Horse Slaughter - The Facts

Every year, approximately 100.000 American horses are slaughtered for human consumption. They are transported across the border to large slaughter facilities in Mexico and Canada and their meat is exported to Italy, Belgium, France and Japan.

Where do these horses come from? They come from race tracks, farms, riding academies or private owners. They are sold at auctions all over the country where they spend hours and sometimes even days in overcrowded pens, often without access to food and water.

After being bought by a "kill buyer" they are loaded onto a double or single deck trailer and transported to their final destination, one of the slaughter plants in Canada or Mexico. Animals' Angels has documented transport times of more than 35 horses - and at no time were the horses ever given food or water, or had a chance to rest.

To increase their profit, many of the kill buyers still use inhumane double deck trailers. Designed for cattle, double decked trailers force horses to stand with their heads down. With heads lowered, they are vulnerable to kicking and severe head injuries. The ‘double decker’s’ high center of gravity and movement of the horses make for an unstable load and unsafe transport on the nation’s highways.

Upon their arrival at the slaughter plant, some of them are already “down”, unable to rise, due to exhaustion, dehydration or injuries. These horses are supposed to be euthanized immediately. However, our investigations and research show that this is usually not the case.

Federal law requires that horses must be rendered unconscious prior to slaughter, usually by a captive bolt. However, due to horses’ natural aversion of anything approaching their foreheads, some horses, even after multiple attempts, are improperly stunned. They remain conscious as they are hung up by their rear leg and their throat is cut.

At slaughter, living horses’ humane treatment is superseded by economics. Profitability requires speed. But as speed and the rate of slaughter increase, errors and horses’ suffering increase. Holding up the kill line is frowned on. Video footage recorded at a Canadian slaughter plant confirms that operators are pressured to kill faster, egged on with, ‘Hurry it up, guys!’, ‘What’s the hold up?!’, ‘One more!’, and just plain ‘Hurry up, kill her!’

Get all the information! Read our Horse Slaughter Compilation Report, which shows all the evidence obtained by Animals' Angels during 30 months of cruelty investigations...

In 1996, the United States Department of Agriculture issued guidelines to regulate the commercial transport of horses to slaughter, an attempt to ensure minimum humane standards. Unfortunately, this attempt failed. The language is vague and unclear, a fact that makes enforcement next to impossible.

In 2009, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (HR.503/S.727) was introduced to the 111^th Congress. HR. 503 was introduced in the U.S. House on January 14, 2009 by Congressman John Conyers and Congressman Dan Burton. An identical version (S. 727) was introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2009 by Senator Mary Landrieu and Senator John Ensign. Similar to past legislation (the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act), H.R. 503/S. 727 would finally prohibit the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and their export for slaughter in other countries.

Take action!

Check if your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators are already co-sponsors of the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503/S. 727. If they are not, please call to urge your elected officials to become co-sponsors.