Horses are our pets, our workmates, our sport companions, our friends. They helped build our nation. They're not raised to be food because we don't eat them. So how is it that more than 150,000 U.S. horses—from retired racers to show ponies to wild mustangs—get sent abroad to slaughter every year? And with a staggering 80% of Americans opposed to horse slaughter, how is it possible that this gruesome industry is poised to return to our shores?
When horses suffer injuries or age out of their jobs, some owners would rather sell them to the highest bidder than fund their remaining years in retirement. But at auctions, horses are scooped up by "killer buyers" who resell these horses to slaughterhouses to be butchered for their meat.
Horse slaughter is barbaric and cruel—it should never be confused with humane euthanasia. The ASPCA is fighting this grisly industry and countless other forms of animal cruelty, but we can't do it without your help.
Our immediate task is to pass laws and enact regulations blocking the resumption of U.S. horse slaughter. This includes working with Congress to defund horse meat inspections and to pass the SAFE Act, a bill that will ban horse slaughter in all 50 states as well as ban export of our horses to other countries for slaughter.
Unless we act now, it may not be long before Europe's recent horse meat scandal strikes a lot closer to home. A slaughterhouse in New Mexico has filed a USDA application to process horses into meat, and in late March, the state of Oklahoma became the latest to legalize the sale of horse meat for human consumption.
As long as horse slaughter remains a legal option, the ASPCA will be there to fight for horses. Please consider donating to the ASPCA to support our efforts to end horse slaughter and protect other companion animals from lives of suffering and abuse.