House Subcommittee Hears Anti-Slaughter Discussion

An animal welfare spokesperson urged federal lawmakers May 26 on a House of Representatives subcommittee to support equine welfare legislation that would end the transport of horses out of the country for slaughter.

Katie Kraska, director of federal legislation for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, told the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee within the House Committee on Energy and Commerce there is bipartisan public support for ending the transport of U.S. horses to countries such as Canada and Mexico for slaughter.

The equine industry "has already stepped up to provide aftercare options, resources, safety-net services for horses in their care, but as long as horse slaughter is legal, they will continue to slip through the cracks," she said. "And as long as they end up there, the industry will not have the public's trust."

Her organization, ASPCA, is part of a coalition of backers of the bill, the Save America's Forgotten Equines Act. Other supporters include The Jockey Club, The Stronach Group, Breeders' Cup, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Jockeys' Guild, the New York Racing Association, Del Mar, and other entities.

Equine slaughterhouses in the U.S. have been shuttered since 2007, but loopholes have allowed for the export of horses to slaughterhouses in foreign countries, Kraska said.

Attempts to pass similar anti-slaughter legislation have failed to clear both chambers of Congress in recent years.