Horse slaughter won’t resume in the United States for at least 30 more days, according to the Associated Press.

Judge Christina Armijo of Federal District Court issued a restraining order on Aug. 2 in a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States and several other groups against two horse slaughter plants. The plants, located in New Mexico and Iowa were scheduled to start slaughtering horses within the week, reported the New York Times.

The suit challenged the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to conduct environmental reviews before putting inspectors in the horse slaughter plants. Another hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the HSUS, said: “We’ve won a temporary but life-saving reprieve for horses, and it’s good news indeed that the kill boxes in New Mexico and Iowa will be empty of horses in the weeks ahead. We’ll continue to make arguments when our case resumes in a month that these plants cannot legally operate because of inadequate environmental review.”