New Mexico succeeds in legal fight to bar horse slaughter

New Mexico succeeds in legal fight to bar horse slaughter posted: Friday, February 5, 2016 10:24 am Associated Press | ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico has succeeded in a lengthy legal battled aimed at barring a horse slaughter operation from opening in the state. A state district judge in Santa Fe granted an order late Thursday that finalizes a settlement reached with the attorney general's office, animal advocates, Valley Meat Co. and other associated businesses. Valley Meat had sought to convert its cattle processing plant to the slaughtering of horses but the state filed a lawsuit in 2013 in hopes of stopped those plans. An attorney for Front Range Equine Rescue, Bruce Wagman, said Friday that the order and previous rulings from the judge effectively end any chance of a horse slaughter operation opening in New Mexico. The last domestic horse slaughterhouses closed in 2007, a year after Congress initially withheld inspection funding. http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/new-mexico-succeeds-in-legal-fight-to-bar-horse-slaughter/article_f42b1880-ef8f-5b6a-bdd9-4f08dbb75ecf.html