Bills were filed in the Texas House and Senate late this week to overturn the state law banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

Two of the three horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. are in Texas. They have operated for years, selling horsemeat to France, Belgium, Japan and other countries where it is a delicacy. However, the Dallas Crown plant in Kaufman and Beltex plant in Fort Worth stopped shipping to overseas restaurants and meat markets after a federal appeals court upheld the state law in January and again this week.

Charles Stenholm, a lobbyist for the industry, said the plants intend to appeal to the Supreme Court, but he said they also would approach the issue politically. Friday was the last day to submit legislation for the regular session in Austin.

"This is a very emotional issue," Mr. Stenholm said. "But when they [the horses] are unwanted, something has got to happen to them. You have to euthanize them one way or the other, or you have to turn them loose."

The Humane Society of the United States, one of the most forceful supporters of the ban, condemned the legislation. Officials with the organization said that most horses slaughtered are young and healthy and that conditions in the plants are sometimes inhumane.

"We are extremely engaged day by day, hour by hour, working with our membership in the state to see an early and permanent defeat of this legislation," said Nancy Perry of the national Humane Society.