Legislature advances state meat inspection proposal, possibility of horse processing

Senators advanced a bill Wednesday to allow for a state meat inspection program and possibly a horse slaughter and processing facility, but one senator took the opportunity to discredit the Humane Society of the United States. Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee used strong language, calling the national group deceptive, unethical, overreaching, shameless, ruthless. He made the distinction between HSUS and local humane societies, saying it is not the same as such groups as the Capital Humane Society and the Nebraska Humane Society. He said the majority of the money donated to the HSUS goes to political propaganda, which he labeled "dangerous political poison," and to executive salaries. Carlson went on to say HSUS is largely responsible for USDA inspectors no longer inspecting horse processing facilities and for the subsequent closing of plants in Texas and Illinois. He estimated 100,000 horses are now abandoned each year in this country because of that, and horse refuges are "woefully inadequate" to meet the needs...more