Support the effort to Ban Horse Slaughter

In Our Hands Action Fund strongly supports all efforts to ban horse slaughter and is urging everyone to do the same by contacting your members of Congress, posting about this import issue on social media and making a donation to help further our efforts to end horse slaughter.

Facts About Horse Slaughter

HORSE SLAUGHTER IS INHERENTLY CRUEL

The entire process of horse slaughter—from transport to stunning methods—is inherently cruel.  Horses that wind up in the slaughter pipeline are usually purchased from unsuspecting owners by “kill-buyers” or industry middlemen who profit from selling the animals to foreign slaughterhouses.  These horses typically endure long, overcrowded journeys without adequate food, water, or rest.  Because they instinctively thrash their long necks when frightened, stunning them often requires repeated blows to the head.  They might even be conscious during slaughter and dismemberment.  Before U.S. horse slaughter facilities closed in 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture documented this and other examples of horrifying cruelty at operating US slaughterhouses.  Photos taken by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) while at one of the US based horse slaughter facilities are too graphic to show here (Google Horse Slaughter, USDA, FOIA Photos to find them online), but they demonstrate exactly why slaughter must be banned in the US.

U.S. HORSE MEAT IS TOXIC TO HUMANS DUE TO THE UNREGULATED ADMINISTRATION OF DRUGS TO HORSES 

Because American horses are not raised for food, they are routinely given a wide range of medications and chemical substances prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in animals raised for food. Those drugs can be toxic when ingested by humans. In direct response to this food safety threat, the European Union, a primary importer of horse meat derived from American horses, has instituted more stringent import policies, including a ban on horse meat sourced in Mexico.  

IF THERE IS A BAN ON HORSE SLAUGHTER, WILL HORSE RESCUE AND RETIREMENT GROUPS HAVE THE RESOURCES TO TAKE CARE OF UNWANTED HORSES? SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT HAVE TO PAY FOR THE CARE OF HORSES VOLUNTARILY GIVEN UP BY THEIR OWNERS? 

Hundreds of horse rescue organizations operate around the country, and additional facilities are being established all the time.  There is even a national coalition of horse rescue organizations established over a decade ago to help support and improve the quality of horse rescues.  In addition, not every horse currently going to slaughter will need to be absorbed into the rescue community. Many are marketable horses who will be sold to new more responsible owners. Sick and elderly horses should be humanely euthanized by a licensed veterinarian. It is not the government's responsibility to provide for the care of horses voluntarily given up by their owners.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE UNWANTED HORSES?

The term “Unwanted Horse” was actually created by those advocating for the continuation of horse slaughter itself.  The horse slaughter industry is demand driven.  Meaning it is based on the demand for horsemeat and not a service provided to deal with horses no longer wanted.  That is why slaughter numbers have been almost as high as 400,000 and low as 47,000 in the mid-2000s.  It is also why slaughterhouses in the United States were closing on their own.  During that fluctuation, there was no cry by slaughter advocates regarding a need to care for horses.  The system adjusted and horses went to rescues, new owners or were euthanized.  If horse slaughter were to end tomorrow there might be 1,000 to 2,000 horses in the “pipeline” not 60,000+ as is claimed.  Let’s end horse slaughter and groups like In Our Hands Action Fund would gladly step up to help find homes for those needing homes. Without horse slaughter, horses will be kept longer, placed in new homes and careers and horse industry organizations would be required to advocate for more responsible breeding programs.

There is also no logic in suggesting that horses currently going to slaughter would need to be euthanized and disposed of following passage of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R. 3355/S. 2732). Because most horses going to slaughter, 92.3% according to the US Department of Agriculture's Guidelines for Handling and Transporting Equines to Slaughter, are marketable animals deemed to be in “good” condition. The horse slaughter industry is a meat industry, therefore the companies purchasing horses to supply this market are looking for healthy, strong, and often young horses which would provide them with better meat.  They don’t want America’s old, sick, and diseased horses to fill a demand for this delicacy in restaurants throughout Europe  and Asia.  

Be sure to check out our Herd on The Hill blog, the Myth of the Unwanted Horse for more on this issue.

WHAT ABOUT THE GROWING NUMBER OF HORSES IN THE WILD THAT ARE HARMING PUBLIC LANDS AND OFTEN HAVE NO ACCESS TO WATER OR FORAGE?

Too often pro-slaughter forces like to mix the plight of America’s wild horse population with domestic horses being sent to slaughter.  It has been illegal to sell a federally protected wild horse to slaughter since the passage of the 1970 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.  Banning slaughter is related to the domestic horse population in the US and not wild horses.  While some wild horses may end up in slaughter through illegal sales by the Bureau of Land Management or after a wild horses has been adopted by a member of the public and a year waiting period has passed, it is rare for this to happen.  Equine groups like In Our Hands Action Fund are always on the lookout for real stories of wild horses ending up in slaughter.

America’s wild horses are facing a future due to the gross mismanagement of the federal government’s Wild Horse and Burro program which overseas their care. They are being improperly removed from their range, falsely blamed for range problems, and wrongly kept from suitable habitat and water resources.  IOHAF works with other equine groups to create humane long-term management solutions that will end round ups, restore habitat, and ensure the future of these national icons for generations to come.

USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO SUBSIDIZE HORSE SLAUGHTER IS FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE

Horse slaughter facilities no longer operate in the United States due to a widely supported annual appropriations provision that prevents the use of USDA funds for inspection of such facilities.  Indeed, the Administration’s FY21 budget proposal specifically requests that no federal funding be authorized for USDA inspections of horse slaughter facilities or horsemeat.  No market within the United States for these products exists, and national polling consistently shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans oppose the consumption of horses for food. If we resumed horse slaughter, tax dollars would need to be allocated for it—and diverted from inspections for foods that Americans do consume. 

Rather than relying on an annual appropriation request every fiscal year that allows our horses to continue being exported to slaughter, passing the SAFE Act (H.R. 3355/S. 2732) will put a permanent end to this grisly business and align our laws with our humane values.

WHY JUST BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER? WHAT ABOUT HOGS, CATTLE AND CHICKENS?

Good question and we strongly encourage you to reach out to organizations dedicated to fighting for the welfare of these animals.  It is true, the entire US based slaughter industry is rife with problems and serious abuses.  Millions of cattle, hogs and poultry are slaughtered every single year and there are ample examples of widespread abuses.  In Our Hands Action Fund is an organization dedicated to equine welfare issues and are working to pass the SAFE Act which is currently pending before the US Congress with strong bipartisan support.  Ending horse slaughter is an issue that has support from both parties in Congress, the current Administration, the overwhelming majority of the American public from cities to rural communities and several state laws.

Please contact your U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators today in support of legislation banning horse slaughter.

We make it easy for you to find your legislators and send them a personal message from here on our website.