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Horse Exports to Mexico for Slaughter Up 300-Percent
USAgNet - 01/15/2008
Ever since the last three remaining horse slaughter operations in the United States were ordered closed last year, the number of horses exported to Mexico for slaughter has increased, according to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. MeatPoultry.com reports that as of Dec. 20, 2007, 44,475 horses had been shipped to Mexico for processing for human consumption compared with 10,783 shipped during the same time in 2006--a 312% increase.
Given the high volume of American horses slaughtered annually when the U.S. horse meat processing companies were open, a spike in U.S. equine exports to Mexico was expected once they closed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a total of 138,206 American horses were processed in 2006. Of those, 102,260 were sent to U.S. facilities, 24,866 to Canadian facilities and 11,080 to Mexican facilities.
But a fourfold increase in U.S. equine exports to Mexico, fueled by a growing surplus of unwanted horses at home and a high demand for horse meat abroad, still came as a surprise to some, according to the article.
"These are just remarkable numbers and not something I think any of us would have anticipated, even with the closing of the plants," said Dr. Timothy Cordes, senior staff veterinarian for equine programs with the U.S.D.A. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The U.S.D.A. estimated 35,000 horses were sent to Canada for slaughter in 2007, a 40% increase from the year before. Horse slaughter opponents are lobbying for the creation and passage of a Canadian version of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in an effort to close horse slaughter facilities in that country as well.
USAgNet - 01/15/2008
Ever since the last three remaining horse slaughter operations in the United States were ordered closed last year, the number of horses exported to Mexico for slaughter has increased, according to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. MeatPoultry.com reports that as of Dec. 20, 2007, 44,475 horses had been shipped to Mexico for processing for human consumption compared with 10,783 shipped during the same time in 2006--a 312% increase.
Given the high volume of American horses slaughtered annually when the U.S. horse meat processing companies were open, a spike in U.S. equine exports to Mexico was expected once they closed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a total of 138,206 American horses were processed in 2006. Of those, 102,260 were sent to U.S. facilities, 24,866 to Canadian facilities and 11,080 to Mexican facilities.
But a fourfold increase in U.S. equine exports to Mexico, fueled by a growing surplus of unwanted horses at home and a high demand for horse meat abroad, still came as a surprise to some, according to the article.
"These are just remarkable numbers and not something I think any of us would have anticipated, even with the closing of the plants," said Dr. Timothy Cordes, senior staff veterinarian for equine programs with the U.S.D.A. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The U.S.D.A. estimated 35,000 horses were sent to Canada for slaughter in 2007, a 40% increase from the year before. Horse slaughter opponents are lobbying for the creation and passage of a Canadian version of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act in an effort to close horse slaughter facilities in that country as well.
