CUMMING, GA (CBS ATLANTA) -
The reopening of horse slaughterhouses in the United States is sparking controversy after a five-year ban.
CBS Atlanta spoke to Cheryl Flanagan, founder of a horse rescue organization called SavetheHorses.org, who said she wasn't happy to hear federal legislators lifted the ban on slaughterhouses.
"I was really shocked because this has been something that I have been fighting for many years," Flanagan said. "I protested in Washington, D.C. in 2000 to stop slaughter."
The federal government banned the practice in 2006. Slaughterhouses in the United States were shut down the following year.
"When they closed those, slaughter didn't stop," Flanagan said. "They shipped the horses across the border to Canada and Mexico."
CBS Atlanta also spoke to Charles Young, who has been buying and selling horses for more than 50 years.
"I've never shipped a horse to slaughter, but I'm sure a lot of them I've had went there," Young said.
Young said slaughterhouses were needed because a lot of people couldn't afford to feed their horses, and they ended up starving to death.
"I feel like to keep from giving the business to other countries, we need to do it ourselves," Young said. "If it's going to be done, I think the United States needs to do it."
Once horses are slaughtered, the meat is often shipped to other countries.
"They don't use horse meat in dog food and they haven't for about 25 years," Flanagan said. "It's not safe for dogs, so why would our government send it overseas for people to eat?"
Young has a differing opinion.
"I have eaten horse meat," he said. "It's good meat."
Young said the meat tastes like turkey.
"Sometimes I have mixed emotions about it," he said. "I got my personal horse I don't want to go to kill, you know. But there are a lot of them that we have to do something with. Nobody wants to hear that. It's just one of them things."
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