Buchanan: Horse slaughtering must end

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), the only two-time recipient of the Humane Society’s Legislator of the Year award in 2015 and 2020, recently cosponsored bipartisan legislation to permanently ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, H.R. 3355, which Rep. Buchanan introduced on May 19 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), would 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, according to the congressional record bill summary. 

“The slaughter of horses for human consumption is a barbaric practice that has no place in America,” said Rep. Buchanan, co-chair of the congressional Animal Protection Caucus. “I look forward to continuing to lead the effort with Congresswoman Schakowsky to ban domestic horse slaughter and end the export of horses abroad for the same purpose.” 

Although the practice is currently illegal in the United States, the ban is temporary and subject to annual congressional review, according to Rep. Buchanan’s office, which noted that there is no federal law prohibiting the transport of horses across America’s borders for slaughter in Canada or Mexico. 

H.R. 3355 received endorsements from the Humane Society, the Animal Welfare Institute, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation. The bill has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.