Horse Slaughter: News and Announcements

HORSE MEAT PLANT ORDERED TO CLOSE
3/13/06, Jim Getz, The Dallas Morning News
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Horse meat plant ordered to close

Kaufman facility has until Sept. 30 to close; lawyer seeking options

11:17 PM CST on Thursday, March 9, 2006

By JIM GETZ / The Dallas Morning News

KAUFMAN – The Dallas Crown Horse Slaughter Plant has remained open – despite years of complaints, a federal lawsuit now on appeal and an effort by lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

But on Thursday night, city officials set the date for the plant's closure.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment voted 5-0 to order Dallas Crown to close by Sept. 30.

The board's decision came after an hour of arguments by attorneys on both sides of the issue and a half-hour closed session. In late November, the board declared the business a nuisance because of concerns about public health and safety – setting the stage for Thursday's ruling.

Board chairman John Elzner said the board settled on the Sept. 30 date because it provides a reasonable amount of time for Dallas Crown to comply with the order.

"Obviously, a company of that size has to have some room," Mr. Elzner said after the meeting. "It was a timeline we all felt comfortable with."

Dallas Crown attorney Mark Calabria said he would determine what options are available. One option, he said, would be to proceed immediately with a lawsuit the company filed against the city in December.

That suit alleges that the board's November decision was illegal and asks a judge to prevent the city from interfering with the slaughterhouse.

A resident who spearheaded the move to shut down the plant said he was keeping his fingers crossed that the plant would close in September.

"We'll see [on] Sept. 30," said Robert Eldridge. "You never know."

Mr. Calabria and another attorney, Bruce Monning of Waldo Inc. – which owns the slaughter plant and its equipment – both said they tried earlier Thursday to get two Kaufman County judges to stop the hearing Thursday night. Both judges rejected that request.

The zoning board could not issue its final ruling until members had information to determine a closure date.

To do so, the city hired Tyler auditor and financial investigator David Carter to find the rate of depreciation of Dallas Crowns' assets. That information would provide how much time Dallas Crown would need to recoup its investment in the Kaufman plant.

Mr. Monning provided documents saying it would cost Dallas Crown and Waldo about $6 million to demolish, relocate and rebuild. At the rate the two companies have been earning money, he said, it would take between 45 to 49 years to recoup their investments.

But Arlington attorney Don Feare, who represents Mr. Eldridge and about 14 other neighbors, constantly reminded the board members that they were dealing with complaints against Dallas Crown, which owns few assets, not Waldo.

In August, Dallas Crown and Beltex Corp. in Fort Worth scored a legal victory with a federal judge's ruling that district attorneys cannot try to shut down the horse-slaughtering plants under a 1949 state law. The federal lawsuit is now on appeal in New Orleans.

Congress has also been under pressure from lawmakers and animal rights groups to adopt an outright ban on the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Roughly 88,000 horses are slaughtered each year, with the meat sold in France, Belgium, Japan, Mexico and a handful of other countries.

During Thursday's meeting, Mr. Monning argued that at least one board member, Steve Hulme, had a conflict of interest and should have recused himself from voting.

Mr. Hulme's late wife, Mary Nash, avidly fought against the slaughterhouse. But in the end, it was Mr. Hulme who made Thursday's motion – and, to be clear, he first repeated the nuisance motion made in November.

Both motions passed unanimously.

E-mail jgetz@dallasnews.com