The Department of Agriculture is set to approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico, Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

USDA inspectors went to the Valley Meat Co. plant last week. Vilsack told the Associated Press there is no reason to deny a permit for the facility.

“We are going to do this, and I would imagine that it would be done relatively soon,” Vilsack told the AP.

Congress inserted a rider in an appropriations act that prohibited the USDA from inspecting horse slaughtering plants that intended to sell meat for human consumption. The provision lapsed in 2011 but at least three tribes, including one in New Mexico, have asked the Obama administration to allow horse slaughtering

USDA's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal would cut all funding for inspections at horse slaughtering facilities.

Get the Story:
USDA secretary says New Mexico horse slaughter plant expected to open soon (AP 4/30)
USDA ready to OK horse slaughtering in Roswell (The Albuquerque Journal 5/1)

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Yakama Nation calls on USDA to approve horse slaughtering (4/2)
USDA might approve first horse slaughtering plant since 2007 (03/01)