Federal changes bring horse meat a step closer for Oklahoma processors

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee decision to allow horse slaughterhouse inspections has brought the issue closer to a position the Oklahoma Legislature established four years ago.

In 2013, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a law to allow local facilities to process and export horse meat, primarily in response to arguments for humane animal treatment. Supporters said facilities would provide an alternative for aging or starving horses, many of which are abandoned by owners who can no longer pay for their care.

An Oklahoma-based meat company applied for a USDA inspection at the time but was denied. No inspections meant no processing, so federal law pre-empted state-approved interests and no similar business lines were pursued.

“In a nutshell, the reason it never moved anywhere is because Congress never made it legal,” Oklahoma Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Betty Thompson said. “So it doesn’t really matter if House Bill 1999 was approved or not.”

But in July, two actions by the federal committee eased its stance on the process: The group approved a 2018 fiscal year interior and environment bill that removed language speaking to the destruction of wild horse and burros on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management. And the committee approved an agriculture appropriations bill that omitted previous years’ language that blocked funding for USDA inspections.

Bill author Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, said herds of wild horses are out-competing natural fauna and destroying rangeland. However, he also expressed disdain for slaughtering horses as food.

According to the still-standing Oklahoma law, originally sponsored by state Rep. Skye McNiel of Bristow and state Sen. Eddie Fields of Wynona, what happens to horse meat when it is shipped out of the country is beyond the state’s authority. Fallin at the time also stressed the prohibition of selling horse meat for human consumption within the U.S.

Fallin’s spokesman, Michael McNutt, said the governor’s position is that the law is still the law.

“We’ve contested that some regulations are overbearing in some regards, but we never said the federal government couldn’t regulate food and health safety standards,” McNutt said.

Thompson said she can’t tell whether Oklahomans are still of the same mind now.

“Culturally, we supported it once before as a state. You’re always going to have people on both sides of the issue,” she said.

McNeil is no longer active in state government. Fields, who is still a senator, did not return phone calls for comment.

The Oklahoma legislation received bipartisan support and was approved by wide margins in both the state House and Senate. It also was backed by several agriculture organizations, including the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and American Farmers.