By Erin Graham
The Daily News

Published June 05, 2003

In the final hours of the 78th Legislature, infamous House Bill 1324 was stopped.

The bill introduced by State Rep. Betty Brown-R, Kaufman would have allowed for the sale and slaughter of horses deemed “unwanted” by their owners.

Why? Horsemeat sells for a good price in France, Belgium, Germany, Japan and Italy.

There is a special bond between horses and humans. Early Texas settlers, from the Comanche to the Old 300, arrived on horseback or in wagons drawn by horses. For thousands of years, mankind has depended on horses for work, play and sport. The horse played a role in the expansion not only of America, but of the world.

We applaud the Texas Legislature for hearing the outcry of the public and groups such as the Hitchcock-based Habitat for Horses, and for seeing the bill for what it was — an inhumane death sentence for a majestic animal.