'Special treatment' cut from horse slaughter bill

If investors want to establish a horse slaughter industry in Montana, they will have to do it without special protection from legal challenges and lawsuits, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (pictured) said late last week.

Schweitzer used his amendatory veto power to strip special legal protections from House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Ed Butcher, R-Winifred.

Butcher and other supporters have argued in long, emotional hearings that Americans needing to dispose of horses have to go to Mexico or Canada because legal challenges have effectively shut down the horse slaughter industry in the U.S.

Horse slaughterhouses are not currently banned in Montana, but they would almost certainly draw protests from animal lovers who have testified against the bill so far.

In his veto message, Schweitzer said horse owners need “access to a legal method to put their horses down as necessary and appropriate – due to age, infirmity, or other legitimate circumstances.”

However, such facilities should not receive the “unnecessary and potentially harmful special treatment that would be granted to one particular industry under this bill.”

The bill passed the House by a vote of 66-33 and passed the Senate 27-23.