Since 2007, the commercial slaughter of horses in the US has been prohibited, in part through a budgetary restriction prohibiting the USDA from spending any of their budget on inspectors for horse slaughter plants.  That budget language is subject to renewal each year, meaning American horses are only thinly protected from a domestic horse slaughter industry being restarted.  They continue to be exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. However, HR 1661, the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. A companion bill, S 775, has been introduced in the US Senate.  If you live in Iowa, please take a moment to contact your Representative and ask them to cosponsor HR 1661.  Also, contact Senators Ernst and Grassley and ask them to cosponsor S 775.

Horse slaughter is bad for horses and communities:

• Slaughter methods are inherently inhumane for horses - processes based on cattle slaughter methods don't work given the differences in horse physiology: flight response; long, flexible necks complicate use of captive-bolt guns.
• Horses suffer long transport to slaughter in cruel conditions - crowded together in open trailers for hours, they injure themselves and each other.
• US slaughter would not address the "surplus horse problem" - 92% of horses slaughtered in US were "healthy/good" per USDA criteria. Killer buyers prefer healthy, lean horses over older and thinner horses.
• Net impact to host communities is negative - jobs created are few and undesirable. Environmental impact is negative and costly to communities and damaging to communities' reputations.
• US horsemeat cannot be guaranteed safe for human consumption - hundreds of medications are routinely administered to horses that render them unfit for human consumption. No records are kept as horses are not bred and raised for human consumption.
   

The SAFE Act would permanently protect American horses by banning the commercial slaughter of horses in the US and also ban their live export for slaughter simply by adding "equines" to an existing law protecting dogs and cats.

Thank you!