United States-Green light for horse slaughter.

UNITED STATES-ANIMAL RIGHTS AND HORSES.

Legislation to allow investor-owned horse slaughterhouses in Montana became law last week when Gov. Brian Schweitzer neither signed nor vetoed the action, according to the Associated Press. The law limits opportunities for legal action against such investors.

Other legislative efforts in support of the horse industry are being considered for introduction in a number of states, including Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington and Tennessee, according to Farmonline.com’s Stock and Land publication.

Many legislators and others agree, Stock and Land reported, that it is unlikely that foreign investors will risk investing in U.S. horse harvesting plants until other bills pending in Congress are defeated, including the 2009 Prevention of Cruelty to Equines Act and the Prohibit Horses for Human Consumption Act.

Cavel International in DeKalb, Ill., the last horse slaughterhouse to operate in the United States, was forced to shut down in 2007.