U.S. restaurant gets angry response after serving Canadian horse meat

Butcher Manuel Delgado prepares Pure Spanish Breed horse meat in Camas, Spain, on April 9, 2013. (Laura Leon / AP)

PITTSBURGH -- A Pittsburgh restaurant is causing a stir after serving horse meat.

KDKA-TV reports that Cure Restaurant hosted a special dinner with Canadian chefs Monday. The Quebecois-themed fare included horse tartare.

Horse welfare advocate Joy Braunstein says she was outraged to hear that horse was served. Braunstein says that there are no American slaughter plants that handle horses. She says that horses are given medication that is toxic to humans if ingested.

Cure chef and co-owner Justin Severino released a statement explaining that the meat was sourced from a sustainable horse farm in Canada. Severino says that the dish is not part of the regular menu.

Horse is served in Canada and other countries.

Braunstein has started an online petition to ban horse meat from being served in Pennsylvania restaurants.