A North Dakota lawmaker is pushing a bill that would set money aside to study whether the state should process unwanted horses.

Rep. Rod Froelich, D-Selfridge, is sponsoring a bill that would direct $100,000 to study the possibility of opening a processing plant - otherwise known as a slaughterhouse - for unwanted horses in North Dakota.

Froelich said in light of federal regulations as well as Illinois and Texas closing the only horse processing plants in the nation, the number of abandoned horses have skyrocketed while the plants that accept horses have moved to other countries.

"People used to have a market for unwanted horses," Froelich said. "The value of them has plummeted to nil."

He said without processing plants, it's become difficult for horse owners who have unwanted livestock to figure out what to do with them, which could lead to more horses being abandoned or forcing horse owners to euthanize them at a high cost.

If there were processing plants the horse owner could at least sell the unwanted horse, Froelich said, adding his family owns one of the oldest horse ranches in North Dakota.

Congress also is mulling legislation introduced by Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Dan Burton, R-Ind., that would make it illegal to slaughter American horses.

About 100,000 horses were slaughtered each year before the processing plants in the United States closed. Now, tens of thousands of horses are transported across the border to Mexico and Canada for slaughter, according to the Humane Society.

Froelich said he's not concerned about any potential opposition, noting other states such as Montana are considering similar legislation to confront what he said is a growing problem.

"If somebody has a solution other than what we're looking at, we want to know about it," Froelich said. "Where you can get an economic return for your animal and you don't have to sit there and watch them suffer and die."

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarcktribune.com.)