Thursday, March 25, 2004, 4:15 p.m.

House Fails To Stop Horse Slaughterhouse

(Springfield-AP) -- A measure that would keep a DeKalb County horse slaughterhouse from rebuilding after a fire failed in the Illinois House today.

Representative Robert Molaro of Chicago says state law prohibits selling horse meat in Illinois so slaughtering the animals should be banned too.

Cavel International plans a 16-thousand-square-foot plant to slaughter as many as 100 horses a day for shipment to places like Japan and Europe.

But Hinckley Republican Robert Pritchard says the plant will create 40 jobs and merely replace one that operated until a 2002 fire. Republican Representative Bill Black of Danville says stopping the slaughter of horses today could lead to bans on pork or poultry slaughter later.

Democrat Molaro used a parliamentary measure so he can recall the bill for a vote.

(The bill is HB3845. On the Net: http://www.legis.state.il.us).