On Aug. 25, U.S. District Judge Terry Means ruled that the possession
of horse meat for sale for human consumption was not illegal under Texas law. The judge also issued a permanent injunction against Tarrant County, Texas, District Attorney Tim Curry to enjoin him from prosecuting the plaintiffs for violating chapter 149 of the Texas Agriculture Code. The plaintiffs in this case were the two Texas-base equine slaughter plants–Belltex in Fort Worth and Dallas Crown in Kaufman–and one Mexican-based plant–Empacadora de Carnes de Fresnillo, which is owned by Beltex and ships horse meat internationally from Texas airports.

Ann Diamond, an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County, said their office has until Sept. 26 to appeal the decision.

Previous Legal Actions

According to information in the ruling, in 1945, the Meat Inspection Law was enacted by the Texas legislature, which made it illegal to sell for human consumption meat from various animals, including horses. In 1949, what became known as chapter 149 repealed the section addressing horse meat and made the coverage broader, stating that it was unlawful for anyone to sell, exhibit for sale, or have in his possession with the intent to sell horse meat as food for human consumption.

In 1969, the prohibition of selling horse meat was moved to another section of Texas law and replaced with language that said horse meat could not be sold unless it was clearly marked as such. In 1989 the Texas legislature revised and codified the 1969 Act, and again stated that the horse meat must be conspicuously marked. In 1997, the Texas legislature passed H.B. 2396, the “Horse Theft Bill,” which required slaughterers to pay $5 per head for each horse purchased for slaughter and to report all horses received. Judge Means stated, “It is obvious that the Texas legislature, at least by 1997, was aware that Plaintiffs were slaughtering horse meat for human consumption when they passed the Horse Theft Bill and did not believe that such actions were illegal