Could horse slaughter return to Illinois?

Congress has lifted the ban on horse slaughter after five years. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

BLOOMINGTON – Congress has lifted the ban on horse slaughter in the U.S., but could that mean the practice will return to Illinois?

The only plant in the state closed up about five years ago, and Illinois still has a ban in place.

Brenda Matherly with the Illinois Farm Bureau said she doesn’t know if Illinois will bring horse slaughter back.

“Although the dollars have been re-appropriated if you will, for federal inspectors to start inspecting these facilities, will we start seeing those dollars right away? There’s a little unknown there,” Matherly said. “I just can’t second guess at this point what Illinois will do as a result of that. Certainly the facility that was harvesting equine has moved on and is doing other operations, so would they even be able to accommodate this type of operation, at this point I don’t know.”

Matherly said horses going to slaughter are being sent to Canada, where exports are up more than 100 percent, and to Mexico, where the export is up more than 600 hundred percent.

To listen to Matherly’s interview with WJBC’s Beth Whisman, click below.

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Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie@wjbc.com.