A state legislator from northeast Nebraska says the state may need to find a better way to keep down populations of horses. Senator Cap Dierks of Ewing says he has a proposal for a summer study on horse slaughtering facilities. Dierks says several other states are considering them.
He says Montana has passed legislation to build such a plant. That state’s governor vetoed the measure but the house and senate overrode the veto. Dierks says, “I think we really need to look at something like that for Nebraska.” Dierks says it’s about the only way to humanely control horse populations, as he says there are rising numbers of unwanted and neglected horses with the ailing economy. He says, “You just can’t put ’em out to pasture and make that work, you’ve gotta’ have a slaugherhouse for ’em.”
Meanwhile, federal lawmakers are considering legislation that would prevent the sale, transport and slaughter of horses for human consumption. State lawmakers in both North and South Dakota have okayed studies to determine whether horse-processing facilities would be viable.
Thanks to Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton