Nebraska has joined the list of states making legislature changes on the issue of horse slaughter. A proposed bill introduced by Nebraska state senator Tyson Larson would require the state’s Department of Agriculture put a meat inspection program into effect by 2013.

Larson, whose family owns a ranch and raises roping horses in O’Neill, Nev., argued that the state’s 2007 closing of meat processing plants caused the equine surplus problem, which he links to abandonment and abuse.