Help Save American Horses From Slaughter

UPDATE (2/27/25): The SAFE Act has been reintroduced in the Senate as S.775 and in the House of Representatives as H.R.1661

Although the slaughter of horses for human consumption has been banned in the United States since 2007, legal loopholes still allow thousands of American horses to be shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada each year. In 2024 alone, more than 19,000 horses were sent across U.S. borders to be killed for their meat.

These horses endure horrific long-distance journeys to their deaths, crammed into overcrowded trucks without food or water. Many are unable to rest during shipments that last over 24 hours, and some are so severely injured that they die before even reaching the slaughterhouses.

No American horses are safe. Those sent to slaughter include wild and domestic horses, former racehorses, and former carriage horses. Horse meat buyers frequently outbid rescue organizations at auctions, and some companion horses have even been stolen from farms and sold into the slaughter pipeline.

For horse owners facing the heartbreaking reality of no longer being able to care for their animals, the threat of horse meat buyers posing as adopters is an all-too-real danger, turning what should be a safe transition into a betrayal.

Despite the fact that 80% of Americans oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption, the export of horses for slaughter remains a thriving business in border states.

A bipartisan group of legislators has been fighting for years to put an end to this industry by championing the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, a bill that would permanently ban the slaughter of American horses. If passed, it would make it illegal to "knowingly possess, ship, transport, purchase, sell, deliver, or receive a horse for it to be slaughtered for human consumption" and would also prohibit the buying, selling, or possession of horse meat in the U.S.

Passing the SAFE Act would be a monumental step in protecting America’s horses, ensuring they are never again subjected to such cruelty.

Please join Species Unite in ramping up support for this critical bill. Urge Congress to finally pass the SAFE Act and put an end to the brutal slaughter of American horses once and for all.