Horse processing = full employment at Canadian plant
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 3:19 PM
by Peter Shinn
America's loss appears to be Canada's gain when it comes to horse slaughter. At least, that's true for employees of a small packing plant in Saskatchewan.
Processing horses for meat has been all but eliminated in the U.S. Just one American plant, a facility in Dekalb, Illinois, is slaughtering horses. And that's happening only under protection of a court order while the plant's parent company, Cavel International, appeals a recent Illinois state law banning horse slaughter.
But in Wolseley, a small town in southern Saskatchewan, the Natural Valley Farms packing plant is picking up the slack. According to an article in the Regina Leader-Post, the slaughter facility is now running near 100% capacity because it's processing horses for export to Europe. The move has allowed the plant to recall all of its workers who had been laid-off.
According to the Leader-Post, horse slaughter isn't the hot-button issue in Canada that it is in the U.S., especially if it's done humanely. Moreover, the article points out one cultural difference between the U.S. and Canada is that horse meat is a common menu item in restaurants in Quebec.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 3:19 PM
by Peter Shinn
America's loss appears to be Canada's gain when it comes to horse slaughter. At least, that's true for employees of a small packing plant in Saskatchewan.
Processing horses for meat has been all but eliminated in the U.S. Just one American plant, a facility in Dekalb, Illinois, is slaughtering horses. And that's happening only under protection of a court order while the plant's parent company, Cavel International, appeals a recent Illinois state law banning horse slaughter.
But in Wolseley, a small town in southern Saskatchewan, the Natural Valley Farms packing plant is picking up the slack. According to an article in the Regina Leader-Post, the slaughter facility is now running near 100% capacity because it's processing horses for export to Europe. The move has allowed the plant to recall all of its workers who had been laid-off.
According to the Leader-Post, horse slaughter isn't the hot-button issue in Canada that it is in the U.S., especially if it's done humanely. Moreover, the article points out one cultural difference between the U.S. and Canada is that horse meat is a common menu item in restaurants in Quebec.
