Bill could stop Cavel inspections

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an agriculture spending bill late Thursday that includes an amendment to stop government inspections of horses slaughtered for human consumption. The amendment is similar to one passed two years ago that remains in a federal appeals court, which prohibited federal funding of U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors at horse-slaughtering plants. In response to that action, the USDA created a new regulation that allows slaughter plants to pay the inspectors a per-horse fee. The amendment to the 2008 spending bill also prohibits funding of that regulation, said Nancy Perry, vice president of government affairs for The Humane Society of the United States. Belgium-based Cavel International in DeKalb is