During a busy legislative season when Congress is negotiating major bills such as infrastructure and spending priorities, a strong bipartisan Senate team has turned their attention to protecting America’s equines. Yesterday, Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) reintroduced the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, which would ban the inhumane practice of slaughtering American horses for food.

Although Congress has prevented horse slaughterhouses from operating in the U.S. for many years, our equine athletes, work partners, and trusted friends continue to be shipped to Canada and Mexico to suffer that cruel fate. The SAFE Act would finally close this loophole, protecting horses and the equine community that loves them.

The ASPCA is working to keep horses safe by connecting those in transition with loving homes when needed, and by providing safety nets that enable their owners to keep them. The existence of the predatory horse slaughter industry inhibits those efforts at every step.

With so many other competing priorities, lawmakers need to be reminded that their constituents value animal protection and want this life-saving bill to advance. Act now! Tell your legislator that you expect this Congress to finally put an end to this unnecessary cruelty.