A campaign is underway to get Congress to pass the SAFE Act, which has been stalled in congress since last year. Click on the link to sign the petition to stop horses being exported abroad for slaughter:

The US has banned the slaughter of horses at home. However, this ban means nothing while it’s still legal to transport horses thousands of miles to be slaughtered in the horsemeat trade, their last moments spent in the “kill box,” frightened and panicked before being chopped to bits. Wild horse slaughter in the U.S. was shut down in 2007 but the export industry still sends 20,000 horses every year to their deaths in Canada and Mexico. Not only this but the horses first endure long, gruelling journeys in cramped and cruel conditions before they are killed. According to a 2023 report from the American Journal of Veterinary Research, the horse export industry thrives and generates around $500 million a year,

With all the panic surrounding unverified claims that cats and dogs are being eaten in the United States, it’s a good time to draw attention to the plight of horses. The SAFE Act, or Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act (HR 3475/S 2037) is a bill that animal activists have been pushing to get passed for decades. In its current form the SAFE Act amends the 2018 Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act to add equines to the list of animals prohibited to be exported slaughter.

Polls show that 83% of Americans oppose horse slaughter. Yet thousands of horses each year face a horrible ending to their lives. The meat industry lobbies to protect the export of horse slaughter by claiming that if horses are not slaughtered, there will be more neglect and nowhere to rehome horses. Contrary to these claims, the export of horses has actually decreased over the years and shelters are ready to rehome horses, the majority of whom can live out happy and productive lives.

Horses are incredibly sensitive animals who need freedom of movement and family bonds with their fellow horses. Capturing them and transporting them for 24 hours to be killed is not only murder, it is prolonged torture.

As well as a petition there is also a website that makes it easy for you to write to your member of congress to pressure them to sponsor and pass the SAFE Act.

At Freedom 4 Animals, we have done extensive work to preserve the right of free-roaming horses to remain with their families and negotiate and advocate to protect horses from mistreatment, neglect and cruelty, as well as education and working with policy-makers and NGOs on legislation and initiatives to support and protect the freedom of horses.

Please read more about the work we do on behalf of horses and other animals.

Performing animals at the circus are held captive, forced to train and perform unnatural routines in front of crowds and to travel long distances in cramped conditions. Their lives are difficult, disorienting, uncomfortable and exposed. Wild animals often escape from the circus and there have been many cases of abuse and maltreatment.

Fortunately the days of performing animals at the circus are numbered. SoulUniverse circus has become the latest circus to drop performing animals from their routine, under pressure from animal rights activists, led by PETA. They join the list of circus companies who have moved beyond using animals like Lions, Bears, Tigers and Elephants. These include Ringling brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus, 

Animal control officers had observed animals being mistreated or neglected at the UniverSoul circus. Big cats were locked in cramped cages all day, elephants and tigers were denied veterinary care and animals were often wounded and frequently attempted to escape. 

“Exotic” animals are often forced to work to provide entertainment for humans. The circus is one of the contexts in which animals like big Cats, Elephants or Zebras are forced to work, but other examples include rides or at petting zoos. Larger animals are often made into a spectacle and kept in unnaturally cramped and restrictive conditions that are both physically and psychologically distressing. The concept of the circus should be one that revolves around fun, artistry and highly skilled human performers that choose to perform, not animals who don’t consent to be there. 

If you’re visiting the circus with children, PETA has a list of animal-free circuses you can consult. (Please check to ensure all information is up to date). https://www.peta.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/animal-free-circuses-pdf.pdf

The slaughter of wild horses is one of the most significant attacks on animals in the US. It hides in plain sight under cover of the BLM’s policy to round up and re-home horses. Animal advocates have obtained documents that show that instead of being adopted, thousands of horses are sold to slaughterhouses. 

The slaughter of wild horses is also part of a bigger story about how the US fails to protect horses and willingly allows healthy horses with many happy years of life left to be sold into slaughter. 

These problems are connected to the substantial export of horses internationally from the US. The export of horses makes the fate of horses sold into slaughter even more cruel. On top of being violently slaughtered, horses transported internationally have to endure grueling journeys. 

Since the practice of slaughtering horses is no longer supported in the US (even if it is technically still legal), horses are exported to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered. Even if it’s no longer legal to kill horses for meat in the US, the animals can still be sold in the US and exported elsewhere. 

So how did wild horses, which should be protected by the 1971 Horses and Burros Act, come to be sold in “kill pens” and transported miles to be slaughtered? The answer is that the Bureau of Land Management’s adoption incentive program isn’t working. 

The BLM introduced their adoption incentive program in 2019. The program pays people $1000 to adopt a horse. After the release of a report from The American Wild Horse Campaign in 2021 and a New York Times investigation that showed that hundreds of wild horses were being re-sold to slaughter, the BLM tweaked their adoption policy to include stricter background checks and checks on a horse’s well being. Yet in 2022, a report from The American Wild Horse Campaign found that the problem persisted. A large number of horses were still being sold into slaughter, and the number of horses being sent to slaughter was likely much higher than estimated. Reports by the AWHC found that a coordinated group of people were adopting wild horses and making up to $80,000 by selling the horses into slaughter. 

The BLM’s policies of rounding up horses are also generally criticized. Reducing herds to protect ecosystems and saving horses from dying of starvation in drought ridden conditions may be reasonable motivations, but the BLM is also influenced by the interests of livestock farmers competing for resources with the horses. There are many ways around this problem that don’t involve separating horses from the herd and rounding them up. Groups who represent horses are also asking the BLM to re-assess their methods for corralling wild horses for adoption.

The method of rounding up by helicopter would be eliminated by a bill introduced in Congress, The Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2022. The bill would also employ more cowboys to round up the horses and explore humane alternatives to protect horses. For example, some groups have had success with fertility methods to control population. In this way the horses are not separated from their family groups, and they are not snatched in traumatizing round-ups and corralled in conditions that may be unsafe, exposing them to disease, only to be sold into slaughter. 

The slaughter of wild horses is part of a broader problem that affects all horses. The problem is that the market for horse slaughter still exists in the US. The ugliness of horse slaughter itself has been exported, while selling horses into slaughter is openly acceptable. 

To learn how to get involved in stopping the slaughter of wild horses and all horses in America, visit the websites of horse advocacy organizations such as the AWHC to find out how to support horses. Contact your local animal rights advocacy groups and local representatives to support the passage of the SAFE Act which will permanently ban horse slaughter in the US and the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act which will require the BLM to update their policies to protect wild horses.