Newly available statistics continue to show an increase in the number of American horses being trucked to Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses.
For this to stop, Congress must take action.
The total number of slaughter-bound horses exported for all of 2025 now stands at 24,764, according to government statistics. That’s the most since 2020 and an increase of almost 24% from 2024, even without December figures from the Canadian border not yet available.
Sadly, the number of horses being shipped out of the country shows no sign of slowing down: A total of 1,691 horses were sent to Mexican slaughter plants in January, up a full 75% from the same month last year, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A bipartisan bill that would shut down the foreign slaughter pipeline, the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, now has 224 Houses cosponsors — enough support to pass — but it must be brought up for a vote.
Ways you can help:
Send a message to your members of Congress urging them to back the bill and call for a vote.
Call your senators and representative at (202) 224-3121. Urge them to support the SAFE Act to ban horse slaughter and push for a vote.
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What else would the SAFE Act do?
The SAFE Act would also place a lasting ban on slaughter inside the United States.
Since 2007, advocates like Return to Freedom have had to push for annual spending bill language that prevents the USDA from hiring horsemeat inspectors. What is effectively a year-to-year ban is all that stands in the way of a resumption of horse slaughter here at home.
What about wild horses?
The equines shipped out of the country include an unknown number of wild horses and burros born on our public lands before being captured in government roundups. After a completed adoption or sale, the government does not track what happens to those animals.
Like domestic horses, adopted wild horses and burros can fall through the cracks and end up at auction where kill buyers will be waiting until Congress puts them out of business for good.