The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act has been reintroduced by Reps. Frank Guinta (R-NH), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM). This bill would ban horse slaughter in the United States, while ensuring American horses are not exported out of the US for the same purpose.

The long exposed rampant cruelty and dishonesty of this industry—from what goes on inside the slaughterhouse to the backroom dealings of killer buyers misleading horse owners. Undercover footage from former US horse slaughter plants revealed horrific suffering: employees whipping horses in the face, horses who flipped over backward and were injured due to rough and abusive handling, and horses remaining conscious while shackled and hoisted by a rear leg to have their throats cut. Documents and photos from these slaughterhouses show horses with broken bones protruding from their bodies, eyeballs hanging by a thread of skin, and open wounds.

In addition to the terrible abuses, there is another side to this industry that is gaining attention. Horses are not raised for human consumption in the United States and are regularly administered drugs that are expressly prohibited by federal regulations for use in food animals. A New York Times article highlighted the plethora of drugs used on race horses—including cobra venom and cocaine—and the resulting food safety threats. In fact, as of January 15, 2015, the European Union (EU) banned imports of horse meat from Mexico to the EU after an audit of EU-certified Mexican horse slaughter plants found widespread animal welfare and food safety problems. The report noted that 87 percent of the horses slaughtered for human consumption in Mexico for export to the EU come from the United States.

I urge the Secretary of Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture to take all steps necessary to investigate, prosecute and prevent all forms of abuse of animals used in food production and to bring a stop to this cruel practice... as a member of the US House of Representatives or the US Senate, please cosponsor H.R. 1942, the SAFE Act. and then bring this issue to a vote. Once it passes the House and reaches the Senate, I urge all of the members of that legislative branch to vote yes on the bill so this can be brought before President Obama for his signature.  For more information on this issue of animal abuse and horse slaughter, please visit the Animal Welfare Institute at http://awionline.org/action-ealerts/please-tell-congress-pass-safeguard-american-food-exports-safe-act

What you can do a a citizen:

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