Comments on: One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Forbidden Export

By: Tommy Ou

Tommy Ou — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:55:49 +0000

Dear Professor Burns,

Greetings from Tokyo! However legally irrelevant it may be, raw horse meat is served as a common side dish to complement beer at traditional Japanese pubs (izakaya).

By: vicki

vicki — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:50:27 +0000

Cliff, true. I’m not a lawyer but just recall the argument because I attended the trail @ the 5th distric court. I reviewed the notes I took and the arguments by both sides and the consensus among lawyer friends was what I posted. There is also the precendent that I didn’t mention from the two kill houses in Texas. They also appealed to the Supreme Court last year with the same argument and were refused a hearing. I also understand that it is a rarity that the Supreme Court will go against a unanimous decision by a high state court. Thanks!

By: Clif Burns

Clif Burns — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:38:43 +0000

Vicki, the Supreme Court’s denial of cert. isn’t necessarily an indication that it agreed with the 7th circuit’s opinion, but could also reflect the fact that there was no split in the circuits that needed to be resolved.

By: vicki

vicki — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:41:50 +0000

Calabrese argued the law was passed to discriminate against a foreign country. The law as written, treats imports and exports the same and is therefore, not discriminatory and valid. This was the same ruling in the 5th district court as well as the 7th circuit court of appeals. Obviously the Supreme Court agreed. I guess everyone is wrong but Cavel. It’s quite simple. If Belgium doesn’t like our laws, don’t do business here. We passed the law because we don’t want our horses slaughtered. If these foreign countries want to eat horse meat, they can slaughter their own horses.

By: Mike Deal

Mike Deal — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:16:26 +0000

As usual, Judge Posner takes his own suppositions as fact, and ignores the legislative facts that most folks, including myself, have relied upon in supporting similar legislation in Congress. Unlike what Posner presumes, most horses presented for slaughter are not aged horses whose owners no longer “have a use” for them. Real horsemen gently euthanize their friends when continued life is too painful and then bury or cremate them. (In Tennessee, cremation by the Dept. of Ag. is free if the horseowner asks requests a necropsy). Almost all horses presented for slaughter are bought by “meatmen” at auctions, and a high proportion of the horses sold in auctions are stolen. The other sources of horses sold at auction come from racing stables or farms that use horses for medical purposes (most notably, mares whose urine is used to make harmone replacement drugs), industries known for their cruelty and inhumanity. Horse thieving has remained a serious problem precisely because of horse slaughterers. Many if not most horse owners have their horses microchipped because the slaughter-house demand for horses provides a market for stolen property that by definition destroys the object stolen and thereby renders the theft untraceable in short order.

For all his wordiness, Posner is no scholar, he is just a presumptious peasant who is terribly impressed with himself.

By: RS

RS — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Michael,

Actually 0A980 was implemented as a humanitarian control. The practice of shipping horses by ocean resulted in a large number dying in transit, hence the restrictions.

By: Clif Burns

Clif Burns — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:41:39 +0000

Apparently, horses are now being exported by land to Mexico where the slaughterhouses have relocated. Link Since they are not being transported by sea, ECCN 0A980 doesn't apply.

By: Michael Scott

Michael Scott — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:23:29 +0000

Not to nag but the US has a visceral soft spot as to equines. The EAR requires licenses for export of horses by sea to all destinations (ECCN 0A980 & Sec 754.5). If for the purpose of slaughter the license will be denied. The exporter is required to certify the intention for a long and presumably happy life.