Banning horse slaughter is a states rights issue and the federal government should not get involved?
No. Horse Slaughter is a Federally Regulated Industry. Opponents try to claim that slaughtering horses for human consumption is a states rights issue. However, this is not true. The slaughtering of any animal for human consumption in the US is a federally regulated process. This is the same for beef, hogs or other livestock (Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603); Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 1901 note; Public Law 104-127)). In addition, since horsemeat is not consumed in the US it must be hauled across state lines and the US border which are clearly defined issues within the US Constitutions Commerce Clause. While a state does have some leeway to ban certain slaughter practices within their state boundaries, these actions to not apply outside of their jurisdiction. For example, Texas, California and Illinois have banned horse slaughter within their states but those laws have no impact elsewhere. Furthermore, nobody has a “right” to abuse or neg
