About five years ago, horse slaughter opponents enacted a ban on funding horse meat inspections in order to discourage inhumanely killing the horses for their meat.

But Congress lifted that ban in a recent spending bill — an action that could pave the way for horse meat slaughterhouses to reopen in the United States. Though horse meat consumption in the United States has been virtually nonexistent for decades, it remains a delicacy in other countries.

The lift of the ban means that slaughterhouses will be permitted to kill horses and ship the meat overseas for exorbitant costs. And slaughter proponents are touting the economic benefits of lifting the ban in light of the recession.

Hundreds of thousands of horses could be slaughtered soon. Tell President Obama to reconsider lifting the ban on horse meat inspections.