Photo taken by Tina Thuell at RTF’s American Wild Horse Sanctuary.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved the Fiscal Year 2019 Agriculture Appropriations bill that includes language defunding horse slaughter inspections for another year.
This stop-gap measure has helped us keep slaughter plants closed as we work to pass the SAFE Act to permanently ban horse slaughter and the transport of horses over our borders for slaughter.
That’s an important battle won—thanks in no small part to dedicated advocates like you–but there’s more work to do.
Please call (202) 225-3121 today. Tell your representative that you:
- Oppose any amendment to the FY19 Interior Appropriations bill allowing BLM to kill wild horses and burros;
- Oppose any amendment allowing for the sterilization of wild horses and burros because it is dangerous, unproven, costly and could be devastating to the future of these federally protected animals;
- Support the use of safe, proven fertility control vaccines for wild horses and burros;
- Support the SAFE Act (H.R. 113) to ban slaughter and the transportation of horses for slaughter;
- Support the Horse Transportation Safety Act (H.R. 4040) to ban hauling horses on double-deck trailers under all circumstances.
Tell your senators that you:
- Oppose any amendment to the FY19 Interior Appropriations bill allowing BLM to kill wild horses and burros;
- Oppose any amendment allowing for the sterilization of wild horses and burros because it is dangerous, unproven, costly and could be devastating to the future of these federally protected animals;
- Support the use of safe, proven fertility control vaccines for wild horses and burros;
- Support the anti-horse slaughter language in the FY19 Agriculture Appropriations bill;
- Support the SAFE Act (S. 1706) to ban slaughter and the transportation of horses for slaughter.
Please help spread the word by sharing this page and our social media posts.
Here’s where we stand:
Wild horses
The House Interior Subcommittee released a FY19 Interior appropriations bill that includes protective language for wild horses and burros.
A meeting of the full House Appropriations Committee to consider that bill was postponed earlier this week, with no new date set.
Increasingly, those in the House who pushed for euthanizing – shooting – healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros last year are now working to sell their colleagues on sterilizing wild horses and burros, which Return to Freedom opposes. We’ll have more to say on the subject in the days ahead.
The Senate Interior Subcommittee has not yet released its FY19 Interior appropriations bill.
Horse slaughter
Like last year, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have now split on this issue as part of the FY19 Agriculture appropriations process.
House appropriators voted against the so-called horse slaughter defund amendment to its spending bill on a recent voice vote. The amendment would have barred the U.S. Department of Agriculture from using tax dollars to hire horsemeat inspectors, effectively blocking the return of horse slaughter plants in the absence of a permanent federal ban.
Now that Senate appropriators have approved a similar anti-slaughter amendment, advocates will need to urge the Senate to stand strong on the issue when leaders from the two houses eventually meet to work out the differences between their spending bills.
Last year, the Senate prevailed in conference with the House, keeping language defunding horse slaughter in the final 2018 spending package.
Both the House and Senate are also again considering a permanent ban on horse slaughter and the transportation of horses over our borders for slaughter. The Safeguard American Food Exports Act (SAFE) has amassed support from 211 House co-sponsors and 29 Senate co-sponsors.
We’re grateful that Senate appropriators continue to respect the will of Americans who overwhelmingly oppose slaughter, and thankful to everyone who continues to call and write their members of Congress.
Don’t let up!