Equine Justice

In the House, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), introduced H.R. 503, entitled The Horse Protection Act, on January 14, 2009, with 61 original cosponsors. Both bills would prohibit the “shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of any horse or other equine to be slaughtered for human consumption.” (Originally introduced by Rep. John Sweeny (D-NY) in 2005, the House passed H.R. 503 in September 2006 but the Senate failed to take action before it adjourned).

Legislators introduced horse slaughter prevention bills in 2007 and 2008 in both the House and Senate in an effort to increase public awareness. In the Senate, Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduced the “Virgie S. Arden American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act,” S. 311, in 2007 to Amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes.. The bill passed out of committee but never came up for a vote before the full Senate.

In January 2007, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and 17 co-sponsors introduced H.R. 249, entitled the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, to restore the 34-year ban on the commercial sale and slaughter of America's wild, free-roaming horses and burros. The new legislation was intended to restore the federal protections for wild horses and burros from sale and slaughter for human consumption overseas removed from protection by a controversial rider slipped into an omnibus spending bill by former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) in late 2004. Up to then, wild horses and burros had been protected from commercial sale and slaughter since the passage of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. The bill passed the House in April 2007 but died when it did not pass the Senate that year. It has not been resubmitted and there is no current protection for wild horses.

In 2008, Rep. Conyers (D-MI) also introduced H.R. 6598 entitled "Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2008". Sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, (R-Ind.), would prohibit the transport, sale, delivery, or export of horses for slaughter for human consumption. It would also criminalize the purchase, sale, delivery, or export of horsemeat intended for human consumption. The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has passed H.R. 6598. Supporters praise the bill for banning the export of horses to processing plants in Canada and Mexico. "The bill passed by voice vote on Sept. 23, [2008] " said Judiciary Committee Communications Director Jonathan Godfrey. "The next step is introduction on the House floor." Violators would face fines and/or one year imprisonment for a first offense or one involving five or fewer horses, and fines and/or three years imprisonment for repeat offenses or those involving more than five horses. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Customs would be responsible for enforcing the measure. Violators would face fines and/or one year imprisonment for a first offense or one involving five or fewer horses, and fines and/or three years imprisonment for repeat offenses or those involving more than five horses. On October 3, 2008, the House Committee on Agriculture granted an extension for further consideration ending not later than Jan. 3, 2009. H.R. 503 introduced this year by Rep. Conyers would extend these protections.

"In this country, horses are raised as work, sport, and companion animals and have never been part of the food chain here," said Rep. Edward Whitfield (R-KY), one of the bill's co-sponsors. "The industry claims banning slaughter will lead to a proliferation of abandoned and neglected horses and that horses being sent to slaughter are old and unwanted. Nothing could be further from the truth. Less than 1% of the total horse population is sent to slaughter, a percentage easily absorbed. Furthermore, we must remember that a large number of these horses are stolen and most certainly are not unwanted. I look forward to working with Chairman Rahall to pass this legislation and restore the BLM policy that has served us well for the past 34 year."

Although the few remaining horse slaughter plants operating in the US were shut down in 2007 under state law, the absence of a federal law banning the practice means that American horses are still at risk of being slaughtered for human consumption. In fact, according to the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington, D.C., more than 100,000 horses were exported to Mexico and Canada in 2008 for slaughter; In Canada horses are often shot to death while in Mexico some plants still use the “puntilla” knife to stab the horse into a state of paralysis prior to being slaughtered while still fully conscious. The meat is then sold to high-end consumers in Europe and Asia.

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