Senate scraps governor's changes to slaughter bill

HELENA – The Senate voted 44-5 today to reject the Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s amendments to a bill that would create legal protections for companies who want to build horse slaughter plants in Montana.

The governor’s amendments to House Bill 418, sponsored by Rep. Edward Butcher, R-Winifred, stripped away special legal protections for the slaughter plant owners.

Butcher and other supporters have argued that Americans needing to dispose of horses have to go to Mexico or Canada because legal challenges have effectively shut down the American horse slaughter industry.

Horse slaughterhouses are not currently banned in Montana, but they would almost certainly draw protests from animal lovers who oppose them.

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.”

Since Schweitzer’s amendments have now been rejected by both the House and Senate, the original bill will go to the governor’s desk to be signed into law or vetoed.

Sarah Elliot, the governor’s communication director, said in an e-mail that Schweitzer has yet to decided what he will do with the bill.

“While the Governor supports a horse slaughter facility being built in Montana, he is still concerned for the public’s health and safety as a result of provisions in the bill,” Elliot said.

-by CNS correspondent Molly Priddy