The Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act Introduced in the U.S. Senate to Stop Horse Slaughter

​Today, U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation to permanently prohibit and make it a federal crime to slaughter horses for human consumption in the United States. The legislation also bans any related interstate or foreign commercial activity, such as the export of horsemeat or the transport of horses to slaughterhouses in other countries.

The John Stringer Rainey Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act prohibits the knowing sale or transport of equines or equine parts in interstate or foreign commerce for purposes of human consumption. It also makes it a federal crime punishable by up to two years in prison for individuals and slaughterhouses who violate the law. CLICK HERE for full language of the bill. 

​There are no horse slaughter facilities currently operating within the USA. However, every year over 30,000 American horses are live-exported over the borders to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for human consumption. All equines, both wild and domestic, are subject to falling prey to the slaughter pipeline by being acquired by kill-buyers, the middlemen who send the horses to a grisly death at slaughterhouses

​According to national polls, 80 percent of Americans oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Research published in 2017 found that there are 2.3 million adults (1.2 million households) with the desire and the resources to adopt a horse immediately. This suggests that homes are available to take in enough horses equal to the number that would otherwise be sent to slaughter.

Help Pass the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act

In June 2021, the U.S. House passed an amendment to ban the transport of slaughter-bound horses over state lines and over U.S. borders. This was a historic victory that positions the SAFE Act to successfully advance through both chambers of Congress and enacted into federal law.

​Please contact your federal legislators and urge them to support this vital legislation. Together, we can do this! 

HELP THE HORSES

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