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Categories: Horse News

Illinois to resume slaughtering horses

A U.S. District Judge in Illinois ruled on Friday morning that Cavel International can resume slaughtering horses for the next 10 days at its facility in DeKalb, Ill.



Cavel is suing the state of Illinois over a law banning horse slaughter in that state. The law was signed on May 24, but the next day Cavel asked for a temporary restraining order requesting that it be allowed to re-open for 10 days.



Additional court hearings are currently scheduled for June 12 and 14.
In the coming days, the law firm of Patton Boggs will be filing documents with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of the Animal Welfare Institute and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation. Both organizations strongly oppose horse slaughter and have publicly denounced Friday’s ruling.

Cavel is the last horse slaughterhouse of its type in the United States.

View Comments

  • What can be done to sto this? Texas stopped it. Why won't this state do it. I shudder to think of what these poor horses are going to go through as this plce rushes to slaughter as many as possible "just in case" they get shut down. I pray that God will have mercy on these poor creatures and not allow them to suffer.

  • Poor horses. I hate slaughter. I have seen pictures of what they do to the horses, it is crule! and painful. I pray that the world (someday) will stop this this slaughtering of horses. So no more will have to go through with it. I would rather die in the sea, then at a slaughter house! STOP THE SLAUGHTER!

  • Slaughtering horses is a very cruel thing. Many people in America and even around the world love these beautiful creatures. Many of us including myself think Illinois is making a huge mistake of giving them 10 more days to slaughter our horses. We know this is this is the only slaughtering buisness of horses but this could risk the population of the horse. They could possibly become extinct if we keep doing this. Please consider this comment and think about all the horse lovers in the world devastated about this terrible thing.

  • I don't know who the US District Judge is that made this ruling, but he needs to be removed from office. No one in their right mind would approve of horse slaughter. Cavel being the last slaughterhouse in the US should say something about how the American people feel. I say close it down now!

  • I don't know who the US District Judge is that made this ruling, but he needs to be removed from office. No one in their right mind would approve of horse slaughter. Cavel being the last slaughterhouse in the US should say something about how the American people feel. I say close it down now!

  • I think this is horrible, Roy Rogers didn't eat Trigger!!! How can we as Americans support this. All of the state politicians that support horse slaughter should look at their dog or cat each night and think how they would feel if someone ate their pet.

  • This is awful and simply disgusting. I find it appalling that our country (or in this case, just Illinois) would pass a law and then bend the rule for ten days, especially when it involves the murder of innocent animals. I am a 13-year-old vegetarian, and I am a big supporter of animal rights. I find this just inhumane and frankly unacceptable. Why would Cavel sue the state? Why not just find a different job, one that does not involve the pointless slaughter of such beautiful and majestic creatures. The horses that are killed are either stolen or sold, and most of them have had hard pasts. A bunch of them are "retired" race horses, aka horses that are too weak or old to race and are therefore killed. I do not see how the government can pay for retirement homes but refuse to give horses a happy end at a horse sanctuary. Slaughterhouses are just disgusting and inhumane. They should not be allowed anywhere in the world, and most definitely not in the country that claims to be so righteous and full of justice.

  • I think that they r opening just to slaughter as many horses they can in those few days, so they cann shove it in animal actvists faces !

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