With the passage of a law that allows for funding U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspections of horse meat there is an effort underway to once again open the doors to this barbaric practice in the U.S., despite the widespread scandal surrounding horse meat in Europe.
The USDA has announced plans to process an application for inspecting horse slaughter operations at a facility in New Mexico. If it is approved, Valley Meat Company LLC will be the first to slaughter horses in the U.S. since 2007, when the last slaughterhouses in Texas and Illinois were closed for good.
The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act was recently introduced with bipartisan support and will prohibit the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the U.S. and ban their export abroad for that purpose, which will protect both consumers and horses.
Please sign the petition asking your representative to co-sponsor this vital piece of legislation and end the slaughter of America's horses once and for all.
As someone who cares about the welfare of animals and food safety, I am writing to urge you to support and co-sponsor the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act (S. 541/H.R. 1094). This important piece of legislation will ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the U.S. and stop their export abroad for that purpose.
Not only are the transport and slaughter procedures used for horses considered inhumane by citizens, industry professionals, animal protection groups and a number of professional organizations, including Veterinarians for Equine Welfare, but allocating funds for USDA inspections of horse meat and perpetuating this cruelty at the expense of the taxpayer is reprehensible.
It's also unconscionable to think that the government would allocate money to fund USDA inspections for horse slaughter when its already furloughing its inspectors.
Additionally, horses are not raised for human consumption in the U.S. and regularly receive a host of drugs that are prohibited for use in food animals, hundreds of which are considered toxic for humans by the Food and Drug Administration and there is currently no way to track them.
The SAFE ACT will end the slaughter of American horses and prevent them from being shipped abroad for slaughter - practices the vast majority of Americans are opposed to.
I sincerely hope you will support and co-sponsor this vital piece of legislation that will keep both horses and consumers safe. If you have already done so, I would like to share my deepest gratitude. Despite what proponents say, slaughter is not the solution.
