According to Ogburn, the worst part about the slaughter of horses is the inhumane treatment on the way to the slaughter houses if they are blind and cannot walk on all fours. Some slaughterers transport the horses in double‑decker trucks designed to hold cattle and push them into the cramped quarters.

However, what is just as bad is the number of horses starved to death and abandoned in back yards, she said.

“Horses have never been part of the food chain–horses are not like cattle,” said Kentucky Democrat Ed Whitfield, a prominent backer of the bill, which now goes to the Senate.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl’s communication director, Andrew Wilder, said he is not certain the bill will reach the Senate before the end of the session.

“Senator Kyl previously voted for legislation consistent with the bill that recently passed the House and he supported it,” Wilder said. “I think his previous vote would hold, barring unforeseen language that completely changed the intent and meaning.” 

Sen. John McCain’s office did not return calls placed by The Desert Advocate seeking comment.

Lawmakers passed Bill 263‑146 over the opposition of farm and meat industry groups, as well as the U.S. Agriculture Department. Foes said the bill was a soft‑headed idea that ignored the realities of dealing with unwanted horses.

Three foreign‑owned packing plants–two in Texas and one in Illinois–butcher horses for meat exported for food in Europe. “The concept is repugnant to most Americans,” said West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahall, who challenged his colleagues: “Explain this to your children.”

Although Congress cut off funding last year for USDA inspection of horse slaughter, the plants stayed in business by paying for federal inspectors to come to work. Bill backers said the Senate may consider the bill this fall.

Proponents likened horses to house pets and said horses, which hold an exalted place in American lore as intelligent companions and long‑lived workmates, should not risk gruesome death in a slaughterhouse. About 90,000 horses a year are sent to packing plants.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, horse slaughter “is simply indefensible and polls show the vast majority of Americans agree.”

“They (proponents) are arguing about what happens to the meat” but not assuring horse welfare, said House Agriculture Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican.

If owners cannot sell unwanted horses, said Goodlatte, they will be abandoned or “put down” in a pasture or behind a barn, possibly by haphazard methods. It would cost more than $50 million a year if the government took care of them, the Congressional Budget Office stated.

Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton, Texas Republican, said the bill is “an outright attack on animal agriculture.”

The cattle group R‑CALF USA claims the bill interferes with the rights of horse owners. “We don't need another layer of federal bureaucracy to intrude on our daily business decisions,” said R‑CALF president Chuck Kiker.

Lobbyists for horsepackers said the bill would set a precedent for meddling in veal calf, hog and poultry slaughter operations.

Reporter Kathleen Stinson contributed to this story. She can be reached at: kathleen@thedesertadvocate.com.