A horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico says the Department of Agriculture is intentionally delaying a permit for the facility.

The Valley Meat Co. passed an inspection last month, Secretary Tom Vilsack previously told the Associated Press. But the agency has yet to issue a permit due to issues that are being raised for the first time, an attorney for the company said.

Congress inserted a rider in an appropriations act that prohibited the USDA from inspecting horse slaughtering plants that intended to sell meat for human consumption. The provision lapsed in 2011 but at least three tribes, including one in New Mexico, have asked the Obama administration to allow horse slaughtering USDA's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal would cut all funding for inspections at horse slaughtering facilities.

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