​Coalition of Bipartisan Lawmakers Urge Defunding of U.S. Horse Slaughter Plant Operations in FY21 Spending Bill

U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and John Katko (R-NY) took the lead in an effort to keep horse slaughter plants shuttered on U.S. soil.

In a letter sent to key leaders of Appropriations Committees, they urged for a continued restriction on the use of taxpayer funds for horse slaughter operations in the United States. This provision was included in both the House Fiscal Year 2021 agriculture appropriations bill and the administration’s Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Request. This is a continuation of overwhelmingly popular policy that has been in place each year since Fiscal Year 2014 and for all but two years since 2005. This provision is necessary to stop the return of the predatory horse slaughter industry in America.

At a time when Congress faces difficult budgetary decisions to help Americans through the COVID-19 pandemic, expending limited funds to bolster a foreign owned industry should not be one of them. Horse slaughter is an inherently cruel practice that 80% of Americans want to see permanently banned.

​Beyond fiscal concerns, flesh from American horses is not fit for human consumption. Equines are not considered food animals in the U.S. and therefore are not raised under the regulatory restrictions of animals used for that purpose. Throughout their lives, they routinely receive drugs and medications that are specifically banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in food animals due to their toxicity to humans.

85 additional U.S. Representatives signed the letter, sending a strong message to leadership that horse slaughter plants are not welcome in the USA and not one penny of taxpayer money should be allocated to fund them. 

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STOP THE SLAUGHTER

No American equine should end up in the abusive slaughter pipeline, just to end up on someone's dinner plate. The Safeguard American Food Export (SAFE) Act would make it illegal to slaughter horses on U.S. soil or over the borders in Canada and Mexico. Please reach out to your federal legislators and urge them to cosponsor and support this vital legislation. 

HELP THE HORSES

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