As this Year of the Horse comes to a close, we are thrilled to share two huge pieces of news related to horse slaughter:

Congress: Slaughter Funding Ban Included in Omnibus Proposal
Update—December 17, 2014: Great news! This bill passed both chambers and was signed into law by President Obama on December 16. No horse slaughter plants will open on U.S. soil for at least one more year!

First, the Fiscal Year 2015 omnibus federal spending bill put forward by congressional negotiators this week includes the vital amendment that continues to block the use of federal funds to inspect horse slaughterhouses. The renewal of this all-important spending ban will prevent horse slaughterhouses from opening in the United States for at least one more year! Congress is once again sending a clear message: Our tax dollars should not enable the predatory and inhumane horse slaughter industry.

House and Senate leadership expect to pass this comprehensive spending bill within days, and then send it to the President for his signature. Strong bipartisan votes in House and Senate committees in support of the Moran (D-VA) Amendment and the Landrieu (D-LA)-Graham (R-SC) Amendment this summer helped secure this recent success. Special thanks go to the horse advocates nationwide who contacted their Member of Congress to ensure this amendment’s inclusion in the final spending bill. We will charge ahead as the FY2016 bills are formulated this spring and keep you posted on their progress.

Europe to Ban Horse Meat from Mexican Facilities
A second monumental announcement rocked horse slaughter proponents this week: The European Union (EU) announced that a ban on imports of horse meat from Mexico to the EU is imminent. This announcement comes on the heels of the EU’s release of a scathing audit of EU-certified Mexican horse slaughter plants, which kill tens of thousands of American horses each year. The report repeatedly criticizes the Mexican horse slaughter industry for its blatant animal cruelty, and emphasizes the inability of the Mexican government to ensure the safety of horse meat. The report stresses that because horses are not raised as food-producing animals in Mexico or the United States, but are instead considered companion animals and partners in work and sport, they are routinely given many medications that are illegal for use in food animals. There is no practical way to protect consumers from the toxic health risks of American horse meat.

Since the audited Mexican plants are backed by many of the same businesses pushing to open plants in the U.S., we could expect that the same brutality would befall horses if slaughtered in the U.S. Regardless of geographic location, horse slaughter is inherently cruel to horses, inherently dangerous to people, and must not be tolerated.

Join us as we build on these advances and push the new 114th Congress to take the final step: A permanent ban on the slaughter of American horses here and abroad. Please sign up below to join the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade and help us make this ban a reality—the new session of Congress starts next month, and we’re ready to hit the ground running!