Legislators in Oklahoma have lifted a 50-year ban on horse processing in that state by passing a House bill that allows horse slaughter there.

Since 1963, horse slaughter for human consumption has been forbidden by Oklahoma state statute. Meanwhile, horse processing has not taken place anywhere in the United States since 2007 when a combination of legislation and court decisions shuttered the last remaining horse processing plants. Horse processing in the United States again became possible in 2012 when Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed legislation that did not specifically deny the USDA funding to carry out inspections at domestic horses processing plants. Since then, plant developments have been proposed in several states, but no U.S. horse processing plants are currently operating.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma State Rep. Skye McNiel introduced HB 1999, a bill to allow horse slaughter for human consumption in Oklahoma, but which prohibits the sale of horsemeat in Oklahoma. SB 375, a separate Senate bill introduced by State Sen. Mark Allen, would allow horsemeat processed in Oklahoma to be sold for export only to international markets. Some equine advocates have opposed the bills by claiming that horse processing plant development does not make good economic sense for Oklahoma or any other state. Some also opposed horse processing on grounds that meat derived from U. S. horses could contain the residue of drugs routinely administered to horses, such as phenylbutazone, but which could be harmful to humans.

On Feb. 20, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed HB 1999 by an 82-14 margin. The Oklahoma State Senate passed SB 375 by a 38-6 vote on the same day. SB 375 remains pending in the Oklahoma House’s Committee on Agriculture and Wildlife