Ban upheld on horse-killing for human food

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CHICAGO, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A federal appellate court panel Friday upheld an Illinois law prohibiting the killing of horses for human consumption, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The ruling effectively shutters a DeKalb, Ill., horse-slaughtering plant, the last of its kind in this country, owned by Cavel International Inc., a Belgium-based company that kills horses and ships meat overseas for human consumption.

Cavel had asked the court to invalidate the law signed in May banning the killing of horses for human consumption and the possession, import or export of horse meat for humans, the Tribune reported.

At one time, about 1,000 horses a week were killed and processed at DeKalb plant.