Progress! SAFE Act Reintroduced at Critical Moment for American Horses

Great news for America’s horses: A bipartisan group of lawmakers has recently reintroduced the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act in both the House and Senate as H.R.1661 and S.775. This critical legislation would finally close the loopholes that have allowed tens of thousands of horses to be shipped across U.S. borders to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico every year, despite the U.S. banning horse slaughter in 2007. The timing of this bill couldn’t be more urgent.

No horse in the United States is truly safe from the slaughter pipeline. Wild and domestic horses alike, including former racehorses, retired carriage horses, working ranch horses, and even stolen companion horses, fall victim to this brutal industry. Wild horses, however, are at particular risk due to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) ongoing roundups across western states, which have left tens of thousands of mustangs confined in government-run holding pens. To make room for even more removals, the BLM holds auctions and adoption events, but without proper oversight, many horses end up in the hands of kill buyers who adopt them only to sell them for slaughter at a profit.

In a recent victory for wild horses, a federal court overturned the BLM’s cash-for-adoption program, which had allowed kill buyers to pose as adopters. Under this flawed program, adopters received $1,000 per horse, only to turn around and sell them for slaughter, profiting twice at the expense of these innocent animals. The agency’s failure to enforce protections put thousands of wild horses at risk and underscored the urgent need for stronger safeguards.

Now, with major cuts to government funding across the country, there is a real danger that the nearly 60,000 horses and burros currently held in government pens could be sold off to kill buyers as a cost-saving measure. The SAFE Act would ensure that this can’t happen, protecting America’s horses from the tragic fate of being shipped thousands of miles to be violently slaughtered for human consumption. 

If you haven’t alreayd please join over 43,000 members of the Species Unite community who have signed our petition in support of the SAFE Act and keep sharing the petition with your networks so we can reach our goal of 50,000 signatures and send a clear message to Congress: The time to pass this crucial legislation is now!