​​​The legal issue of horse slaughter for human consumption has been debated in U.S. courts and Congress for years. It especially heated up in 2012 when the federal appropriations bill was approved without a ban for USDA horsemeat inspections. But this isn't the first time the horse slaughter debate has been a contentious topic. ​​The timeline below lists key legal battles and legislative dates at the state and federal levels.

U.S. HORSE SLAUGHTER TIMELINE

• 1998 — 2005
• 2006 — 2007
• 2011 — 2013
• 2014 — 2021

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November 1998: California voters passed Proposition 6 which banned the slaughter of horses, donkeys and mules and sale of horse meat for human consumption.

June 2005: Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY) proposes an amendment to the 2005-2006 appropriations bill prohibiting federal funding for inspections of horses for meat. The amendment passed on a vote of 269-158.

September 2005: Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), a veterinarian, and nine co-sponsors proposed a companion amendment to the Sweeney amendment that had passed the House of Representatives. The Senate amendment passed 69-28.

​November 2005: The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005-2006 was signed into law. This appropriation bill included the following paragraph that ultimately led to the closure of horse slaughterhouses in the United States: H. R. 2744—45 SEC. 794. Effective 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to pay the salaries or expenses of personnel to inspect horses under section 3 of the Federal Meat inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603) or under the guidelines issued under section 903 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 1901 note; Public Law 104–127). 

​February 2006: The USDA issued a regulation (CFR 352.19) that allowed the remaining slaughterhouses to circumvent the horse inspection funding ban by paying for their own inspections.

September 2006: The House of Representatives passes the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, which would ban the sale and transport of American horses for human consumption. The Senate bill died in committee.

January 2007: The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S.311) was introduced by Janice Schakowsky (D-IL) in the U.S. House and in the U.S. Senate by Mary Landrieu (D-LA). The legislation was referred to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee but never moved to a full vote.

January 2007: A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit upheld Chapter 149 of the Texas Agriculture Code banning the sale, transfer or possession of horse meat for human consumption. This decision was upheld by the 19 judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The statute had been in effect since 1949 but had not been enforced during the years that the Texas slaughterhouses were operational. This decision was upheld by the 19 judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 6, 2007.

March 2007: The Dallas Crown slaughterhouse of Kaufman, Texas shut down operations. The mayor and residents of Kaufman had fought a long and expensive battle in an effort to shutter the plant, which had a long list of environmental complaints and was considered a public nuisance.

March 2007: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that it was illegal for horse slaughterhouses to pay the USDA for their own horse meat inspections, closing the loophole that had allowed horse slaughter to continue around the federal law. USDA inspectors were pulled from Cavel International, the equine slaughterhouse in DeKalb, Ill. the following day, and operations were shut down. However, Cavel appealed the decision and argued for an injunction in July 2007, and were able to resume slaughter while the case was still under consideration.

July 2011: U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and  Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reintroduced the American Horse Slaughter Protection Act (S. 1176).

September 2011: The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a version of the agriculture appropriations bill that no longer contained the ban on funding for horse meat inspections. 

November 2011: The agriculture appropriations bill for 2012 was passed by Congress and signed into law without the wording that had prohibited horse meat inspections since 2006. 

January 2013: The New York State Assembly introduced a bill (A.B. 3905) that would prohibit the slaughter of horses intended for human consumption and the export of horse meat. 

March 2013: Maine’s House of Representatives introduced L.D.1286 which aimed at protecting horses from slaughter by prohibiting the sale or the transport of horses for slaughter within the state.

March 2013: The Safeguard American Food Exports Act was introduced in both the House and Senate. If passed into federal law, the Act would declare horsemeat unsafe and ban the sale of horses to slaughter and of horsemeat for human consumption.

March 2013: In New Mexico, a bill (H.B.90) introduced in the state house that would allocate money for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to study the feasibility of locating a horse slaughter facility in the state.

March 2013: ​Oklahoma lifted its 50-year ban on horse slaughter when Gov. Mary Fallin signed a new law that will allow slaughter facilities to process and export horsemeat. This new law went into effect November 1, 2013.

June—September 2013: The USDA issues a “Grant of Inspection” to facilities in New Mexico, Iowa, and Missouri to allow them to slaughter horses.

July 2013: In response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to allow horse slaughter facilities to resume operating on U.S. soil, a federal lawsuit was filed against the agency by HSUS, Front Range Equine Rescue, Horses For Life Foundation, Marin Humane Society, et al.  ​

January 2014: A new federal budget with the horse slaughter prohibition language included was passed by Congress and signed by President Obama.

2014 — 2020: The federal bill, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, which would make it illegal to slaughter equines on U.S. soil or abroad, has been introduced in every Congressional session. Despite broad bipartisan support, the measure has yet to be passed into law.

January 2021: New York State introduced a bill (S.1442) that would prohibit the slaughter of racehorses and make it illegal to traffic slaughter-bound horses in the state. It would also require New York state racehorse breeders to designate money to aftercare programs.

May 2021: The Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act was introduced in the U.S. House. If passed into federal law, slaughtering American equines on U.S. soil or abroad would be illegal. 

2021 LEGISLATION

​​If enacted into federal law, the Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act will prohibit horse slaughter facilities from operating on U.S. soil, end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect consumers from eating toxic horsemeat. ​Please join the effort to pass the SAFE Act by reaching out to your federal legislators.

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