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US: Study endorsed for viability of horse slaughter plant 31 Mar 2009

The Senate of North Dakota has approved spending $50,000 for a study of whether a horse slaughterhouse would be viable in the state.
According to reports, the proposal now has to go to the House. It says that the money come in by outside funding. Also, it establishes a fee schedule to repay the state cash if a horse processing facility is constructed.
 
Legal challenges
According to Senator Joe Miller, R-Park River, the study's first objective would be to look into legal challenges.
 
It has been considered that overally Americans do not have a taste for horse meat, however "there are many people in the world that do," Miller stated. "This is a potential market ... There is no reason why our country has to put ourselves at some sort of disadvantage."
 
Pay back into fund
The legislation states that any North Dakota horse processing facility pays $5 per horse into a fund to pay back the cost of the study. Following the repayment, equine programmes at North Dakota State University and Dickinson State University would share 80% of the fee income, the legislation says. The 20% that is left over would go to equine research grants.
 
According to critics of the proposal, it is a waste of money, saying that there is a possibility that Congress will ban horse slaughtering in the US. The last two remaining US horse slaughter plants, in Texas and Illinois, were shut two years ago, reports stated.
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