South Dakota legislation calls for reinstatement of federal horse meat inspection‏

South Dakota State Senator Frank Kloucek announced today that a concurrent resolution calling on Congress to repeal roadblocks to the humane slaughter of horses, and the inspection of horse meat has passed by an overwhelming majority with only three no votes. Just a few short years ago the equine industry was a $1.2 Billion dollar industry that supported some 460,000 direct full-time jobs working with horses every day, and another 1,600,000 indirect jobs. All indications are that the equine industry will have been effectively downsized by at least 50% in very short order, and have suffered the loss of at least 500,000 jobs. Most of this can be laid squarely in the lap of the animal rights driven effort that led to the closure of the last U.S. horse processing plants in 2007. While some will claim that all of this economic distress is the result of the current nationwide situation, others will point out that the horse industry survived the economic downturn of the 1980s relatively intact. Worst of all, the horses are suffering. The website, http://amillionhorses.com, has been documenting every media report of abandoned, neglected, and abused horses since the early 1990s and the increase in suffering is absolutely horrific. There was a 400% increase in stories detailing neglect and abandonment of horses from 2008 to 2009...Press Release