September 21, 2007
In a unanimous three-judge panel opinion today (Cavel International, Inc. v. Madigan, No. 07-2658), the United States Court of Appeals upheld the Illinois Horse Meat Act, which bans slaughtering horses for human consumption. Schiff Hardin represented the Humane Society of the United States ("HSUS"), who participated in the case at the district court level and as amicus in this appeal.
This holding will effectively shut down the horse slaughtering plant in DeKalb, Illinois, which was killing approximately 1,000 American horses per week under harsh conditions that resulted in extensive pain and suffering to the horses, whose meat was then shipped overseas for human consumption.
Lawyers from two Schiff Hardin offices worked as a team to assist HSUS in its amicus fling that contributed to the successful result — Catherine M. Masters and Neil Lloyd (Chicago) and Bruce A. Wagman (San Francisco). They partnered with Rebecca Judd and Jonathan Lovvorn from The HSUS's Animal Protection Litigation Section to secure a complete victory for American horses in the case.
In Bruce Wagman's words, "Thanks to HSUS and Schiff Hardin's animal law and litigation practices, the last place in America where horses are slaughtered in large numbers has now been shut down. The horse — for some the symbol of America as a frontier country — now represents the new frontier of lawyers helping to protect the animals with whom we share this land."