As of April 25, a total 23,221 horses have been shipped overseas from the United States to be slaughtered for human consumption, according to the Animal Welfare Institute. Of those 23,221 horses, 17,121 horses were shipped to Mexico; and the remaining 6,100 horses were shipped to Canada.In 2015, AWI reported that 125,608 horses were shipped overseas for slaughter ñ- 84,938 to Mexico and 40,670 to Canada. The statistics show that in 2007, the last year horses were legally allowed to be slaughtered in the U.S., 28,902 horses were slaughtered in the states.ìHorse slaughter is horrifically cruel. Even when it occurred in the U.S., there was no way it could be done humanely here,î said Holly Gann, a federal legislative specialist with the Humane Society of the United States.Gann described horse slaughter as a ìforeign-driven industry,î yet, the U.S. didnít shutter operations until 2007. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the last three slaughterhouses in the U.S. ñ two in Texas and one in Illinois ñ were shut down in 2007.The ASPCA reported that in 2006, those facilities ìkilled and processed more than 90,000 horses for human consumption, shipping the meat overseas.îìLanguage included in the 2016 spending bill for the federal government has prohibited tax dollars from being spent on federal inspections that are necessary for horse slaughterhouses to operate,î said Carolyn Schnurr, senior manager of federal legislation for the ASPCA,Although the bill prevents the slaughtering of horses on U.S. soil, it does not stop the the ìkillî buyers from purchasing (or stealing) horses with the intent of shipping them overseas for slaughter, both Gann and Schnurr said.Kill buyers are on contract with foreign horse slaughterhouses, and must ìoutbid other buyers at American horse auctions and then truck those horses over the border to be cruelly slaughtered,î Schnurr said.Horse meat is imported to Europe and Asia for human consumption, said Gann, who described horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. as ìa huge burden on the local communitiesî where they were located, driving down real estate prices and hurting local economies.ìHorse slaughter is outlawed in the United states because it doesnít serve any American interest,î she said. ìOnly a few would benefit. Kill buyers are middlemen, and they gather horses, often through dishonest means.îìHorse slaughter is not humane euthanasia,î and is ìa brutal and terrifying end for horses,î the ASPCA states. Gann said wild horses are legally protected from being sent to slaughter, but they, too, are often captured and shipped overseas. The vast majority of horses shipped for slaughter are domestic.The ASPCA states horses ìbound for slaughter may include pregnant mares, foals and horses who are injured and blind.î The horses are shipped in cruel conditions ìwithout food, water or rest,î and in some cases ìremain conscious during dismemberment.îìKill buyers typically find horses at horse auctions, but really theyíll get horses wherever they can,î Gann said.Kill buyers have used websites like Craigslist to purchase horses under false pretenses, she said. Kill buyers also put up horses for sale on social media sites like Facebook, she said. They post a photo of a horse, along with a sale price; and then make a statement that the horse will go to slaughter if the horse is not purchased in full by a certain deadline.Social media is also used to find, save and network horses marked for slaughter. Colorado Feedlot Horses, launched in 2014, saved about 1,500 horses directly from kill pens that same year, and placed them in private homes, according to the website. In 2015, the organization placed more than 5,000 horses in private homes. They also began a rehoming program in late 2014 to provide a place for evaluating and caring for horses until they could be placed long-term.Colorado Feedlot Horses currently houses horses in two Colorado facilities ñ- one in Loveland and one in Brighton.The Equine Rescue Network, an e-network of equine advocates, posted on its website that ìlarge kill auctions will have kill buyersî while ìsmaller auctions will have dealers who Ö go from auction to auction to pick up enough horses (to) fill a load for a contract or kill buyer.îKill buyers can be spotted at auctions, bidding on the horses that are ìherded in loose,î according to the network. If they are led in one at a time, they areìgenerally cheaper and more vulnerable in terms of going to kill.îAt auctions, kill buyers bid against ìlegitimate horse owners and horse rescuersî for these horses, according to the Jan. 29, 2015, blog post ìExposing ëKill Buyersí Who Feed the Horse Slaughter Pipeline,î from the HSUS blog ìA Humane Nation, Wayne Pacelleís Blog.îThe Equine Rescue Network lists Centennial Auctions in Fort Collins, Colorado, a monthly horse sale in Delta, Colorado, and the Adams County Horse Sale as auctions kill buyers regularly attend.ìThis is all to make a profit. Itís not because the kill buyers care for the well-being of the horse,î Gann said.Horse meat is used for human consumption throughout Asia and Europe, Gann said, a concept Americans find deplorable. ìPeople are appalled at the idea of horses being eaten, and thatís something that is difficult to fathom in America, where horses are seen as our companions and our partners in work and sport,î Gann said.ìEighty percent of American voters favor a band on horse slaughter,î according to the ASPCA.Hilary Wood founded Front Range Equine Rescue 19 years ago in Colorado; now a national nonprofit organization. A key component of the organization is educating the public on preventing horse slaughter.ìA big thing we do is promote solutions to problems,î Wood said. ìWe donít just say, ëStop, itís bad.í We focus on prevention: how do you keep horse abuse and slaughter from happening? We have always had education go hand-in-hand with horse rescue.îFront Range Equine Rescue hosts clinics and seminars focused on the financial obligations and time commitment necessary for horse owners to properly care for their horses, so they never have to relinquish them.In front of Congress now is the SAFE (Safeguard American Food Exports) Act, introduced in 2015. (The 2007 bill requires that the language to outlaw horse slaughter and shutter the slaughterhouses be renewed every year, but it did not address shipping horses overseas for slaughter.) The SAFE Act would outlaw horse slaughter for human consumption and slaughterhouses on a permanent basis. The bill also prohibits the export of horses overseas for slaughter.Four Colorado representatives have co-sponsored the bill: Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO). As of May 15, 2015, the bill has been referred to the subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture, according to Congress.gov.One of the most harrowing facts about horse slaughter is that many of the horses sent to slaughter are healthy, Gann said.ìThe horses being sent to slaughter are not old, and itís not as if they have no other options,î she said. ìThey can go on to live full, healthy lives. Kill buyers take away that opportunity at life.îGann said people interested in helping to stop horse slaughter can write to their congressional representatives.For information on purchasing or sponsoring a horse set for slaughter, visit http://coloradofeedlothorses.com. For information on the SAFE Act, visit https://awionline.org/content/safeguard-american-food-exports-safe-act.
