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Additional Facts:

• In the 1950s Velma Johnston, (a.k.a. ‘Wild Horse Annie,’) campaigned to protect wild horses from this butchery. Her work resulted in “the passage of The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971 that stated in part, ‘It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death...’  A recent backdoor Congressional amendment, engineered by Senator Conrad Burns (R–MT), gutted this law. Now, the Bureau of Land Management, the agency responsible for protecting wild horses, must sell “excess” horses (those 10 years of age or older or not adopted after three tries) at livestock auctions. As a result, thousands of wild horses will be removed from their range and sold for slaughter.” (awionline.com)

• “Prior to the passage of the wild horse law, free lance cowboys ("mustangers") were selling wild-horses, which are government property, without a license to dog food manufacturers. Using trucks and helicopters to round up the animals, the cowboys often left injured horses to die slowly in the desert.” (www.best-horse-photos.com)  This was what prompted “Wild Horse Annie” to feel so strongly for the cause of protecting wild horses.
  
  
• People who sell their horses at auction do not realize the high chance that their horse will be slaughtered, rather than adopted by a loving family.  Still, families that cannot take care of their horses any longer, for whatever reason, are not aware of any other option with which to remedy this situation, other than to sell the horse to a trustworthy friend or establishment.
  

• At one point, there were over a million wild horses in America.  By the time the bill was signed into action, there were only 60,000, due to the overzealous killing of them by ranchers trying to protect the grazing lands for their cattle (though wild horses do not actually pose any real threat to this interest, as mentioned before).  The existence of wild horses, especially mustangs, is threatened.

• “It is estimated that more than a third of all slaughter-bound horses in the U.S. are bred for racing. They are either no longer competitive or just don't make the grade. Others include: "camp", show, "back yard," and rental horses, Amish mules, work and "buggy" horses, used up rodeo "bucking" stock, wild horses, urban carriage horses, PMU mares and foals, and unwanted pregnant mares and barren broodmares.” (Equine Advocates)

• Horses that are slaughtered for their meat are not sickly or old.  No one would want to eat meat from an unhealthy animal.  The horses killed include retired show horses, wild horses and family horses that are bought by “killer buyers” who buy horses in bulk at livestock auctions.

• There is no demand for horsemeat in the United States, yet horses in our country are being slaughtered for the demand that exists in countries, the largest markets being in Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Mexico, and Japan.  These slaughterhouses take in about $60 million per year.

• In the 1990’s, the United States slaughtered over 300,000 horses per year.  That number has dropped as the demand for horsemeat has dropped.  In 2004, 65,976 horses were slaughtered, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.  This was a large increase in contrast with the year before where in 2003, 50,564 horses were killed solely in the United States for human consumption.

• The Humane Society of the United States says that the USDA estimates that 2 million horses have been slaughtered since 1989.

• From 1980-April 23, 2005, 3,999,887 American horses were brutally slaughtered in foreign owned slaughterhouses in the United States. From 1990-2000, another 500,000 American horses have been exported to Canada for slaughter.

• More American horses die due to horrible conditions in transit to Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouses than in the actual slaughterhouse.  Once in the slaughterhouse, the horses are forced out by being beaten with rods (sometimes electric) and shoved into stalls to contain them in a small area. 

• In cases of slaughter, unlike in cases where euthanasia is used, the horses are aware of what is going on and are afraid until the moment that they die.

• Even though it is required that horses be stunned before they are slaughtered, they are usually improperly stunned as they are hung up by their hind leg while having their throat cut