House rejects governor's advice on slaughter bill

HELENA – The House voted 59-41 Wednesday to reject Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s amendments to a bill that would provide legal protection for companies who want build horse slaughter plants in Montana.

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.”

During the House floor session on Wednesday, Butcher said the bill is “really of no value” without the stripped provisions, and they are necessary because they “provide protection for investors.”

Rep. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, said though he thinks Montana could use some horse slaughter plants, this bill is the wrong way to promote them.

“This bill is not about slaughtering horses,” Blewett said. “(It’s about) disemboweling the environmental laws in Montana.”

The bill now goes to the Senate. If senators reject Schweitzer's amendments as well, it goes back to the governor who may veto or sign it.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy