
Photo by Lori Sortino
A total of 17,637 American horses were shipped to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered from January to November of 2024, according to the most recently available government statistics.
The figure is down 1.2% from a year earlier.
They included domestic horses as well as an unknown number of wild horses and burros captured on our public lands, which are not tracked by the government after adoption or sale.
The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act would have banned horse slaughter in the United States as well as the export of horses for slaughter. It amassed 236 bipartisan House cosponsors — well over the 218 votes required to pass — but was not brought up for a vote.
It was hardly alone. From 2023-24, just 4 percent of the more than 19,315 bills were voted on. Only 1 percent were signed into law.
We also pushed for the SAFE Act language to be added to the Farm Bill, a funding package renewed about every five years. It was not included, however.
This was a frustrating outcome was for us and so many Americans who love horses and support of animal welfare. More than 80% oppose horse slaughter in opinion polls.
We and other advocates have succeeded in keeping horse slaughter plants closed within our borders since 2007 by successfully lobbying for year-to-year bans added to funding bills, but the foreign slaughter pipeline remains a shameful open secret.
We will not rest until slaughtering horses and exporting them to foreign slaughterhouses are banned permanently.
New anti-slaughter legislation will be introduced in the new Congress. When it is, we will provide the bill numbers and form letters you can send in support.
TAKE ACTION
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Call your members of Congress at (202) 224-3121. Urge them to support legislation to ban horse slaughter.
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Donate to RTF’s Wild Horse Defense Fund, which supports our lobbying, grassroots advocacy and selective litigation
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Lists of which members of Congress cosponsored the previous SAFE Act bill can be found here: House, Senate.
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