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Horse slaughter petition weighed
Kaufman: Officials look at complaints; lawyer cites service
11:46 PM CDT on Tuesday, July 5, 2005
By PAUL MEYER / The Dallas Morning News
KAUFMAN – The fight to close one of the country's last horse slaughterhouses could soon spawn another court battle, even as both sides await action on federal legislation that would effectively ban killing horses for human consumption.
Kaufman City Council members met Tuesday to consider a neighborhood's petition to sanction or shutter the Dallas Crown horse-processing plant.
Even though the petition drive failed to collect enough signatures to force action, city officials are exploring ways to remedy persistent neighborhood complaints. But they stopped short of calling for litigation Tuesday to close the plant, leaving some residents frustrated.
Those neighbors could sue the city, the plant or both.
"Right now I'm very infuriated, and I shouldn't talk when I'm mad," said Robert Eldridge, who lives near the plant. "We're just tired."
Dallas Crown attorney Mark Calabria said Tuesday that he hadn't seen the petition. But he defended the plant as a legal operation with years of benefit to the local economy.
"I think the plant provides a pretty valuable service, and it has been in business a long time," he said.
"Like a lot of controversial businesses, there will be folks who don't like what you do who raise a stink from time to time."
Criticism of the nation's three remaining horse-slaughtering plants – in Kaufman, Fort Worth and Illinois – has grown in recent years. A legal fight in federal district court could result in the shutdown of the Texas plants.
Advocates on both sides are awaiting action by the U.S. Senate on a measure that would likely force the facilities to close. The measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives in June.
Kaufman officials, meanwhile, have accused Dallas Crown of repeated wastewater violations.
"We're not looking at a responsible good corporate citizen here," said Mayor Paula Bacon, a critic of the plant. "We're looking at people who have been stringing us along for at least 10 years now."
Interim Kaufman City Manager Curtis Snow said Tuesday that officials with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have told him that Dallas Crown is operating lawfully and according to best industry practices.
But he said there might still be avenues to pursue that could challenge whether the plant belongs in a residential area.
Some council members cautioned against acting too quickly against Dallas Crown and added that they want more evidence of wrongdoing.
City officials plan to gather more data and log complaints as they consider the next step to take.
"The mayor of Kaufman has made this her personal crusade," said Jim Bradshaw, a lobbyist representing the plant. "They're faithfully just trying to abide by all the laws."
Mr. Bradshaw said the facility operates just like any other animal-slaughtering business. But he understands that emotions run deep when it comes to the killing of horses.
"We wouldn't have bacon on the table or fried chicken or steaks or anything," he said. "It's a fact of life that slaughter takes place."
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