(May 24, 2018)—The United States Senate Appropriations Committee passed the FY19 Agriculture Appropriations bill with a provision to maintain the ban on the slaughter of horses and burros for human consumption on U.S. soil. The provision bars spending by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to inspect horse slaughterhouses, saving millions of taxpayer dollars, and effectively banning horse slaughter in the United States.
Similar language was included in the FY18 omnibus spending bill and has been maintained in most spending bills since 2005. The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund, along with many other horse rescues and industry groups across the nation, strongly support this effort.
Holly Gann, federal legislative specialist at the Humane Society of the United States, said:
"Horse slaughter is fundamentally un-American and has no place in the U.S. This predatory industry enables theft and criminal abuse of horses at the cost of our hard earned tax dollars. We commend the Senate Appropriations Committee for adopting this legislation, sending a strong message that horse slaughter will never be accepted in this country. We applaud their leadership in taking a stand that reflects the will of 80 percent of the American public."
The House version of the agriculture appropriations bill includes funding for horse slaughter inspections.
We urge Congress to continue the ban on slaughtering horses in the U.S. and pass the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, H.R. 113/S.1706, which would permanently bring an end to this cruel and predatory industry, including exports of U.S. horses for slaughter in other countries.
Media contact: Shayna McClelland: 301-258-1534; smcclelland@humanesociety.org
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The Humane Society Legislative Fund is a social welfare organization incorporated under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and formed in 2004 as a separate lobbying affiliate of The Humane Society of the United States. The HSLF works to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal level, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office. Visit us on all our channels: on the web at hslf.org, on our blog at animalsandpolitics.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/humanelegislation and on Twitter at twitter.com/HSLegFund.
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization, rated the most effective by its peers. Since 1954, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. We rescue and care for tens of thousands of animals each year, but our primary mission is to prevent cruelty before it occurs. We're there for all animals, across America and around the world. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty -- on the Web at humanesociety.org. Subscribe to the blog, A Humane Nation. Join The HSUS on Facebook. Follow The HSUS on Twitter. See our work for animals on your Apple or Android device by searching for our “Humane TV” app.
