The nation's first horse slaughter facility in years could be operational by spring now that a de facto ban on the practice has been lifted. Supporters, who say a U.S. processor is needed to stabilize prices for all horses, have been floating plans for a slaughter facility in Montana or Wyoming even as a battle raged over lifting the 2006 federal ban. The ban prevented the USDA from using federal funds to inspect horse slaughter plants, effectively preventing horse slaughter in the U.S.

But a study by the Government Accountability Office this year concurred with assertions by slaughter proponents who said horses that otherwise might be slaughtered were being abandoned and neglected as a result of the ban. U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) pushed for the study, which turned the debate in favor of lifting the ban. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law November 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December. It did not allocate any new money to pay for horse meat inspections, which opponents claim could cost taxpayers $3 to $5 million a year. The USDA issued a statement November 29 saying there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S. that butcher horses for human consumption now, but if one were to open, it would conduct inspections to make sure federal laws were being followed.