Cavel International Inc. remains operational for the time being.

As the litigation determining its fate continues, some consider the possibility of its doors closing permanently. In this case, the facility’s employees would lose their jobs, the building itself would need a new purpose, and aging, unwanted horses would have to be dealt with another way.

The employment concern doesn’t end with lost jobs, said Paul Rasmussen, DeKalb’s economic development administrator.

“In addition, there’s a lot of vendors, the shipping firms and other suppliers of services and goods which would be impacted. So the impact is greater than just the people who lose their jobs – it’s an impact that would spread out,” Rasmussen said.

The plant itself, newly rebuilt after burning down in June 2002, may prove difficult to use in another capacity.

Four years ago, Encoat, an industrial painting company, was left high and dry by Caterpillar Inc., which had them build a facility to paint tractors. Caterpillar pulled out after two years and Encoat, without a client, moved out shortly thereafter, Rasmussen said.

Fears that the Cavel building could endure a similar fate are not unfounded.

It will likely need heavy retrofitting before it can serve in another capacity, said Roger Hopkins, executive director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation.

“It’s woefully undersized,” Hopkins said. “It’s such a boutique sort of business.”

Hopkins expressed hope that the building’s refrigeration capacity may help it find a new client, but regardless, there will likely be a “substantial reduction” in the building’s assessed value.

These worries aside, the hotly contested fate of horses remains. Cavel pays for the horses it acquires from the Amish, hobbyists or the racing industry as an alternative to the costs of killing and burying a horse on one’s own.

“It’s a very humane way to do it,”Chuck Siebrasse, director of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce, said of the slaughtering Cavel does.