The Issues

Proposed Legislation and Public Policy

Federal Legislation

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503, S. 311)

Americans don't eat horsemeat, but American horses are slaughtered every year to please palates in France, Belgium and Japan. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, 65,976 equines were slaughtered in the U.S. in 2004 and 91,757 were slaughtered in 2005 at foreign-owned slaughterhouses, their meat sent abroad for human consumption.

The transport of horses for slaughter, like most farm animals, is extremely inhumane--as are the slaughter methods. Horses suffer particularly during slaughter because, as "flight" animals who experience tremendous fear when crowded together in places that smell of blood, they are difficult to contain during the actual slaughtering procedures. The captive bolt pistol, a device meant to stun each horse prior to slaughter, often misses its mark and leaves the animals writhing in pain and suffering agonizing deaths.

There are three foreign-owned plants in the U.S. that, until recently, butchered horses for export to Europe, Japan and Mexico: Dallas Crown in Kaufman, Texas; Beltex Corp. in Fort Worth, Texas; and Cavel International in DeKalb, Illinois. Fortunately, court rulings at the federal and state levels have shut down these facilities. Most recently, on Sept. 21, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit of Illinois upheld Illinois' state law banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

Since the closure of these three U.S. plants, however, there has been a 370 percent increase in the number of American horses shipped to Mexican slaughterhouses. According to the veterinarian at a Ciudad Juarez slaughterhouse, some horses arrive dead, and many others come in injured, battered and bruised, after traveling hundreds of miles in packed trucks from the U.S.

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 311) would resolve this problem by banning the shipment of American horses to foreign slaughterhouses for human consumption. It would ensure a permanent ban on the slaughter of American horses once and for all by banning the shipping, receiving, delivering, moving, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption.

After the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved the measure earlier this year, S. 311 now awaits a vote by the full Senate. It is crucial for all activists to contact their two U.S. Senators and ask them to vote YES on S. 311, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.

Although similar legislation banning horse slaughter made much progress in the last Congressional session, it stalled in the Senate and was not brought up for a vote before the end of the session. For the sake of the horses, we must not allow this to happen again.

What You Can Do

• Please make a short polite phone call to your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators today, urging them to strongly support The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 311). Let them know that American horses should not die in cruel slaughterhouses-whether in the U.S. or abroad. Find out who your federal legislators are.

  Calling in support of the bill is easy, and it can make a huge difference for the animals. (Congressional offices have said that they count every phone call received on a bill as representing the opinions of up to 100 other people!)

• Find out if your legislators are cosponsoring the bills. If they have cosponsors please send them a quick note of thanks!
  

  House: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/
  bdquery/z?d110:HR00503:@@@P

  Senate: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/
  bdquery/z?d110:SN00311:@@@P

More You Can Do

To become a citizen co-sponsor of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, click here.

Latest News on Horse Slaughter:

No Country for Horses
June 10, 2008
With slaughterhouses closed in the U.S., Canada is now home to a growing horse slaughter industry. Undercover video exposes some disturbing methods.
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/no_country_for_horses/no_
country_for_horses.html