Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Two Texas slaughterhouses responsible for half the 100,000 horses killed in the U.S. annually for overseas consumption may face criminal charges if they don't shut down, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided.

``The lone cowboy riding his horse on a Texas trail is a cinematic icon,'' the three-judge appellate decision said in a unanimous decision yesterday. ``Not once in memory did the cowboy eat his horse, but film is an imperfect mirror.''

Beltex Corp., of Fort Worth, and Dallas Crown Inc., of Kaufman, Texas, challenged a 1949 state law prohibiting the export of horse meat for human consumption, saying it interfered with federal regulations. Empacadora de Carnes de Fresnillo, a Mexican slaughterhouse, which sells horse meat to Beltex, joined the suit as it planned to move into Texas to handle its own export operations.

``We will take this to the Supreme Court,'' said David Broiles, a Fort Worth constitutional litigation attorney who represents the slaughterhouses. ``Yes, it worries me the Supreme Court might not want to review it.''

Illinois Slaughterhouse

Broiles said he would meet tomorrow with his clients to decide whether to seek a hearing before the entire Fifth Circuit first or petition directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

``I was very surprised by the opinion and so were they,'' he said. ``My clients are law-abiding citizens. They're not going to intentionally violate the law.''

The unanimous decision makes it unlikely the Supreme Court would agree to review the case, said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of litigation for the Humane Society of the United States, which filed a brief in support of banning the slaughterhouses.

``It got it right,'' he said.

Legislation was introduced Jan. 17 in the Senate and House of Representatives to ban slaughter of U.S. horses nationwide. If the Texas facilities are closed, one slaughterhouse will remain operational, the Belgian-owned Cavel International of DeKalb, Illinois.

``We've long felt that Texas law prohibited the practice of slaughtering horses for human consumption overseas and banned this barbaric and foreign-driven industry,'' said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society. ``We're calling on Congress to put the final nail in the coffin on horse slaughterhouses in the United States.''

Exported Overseas

A similar measure banning horse slaughter for human consumption passed the House 263-146 in the previous session, although it stalled in the Senate, which had approved the bill in 2005.

The European-owned slaughterhouses sought relief after then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn wrote a 2002 opinion saying the Texas law could be enforced. A federal court sided with the slaughterhouses and issued a permanent injunction barring prosecution on the grounds the state law couldn't be enforced. County prosecutors appealed to the Fifth Circuit.

Worldwide export of horse meat from the 12 largest exporting countries in 2000 was 131,963 metric tons (145,464 tons), of which the U.S. exported 10,061 metric tons, according to the original complaint filed by the slaughterhouses. In 2001, 11,940 metric tons of processed horse meat was exported from the U.S. valued at more than $41 million.

Baseball Covers, Violin Bows

Most of the U.S. horse meat is exported to France, Belgium, Italy and Japan, where it is considered a delicacy.

``Horses sent for slaughter are typically older, neglected, displaced or retired animals no longer useful for saddle, ranch, recreation, breeding or racing activities,'' said the plaintiffs' suit filed on Sept. 26, 2002, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The horses are bought at auction for $300 to $700 and re-sold to meat processors.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 100,800 horses were slaughtered at the three U.S. facilities in 2006. More than 92 percent were in good condition, the USDA said, according to the Humane Society.

Other parts of the horse carcasses are sold for baseball covers, shoes, leather products, pharmaceuticals used in open heart surgery, violin bows, pet food, fertilizer and food for zoo animals, the plaintiffs said.

French-owned Beltex has processed horse meat for 27 years. It employs 90 people and in 2001 reported gross sales of $30 million. Belgian-owned Dallas Crown, which employs 40 people, reported gross sales of $9 million in 2001.

Both companies said they would stop operations in Texas if the law banning horse meat processing was upheld, according to the lawsuit.

The case is Empacadora de Carnes de Fresnillo, S.A. de C.V.; Beltex Corporation; Dallas Crown, Inc. v Tim Curry, District Attorney, Tarrant County, Texas, Et Al. No. 05-11499, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 20, 2007 18:58 EST