In 2006 with the issues of unwanted horses and the processing of horses continuing to heat up, the Animal Welfare Council published a paper titled “The Unintended Consequences of a Ban on the Humane Slaughter of Horses in the United States.” Experts on the subject, including leading agricultural economists weighed in on what would happen if the USDA regulated plants were to be closed in the United States. The full paper is available below and you will see that those experts were right on the money and we are today living the reality they predicted after the plants in the United States were closed by actions backed by animal rights activist.