Photo taken on the Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area by Meg Frederick.

Friends!

The U.S. Congress is about to begin their annual August/Summer recess where legislators return home for the month for vacations and meetings with constituents in their home districts.

This is the best opportunity for you to speak up for wild and domestic horses directly to your own elected official. Return to Freedom is working hard in Washington, D.C., on these issues, and while you regularly send important emails to Congress — legislators must hear from their constituents directly. It is crucial for them to know how important the protection of wild and domestic horses is to you, especially as your Representative and many Senators are heading into key elections in November.

Our ask of you for this August is simple:

• Please click here to locate your US Representative and both U.S. Senators.
• Once you locate them, visit their websites for numbers to the district office closest to you.
• Then call their district office, tell them you are a constituent and that you would like information on all town hall meetings they have scheduled for your legislator during the month of August and beyond. Because of Covid, some members may still only be holding virtual town halls, but that is ok.
• If none have been scheduled yet, ask for a way to be informed or keep calling back.
• You can also request an in person meeting with your legislator to discuss these issues.
• If you attend a town hall meeting or an in-person meeting, you should try and bring as many friends from the district to join you in support. Strength in Numbers!

Here are a couple of links that can give you talking points for when you speak to your legislator on protecting wild horses and passing the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act banning horse slaughter.  Of course, please read the full website for even more information on both issues.

Wild Horses: America’s Wild Horses: An Overview of their Plight

Horse Slaughter (SAFE Act): Horse Slaughter in America: The Ultimate Betrayal

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering the SAFE Act in Committee.  RTF is working hard to ensure it gets a quick and fair hearing so be sure to call on your representative to speak in support of the bill and oppose any amendments that might be offered.

Ask your Senators to urge the sponsors, Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to move the bill immediately.

Our window to pass the SAFE Act during this Congress is limited and if we don’t pass it by December, we must start all over again.  It was 20 years ago this year that the bill to ban slaughter was first introduced, so now is the time to pass the SAFE Act and our elected officials need to act now!

For more ways to take action, click here.

Donate to our Wild Horse Defense Fund to support our lobbying and grassroots advocacy