Tell Congress: Ban Horse Slaughter in the Next Farm Bill! Dear John,
Each year, tens of thousands of horses are exported to Canada and Mexico from the United States to be butchered in slaughterhouses for human consumption. Horses who wind up in the slaughter pipeline typically endure long, overcrowded journeys without adequate food, water, or rest. The entire process of horse slaughter, from transport conditions to rough handling at the slaughterhouse to improper stunning methods, is inherently cruel.
Congress may soon consider language for the next Farm Bill, which is the primary vehicle for implementing agriculture-related policy in the United States. The Farm Bill offers an opportunity to finally ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the United States?and end their export for that purpose abroad. This reflects the will of the American public, which overwhelmingly supports permanently banning this gruesome and inhumane practice.
More than half of the US House of Representatives is currently cosponsoring the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 1661/S. 775), federal legislation that would permanently protect American horses from commercial slaughter. The SAFE Act builds on language included in the 2018 Farm Bill that banned the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption. The time is ripe to extend these protections to horses and include the SAFE Act's language in the Farm Bill.
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