“Horse meat is leaner than beef and is just full of healthy protein and iron, not to mention


how tasty it is.” — David Duquette , United Horsemen president


lawsuit to force the USDA to resume inspections, and the agency recently has sent signals it intends to comply. “It’s fantastic news,” says Dave Duquette, a horse trader


in Oregon and president of the nonprofit United Horse- men. “Soon we will see horse sausage, horse patties, and all kinds of horse meat available for consumers.” Duquette helped spearhead


the movement to put the five- year horse ban out to pasture. He says opening the processing plants will contribute to a stron- ger economy and a healthier America. “Horse meat is lean- er than beef and is just full of healthy protein and iron, not to mention how tasty it is,” he tells Newsmax. But peddling horse as the


A


“It would be an unthinkable turn in the road to view animals who helped us settle the country


as a main course.” — Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society president, CEO


Hurdles Before Human Consumption


nimal-rights activists say opening horse meat processing plants here poses a


health risk because some horses, like those used for racing, are injected with the analgesic phenylbutazone. Unless prescribed as a medication, it is not


considered safe for humans. “Horse meat


other red meat in 2013 may not be an easy sell to the public. The horse meat scandal that domi- nated headlines across Europe gave the industry a black eye, even though no traces of equine DNA were found in the U.S. food supply. “We haven’t seen a panic like this since mad cow disease,” says Natalie Rosskopf, admin- istrative director of Elisa Tech- nologies, Inc., a Florida company that sells horse meat detection kits for $500. Rosskopf’s compa- ny has sold thousands of the kits. USDA regulators say it’s unlikely that mislabeled beef


is tainted,” says Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle. “Almost all horses are injected with substances which are forbidden for human consumption.”


es Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States. “I fully expect to see a positive finding of horse product in American beef, espe- cially if this horse slaughter plant opens up.” Pacelle also predicts U.S. consumers will shun horse meat. “We have a 250 year rela- tionship in the United States with horses and eating them has never been part of that equation,” says Pacelle. “It would be an unthink- able turn in the road to view ani- mals who helped us settle the country as a main course.” Proponents also argue that the


HORSE MEAT That claim is disputed by horse meat


advocates, however. “The fear is all generated by the animal-


rights movement, and it’s pure propaganda, not science,” says Dave Duquette, president of United Horsemen. “The facts are that horse meat is tested just like beef, and there has been absolutely no evidence of any negative health issues.”


tainted with horse meat could somehow make it onto American dinner plates. But animal rights activists say lifting the ban on slaughtering horses is immoral, and will inevitably lead to cross contamination. “The horse meat industry is so unscrupulous,” charg-


de facto horse meat prohibition had unintended consequences, including the spike of abuse cases that ensued. Once the ban went into effect, the value of horses plummeted. That led to abuse. Duquette says, “When ranchers have something in their pasture that isn’t worth anything, they just don’t treat them as well.” Predictably, PETA has also


latched on to the debate, decrying any meat eating. “The only way to be 100 percent sure that you aren’t consuming horse meat is to not eat meat,” Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of PETA, tells Newsmax. The debate is only expected to escalate when the doors of the


Roswell processing plant open, which could occur early this summer. Plant workers can expect to be greeted by demonstrations and animal rights activists. But there are those who don’t sound too worried. “We are carnivores, and we are predators; and we are going to eat horse meat because we love it,” says Duquette. “Period.”


MAY 2013 | NEWSMAX 27


DUQUETTE/COURTESY OF DAVE DUQUETTE / PACELLE/AP IMAGES / HORSE MEAT/LAWTON/PHOTOCUISINE/SUPERSTOCK


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