Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act (SAFE Act) of 2021 (H.R.3355 / S.2732)
Every year, more than 100,000 American horses are exported across US borders for slaughter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The slaughtering of horses for human consumption in the United States is currently illegal, but American equines are still funneled into the international horse flesh pipeline. Dumped in kill auctions, they are purchased by kill buyers for export to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses. Some are flown from there to abattoirs in Japan and South Korea to satisfy demand for horse meat in Asia and parts of Europe. Americans overwhelmingly do not want horses purchased under false pretenses, packed into overcrowded trailers, tormented on long drives and flights, and prodded into slaughterhouses, where their deaths are painful and shockingly inhumane. This happens to discarded race, dressage, and western competition horses; work horses that outlive their usefulness through age, illness, or injury; horses abandoned by breeders, or stolen from good homes; outgrown pets passed from hand to hand; federally *protected* wild mustangs and burros that once roamed free on public lands. Four equines at our sanctuary – Peanut, Peppy, Stuey, and Bentley – were saved from this fate. Any horse can be one bad sale away from the filthy, horrific conditions of kill pens. The SAFE Act of 2021 can bring this to an end.
Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act (SAFE Act) of 2021 – S.2732 – is a bipartisan bill that “prohibits the knowing sale or transport of horses for purposes of human consumption. Specifically, the bill makes it unlawful to knowingly possess, ship, transport, purchase, sell, deliver, or receive a horse for it to be slaughtered for human consumption. It also makes it unlawful to knowingly possess, ship, transport, purchase, sell, deliver, or receive horse flesh, carcass, or part of a carcass for it to be used for human consumption. Violators are subject to criminal penalties.” The same bill, with different numbers, is currently moving thru both chambers of Congress. H.R.3355 was introduced in the House by Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL). S.2732 was introduced in the Senate by Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). The wide range of support for this bill is reflected in the political affiliation of its cosponsors. This is an issue, on which Americans overwhelmingly agree.
Peanut, Peppy, Stuey, and Bentley would appreciate your help in turning this legislation into law. You can do this by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard (202-224-3121) and ask to be transferred to the offices of your Representative and Senators. Tell them that you are a constituent and a tax payer. Ask them to please cosponsor the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R.3355 / S.2732) and do all they can to pass it into law. Tell them that horses and burros must be protected from the predatory equine slaughter industry. If you know they already support the bill, please contact them to express your gratitude. Follow up with an e-mail that can be sent via the contact forms on their individual websites. Additionally, send a message to President Joe Biden at www.whitehouse.gov and call Secretary Deb Haaland (202-208-3100) at the Department of Interior. A grassroots movement for wild horses and burros has gained traction in Congress. Please know that your calls and emails do make a difference! Feel free to use any of this text, as well as the #passSAFEactnow image and hashtag to share on social media. Don’t forget to tag your representative and senators, as well as #potus and @vp.
