to gasp for AIR! Sorry folks, but im just really sick of this garbage.
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Gracias a Dios (Thank God). Sad for the cattle – also overbred and irresponsible for slaughterers to destroy people’s health and the environment. However, many magnificent horses will now be spared.
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Thank you Iowa, I was raised there and can’t imagine that Iowa would stoop so low as to think it was necessary to slaughter horses. I’m proud to say I am from Iowa.
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I echo Judy Wendt’s sentiments that it is good news for horses… But still a tragic situation for cows who love their lives just as much. We ought to put the same energy in shutting down all places of death as we did for the ones that killed horses. Bloodshed can never be good no matter who the victim is.
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It is good news, but yes, we have to watch and be where ….. Have to enjoy this one though just for right now I think we have all earned a BIG YEEPIE and will keep on fighting…..
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Another brick in the wall…….
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By the rate the horses are being rounded up and warehoused, I am pretty sure the BLM or a special interest was responsible for putting the horse slaughter in motion. They absolutely want those horses gone! I think the slaughter houses are bit players in this drama. Keep the pressure on the government until they are safe. Some of us are boycotting beef this month, maybe the boycott should be indefinitely!
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It’s feel good wednesday,,,,,,,with caution.
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Now on to the next fight. The wild horses being auctioned at Fallon’s Auction House. This is the new danger.
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AMEN, & thank You God!! YAY!!! Hopefully, more of these prospective “places” will decide to abandon ship, & give up on the whole horse slaughter thing, & stick with normal, traditional “meat” sources! If these companies/slaughter facilities decide to give up & move on, hopefully that will help out our wild horses too!
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Yes I think this just proves what LOUD VOICES actually do and help!
for once the horses have been heard. We need to YELL LOUD and
maybe we can beat this horrible fight. BUT, however I think New Mexico is going to be fighting till the bitter end…just like the horses do when being slaughtered by a creep like this scum.
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WTF kind of reporter is this? “The case has sparked an emotional national debate about how best to deal with the tens of thousands of wild, unwanted and abandoned horses across the country.” WHEN did WILD HORSES, WHERE did UNWANTED Horses and WHO is Abandoning horses (and where?) and What the H is this reporter talking about? It’s the rejected slaughter horses being abandoned or irresponsible owners that should be prosecuted for neglect and cruelty to animals that are wanting to simply sell their horses for meat price instead of taking care of their companion animals, in sickness and in health, for rich or for poor. Over breeders, horse abusers like rodeos, horse trippers, racing/event horse breeders that are dumping horses into slaughter auctions and pushing for slaughter and therefore, are crying woe is me, what will we do with our “unwanted” horses. Total BS! If u can’t feed ’em, don’t breed ’em. If u break down their bodies with your equestrian endeavours then pay someone to rehome them for you if u r too damn lazy. If they are in constant pain with no hope of recovery, then pay the vet to euthanize them humanely. Stop treating horses as disposable. Just because your kid outgrew the pony, doesn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t like to have the pony. I’m sick and tired of the pro-slaughter whiners. Besides where the H are all these horses coming from. My friends and I aren’t breeding 100’s of horses every year, but someone is…
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My thoughts exactly about this dumba$$ reporter except he/she/it didn’t use the term “animal rights activists”….small thanks.
My question was, based on ECONOMIC REALITIES, you know….the current price of beef (WAY, WAY UP) and the price of horsefleash (and diminishing/quarantined markets like the EU) down…..why didn’t Reckless Transportation start with beef from the very beginning??????????? Less litigation, more markets, tax and export incentives for beef than horsemeat.
DUMBA$$E$! (The kind you sit on a toilet with, not the ones you ride…you know, 2 legged; not 4)
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Let all the horses be. The BLM is such a bunch of hypocrites. There is plenty of room for horses but they need it for the cattle! Stop eating beef & it won’t be a problem. Just leave them alone. Thank you Lord for helping your creatures.
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