Native wild horse mare and foal. (Photo © Molly Malone)

By Stephen Dinan The Washington Times \ June 10, 2013

New Mexico’s attorney general has ruled that horse meat is an adulterated product, which animal-rights advocates said should halt a slaughterhouse that had applied to become the first in the U.S. to resume horse slaughter for human consumption.

Attorney General Gary King’s decision puts an end to a bid by Valley Meat Company in Roswell, N.M., to become the first horse meat slaughterhouse to operate since 2007, when Congress shut the practice down by banning inspections. Without inspections, the meat couldn’t be processed.

“Our legal analysis concludes that state law does not allow for production of meat that is chemically tainted under federal regulations,” Mr. King said. “New Mexico law is very clear that it would be prohibited and illegal.”

State Sen. Richard Martinez had requested the review, which concluded that horse meat fits the legal definition of an “adulterated food product” if the meat came from horses that had been treated with drugs — which animal-rights activists said is true for horses raised in the U.S. CONTINUED – Read the rest of the Article