DeKALB | DeKalb’s days as the last refuge for horse slaughtering for human consumption in America may be in jeopardy.

A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled the United States Department of Agriculture can no longer inspect horse meat for a fee.

“Basically, we can no longer process any new animals,” said Cavel manager Jim Tucker.

Because inspections have been denied, Cavel is no longer able to continue business.

“We don’t have that inspection, so we cannot slaughter food for humans,” Tucker said.

The Humane Society said this is a big step forward.

“We’re pleased that the court has reached the correct decision,” said Ethan Eddy, staff attorney for the Humane Society of the United States. “The court’s ruling furthers our objective: to stop the slaughter of horses.”

Though the issue pertains to horse slaughter plants, it’s important to keep the focus on the USDA and its actions, Eddy said.

“The USDA acted in violation of the law, violating two federal statutes,” Eddy said. “They have to stop inspecting, and therefore stop permitting horse slaughter for human consumption.”

In 2005, Congress passed a law that said the USDA could not use its funds to provide anti-mortem inspections. Since then, Cavel has paid the USDA for inspections.

“We petitioned the USDA so we could pay for those services,” Tucker said. “It’s not an unusual request.”

Cavel has also been under fire recently from the DeKalb Sanitation District.

“They haven’t been able to achieve compliance with their discharge permit,” said Mike Zima, manager of the DeKalb Sanitary District. “They need to get their pollutants down to appropriate levels before they can discharge that waste into the public sewers.”

Zima said Cavel’s problems with the Humane Society seem to have taken precedence.

“This issue looks like it’s going to supersede anything we’ve got going with them,” Zima said.

Because the lawsuit prevents Cavel from inspecting any new horses for slaughter, the plant will have to halt operations after slaughtering the already inspected horses.

“It could be indefinite,” Tucker said. “We’ll have to lay off the work force of about 55 people. It could be a little bit of a shock for the region. We bring $30 million in foreign revenue into the state.”

The company plans to appeal the lawsuit, Tucker said.

“It’s not going to be clear how this is all going to boil out,” Zima said.