Montana Governor Offers Partial Veto of Horse Slaughter

Montana's governor has vetoed part of a contentious horse slaughter bill, sending it back to lawmakers after striking the key legal protections it allowed for slaughterhouses. Citing the famous Greek story of the 'Trojan Horse' that held enemy soldiers in its belly, Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the horse slaughter bill hides "unintended consequences" for the right to challenge companies' operating permits. "The appeal rights we have as citizens for environmental protection" would be gone, Schweitzer said in a Friday news conference. House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred, aims to limit the kind of legal challenges that forced the country's last slaughterhouses in Illinois and Texas to shut down in 2007. But Democrat Schweitzer's partial veto strikes the bill's two key provisions for discouraging such lawsuits. One would require challengers to post a bond worth 20 percent of the slaughter facility's construction costs, and potentially saddles them with liability for damages incurred by the company due to the trial. The other prohibits courts from halting construction once a facility has been approved by the state...AP