Update Jan. 20, 2010: The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on H.R. 503, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, on Tuesday, February 2, at 4:00 p.m. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Read Animal Law Coalition's report below for more on this bill, H.R. 503.

Call or write members of the Subcommittee and urge them to vote yes on H.R. 503, to prevent cruelty to horses used for human consumption. (Click on the link by their photos for contact info! Letters or faxes are best.)

Please call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your U.S. representative.  Ask your representative to "Please cosponsor and push for the passage of H.R. 503 to prevent cruelty to horses used for human consumption". Or fax or email your representative. Click here to find and write your U.S. representative.

Original report: The Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act has been re-introduced in the House as H.R. 503 by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Dan Burton (R-IN). The Senate version introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is S.B. 727.  

The same bill was introduced late in the last session of Congress in the House and passed the Judiciary Committee, but did not receive a vote by the full House before the end of the session in 2008. 

Under this bill it would be illegal to "possess..., ship..., transport..., purchase.., sell... deliver..., or receive" in interstate or foreign commerce any horse "with the intent that it is to be slaughtered for human consumption".  It would also be illegal under this bill to trade in horse flesh or carcass for the purpose of human consumption.

Violators face fines and jail time up to 3 years. If, however, the violator has no prior convictions and is moving 4 or fewer horses or less than 2,000 lbs of horse flesh, the jail time is only a year. 

This section would be added to federal laws specifying crimes involving animals in Title 18 Chapter 3 of the U.S. Code.

Because this bill involves the federal criminal code, it has been assigned to the House Committee on the Judiciary chaired by Rep. John Conyers.

Anti-horse slaughter bills have typically been treated as agricultural legislation. In the last session, for example, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 311, was stuck in a House agriculture subcommittee. (The Senate version was on the calendar for a vote, but then Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) (yes, that Larry Craig...) threatened to put a hold on it if the bill came up for a vote. (Craig is now gone from the Senate....) Two thirds of the senators are needed to co-sponsor or support the bill to override a hold.)

This bill, H.R. 503/S.B. 727, proposes to amend the criminal code which means it is assigned to the Committee on the Judiciary, not Agriculture. If the Committee on the Judiciary can pass this bill as it did in the last session, it can proceed to a vote on the House floor.         

Horse slaughter has been stopped in the United States by court decisions and state legislative actions. Horses are, however, still being transported to foreign countries, primarily Mexico and Canada, for slaughter. Only a federal law can stop this tragedy.   

Chris Heyde, Animal Welfare Institute, states, "Horse slaughter advocates have been ratcheting up their misinformation campaign so we must make sure our elected officials hear the facts from the majority of Americans who support an end to horse slaughter."

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO

Also, tell your representative to vote YES on H.R. 305, the Horse Transportation Safety Act, which will put an end to all transports of horses on double decked trailers.     

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Go here to read excerpts of testimony presented during Congressional hearings in 2008 in support of the bill.

Go here to read about Animal Law Coalition and Animals Angels' request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate the ineffectiveness and lack of enforcement of laws in connection with the slaughter of horses.  

Also, listen here to a discussion on WFL Endangered Stream Live Talk Radio about horse slaughter by Laura Allen, Executive Director of Animal Law Coalition; John Holland, journalist and consultant for Americans Against Horse Slaughter; Dr. Nena Winand, DVM with Veterinarians for Equine Welfare and Paula Bacon, former mayor of Kaufman, Tx and leader of the fight to shut down the horse slaughter facility that operated there until 2007.   (Download this broadcast!)