Photo taken at RTF’s San Luis Obispo, Calif., satellite sanctuary by Tracy Tucker.
More than 80% of Americans oppose horse slaughter in opinion polls.
It’s up to Congress to end this inhumane business.
A ban on shipping horses for slaughter has been inserted into the surface transportation reauthorization bill, providing a prime opportunity for lawmakers to finally close the slaughter pipeline.
The transport bill language aligns with the goal of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, a standalone bill with 230 bipartisan House cosponsors.
Why it matters:
The horse slaughter pipeline to foreign slaughterhouses begins in auction yards. A handful of unscrupulous kill buyers profit from buying horses on the cheap, then shipping them to slaughterhouses over the border.
Slaughter-bound horses and other equines endure grueling journeys to slaughter plants and an inhumane death.
These include domestic horses as well as an unknown number of once wild and free horses and burros that fall through the cracks after being adopted or sold following government roundups.
A growing number:
Last year, 25,050 American equines were sent to die in Mexican or Canadian slaughterhouses, the most since 2020.
From January to April of this year, 8,805 were exported for slaughter — an increase of 53.5% from the same period a year ago.
For now, exports to Mexico are on hold because of the discovery of screwworm in Texas cattle.
You can help:
- Call (202) 224-3121. Urge your representative to oppose any effort to remove the horse slaughter ban amendment when the surface transportation reauthorization bill comes up for a vote on the House floor.
- Send a message to all of your members of Congress asking for them to cosponsor the SAFE Act and the inclusion of anti-slaughter language in the surface transportation reauthorization bill.
- Help spread the word by sharing our posts on social media.
- Donate to our Wild Horse Defense Fund, which fuels our Capitol Hill lobbying, grassroots advocacy and selective litigation.
Learn more:
Watch our recent webinar on the effort to end horse slaughter.