Riverton Area Horse Plant Planned

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — A company led by a Wyoming state lawmaker hopes to build a horse slaughterhouse in the Riverton area within the next year.

The Associated Press  reported Wednesday that United Equine is moving ahead with plans to build slaughter plants in Oklahoma and Missouri. The company’s chief executive, state Rep. Sue Wallis, said work on the Wyoming facility won’t begin until those plants are up and running.

Last year, Congress opened the door to opening horse slaughter plants by lifting a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspection. The last plant that butchered horses closed in 2007.

Wallis said the company is looking for local investors to finance the Riverton area plant. She said it would process up to 200 horses a day for sale abroad to ethnic markets in the United States.