Every year, thousands of horses are shipped out of their home country to meet a brutal end in foreign slaughterhouses. These intelligent and sensitive creatures often endure long, stressful journeys only to face a terrifying death, all in the name of profit. Yet, these animals that we hold so dear deserve respect and compassion, not such a devastating fate.

On May 24, 2007, the last slaughterhouse in the United States producing horsemeat for human consumption was closed by State statute, but owners and companies still ship horses across borders to be slaughtered for human consumption. The USDA currently allows kill buyers or kill pens to export horses to Mexico or Canada for the purpose of slaughter. The USDA puts out a monthly report on this practice but does nothing to stop the export of these horses that could still have a good life in the hands of proper owners.

Every day, a kill buyer loads trailers with dozens of horses (most times over-filled) with no regard to the horses well-being. The horses are transported over hundreds of miles across the border into Canada or Mexico, without food or water, for the sole purpose of being slaughtered. These horses face horrible treatment being packed into tight quarters on trailers, suffering injuries and sometimes even death on those trailers. Yet, nothing is done to regulate or enforce laws on the ethical treatment of these precious lives!

The process of sending them over the border is long and grueling. The Freedom of Information Act documents report horses and foals experiencing dismemberment, compound fractured limbs and backs, crushed skulls, and being trampled to death while in transit. Other reports and investigations confirm significantly injured, sick, non-ambulatory, and dead horses at auctions and assembly points.

Due to horses physiology, it is impossible to slaughter horses humanely without sedatives. Once they arrive at the slaughterhouses, the horses are forced through narrow passageways and are hit repeatedly with a penetrating captive bolt gun until they fall unconscious. Once unconscious, they are dismembered. The horses are not euthanized before being dismembered. In some cases, the horses may even still be conscious during dismemberment due to the failure of the bolt successfully knocking them out.

Not only is the process of getting horse meat cruel and inhumane, but the actual horse meat itself is unhealthy for human consumption. Unlike other livestock, American horses are not raised for food. They are routinely treated with medications that the FDA bans for use in animals intended for human consumption. Their meat is unsafe to eat. Even individuals who choose not to eat horse meat can be exposed to these banned medications because of horse slaughter byproducts contaminating our groundwater.

The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3475 and S. 2037) is a bipartisan bill that permanently bans horse slaughter in the United States and prohibits the exportation of equines for slaughter. This bill will close the loophole and will permanently prohibit the slaughter of equines (e.g., horses and mules) for human consumption. (Current law prohibits the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption. This bill extends the prohibition to equines.) 

Specifically, this bill prohibits a person from knowingly 

~ slaughtering an equine for human consumption; or 
~ shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an equine to be slaughtered for human consumption or equine parts for human consumption.
 

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) introduced it to the 118th Congress (2023 - 2024). To become law, the SAFE Act needs to pass in the House of Representatives, and then in the Senate. But this is not a quick—or easy—process. Congressional and organizational outreach efforts are more important than ever. In addition to signing this petition, reach out to your state representatives and tell them to pass the SAFE Act NOW! 

Your signature is much appreciated.