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Reasons to Want the Senate to Pass this Bill:

First and foremost, the majority of Americans do not support horse slaughter, let alone know it exists. According to Society for Animal Protective Legislation, in New York, 64% of people polled actually believed that slaughtering horses for meat was illegal, while in Indiana, 91% believe that horse slaughter should be banned. An overwhelming majority of Texas voters (89%) are unaware that horse slaughter goes on in their own state. And yes, while people do consume other animals, such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens and the like, people would not immediately think of a horse as a source of food. A horse would be considered a pet before it would be considered food in this country. So why does America betray these pets? “This is a cultural issue. Horses, an integral part of America's heritage and culture, are favored animals, just like cats and dogs. Americans do not eat horses just as they do not eat cats and dogs. Some cultures do eat cats and dogs, but we would be appalled to supply these countries with such a food source, as opposed to humanely euthanizing animals considered to be our beloved pets and companions.” (Equine Advocates)

Given the statistic of American preference as shown above, the government should represent our interests over those of special interest groups. Most Americans do not even know that horse slaughter is even an issue in this country. When the bill was passed back in 2004, the rider was hidden in a document approximately four thousand pages long, and it was posed on the brink of a recess, when the Senators were in a rush to get out. 

Also, contrary to popular belief, American horsemeat does hold some serious health risks. One of the main preferences of horsemeat over meat from cattle is the lack of fear of Mad Cow Disease. However, those who eat horsemeat may be exposed to the many dangerous drugs commonly given to horses. One cannot begin to guess where the slaughtered horse came from and what it had been treated with during the course of its life by the time it is served up on a plate:

“We, at Equine Advocates, have long been aware of the dangerous drugs administered to race and show horses, not to mention just regular worming medications for all horses which are extremely toxic to humans. It is clearly written on every worming medication label, that it should NOT be used in horses slaughtered for human consumption...but we all know that the majority of the horses that are sent to slaughter in and from this country have been wormed because horses are not food animals in the United States. Most are pets, companions and sporting/performance animals who are all wormed regularly. We also know that the origin of most slaughter-bound horses from this country are unknown when they get to the slaughterhouse, but that, in fact, large numbers of them are former race horses, who have had numerous drugs and medications administered to them over long periods of time.” (Equine Advocates)

If pressured, slaughterhouses in America may close down, or just simply relocate say to Canada or to Mexico. If they do relocate, however, American horses will still be exported and slaughtered, which will still pose about as much of a threat towards human consumption as there was before.

In a more business-centered ideology, there are more reasons that slaughtering horses is not a good idea for America. A Belgian company owns two of the companies that slaughter horses and market their meat, while a French company owns the third. 100% of the horsemeat is sent to the foreign consumers, those that reside in countries in Europe, or in Japan. Because the meat is sent abroad, the Belgian and French companies receive 100% of the profits. In addition, they have found a loophole to get out of paying taxes. The only monies that the United States receives are the individual pittances that these slaughterhouses pay for American horses at auction (ranging from approximately $300-$700 per horse), and the wages that the companies pay their workers. 

One argument against closing down the slaughterhouses is that it will result in the loss of American jobs. In reality, less than 200 American workers are employed in all three slaughterhouses combined. Turning away less than 200 jobs for the sake of American dignity has been done before for less savory causes in business. Think of instances where factories in the United States are closed down, costing Americans thousands of jobs, for the sake of relocating somewhere cheaper. These business endeavors have obviously resulted in much higher numbers of unemployment, and sadly without much pity. So why would the argument of unemployment for so few suddenly be a major deterrent in this case?

In addition to the lack of contribution that these companies make to our country, these three slaughterhouses require “more than $5 million per year” (endhorseslaughtering.com) from the USDA in overseeing their procedures even though the horsemeat is sent out of the country. Thus, horse slaughterhouses are a net loss to our country

This recent rider also rips apart a bill that protected wild horses that was passed in 1971. This specified that “wild horses and burros shall be protected on public lands and ‘are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people’” (ispmb.org)

Speaking of ripping apart laws, Texas ironically has a law prohibiting the sale of horsemeat for human consumption even though two of the three remaining slaughterhouses in our country are in Texas. Because the market for horsemeat is so lucrative, hundreds to thousands of horses are stolen each year. It is very hard to trace and find a stolen horse at the slaughterhouse because they tend to kill the horse within a day of receiving it. California also banned the slaughter of horses in their state. After they passed this law, the number of horse thefts was cut in half. 

One of the main incentives for special interest groups (namely ranchers) to want the disposal of wild horses is so that their cattle can have more land for grazing. Wild horses do not jeopardize the grazing on public lands, as they are more adaptable to environments and can travel farther from water to graze than cattle can. They graze in areas that cattle cannot reach. “In one year, livestock consumed 70% of grazing resources on public lands, while wild-horses and burros consumed less than 5%. Cattle outnumber wild-horses on public lands by approximately 1,000 to 1.” (best-horse-photo.com) Wild horses are included in the types of horses that are slaughtered for their meat. The government can only legally dispose of wild horses as follows: “Excess horses may be relocated to other areas of public land, be destroyed in a humane manner, or be removed from the range and placed in the care of qualified individuals or organizations.” (www.best-horse-photos.com) None of these options includes slaughter.

In previous years, under the 1971 law, “disposal” entailed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rounding up wild horses, and it usually ended in the horses being put up for adoption. Because ranchers are so desperate to have the wild horses off the land, combined with the fact that the corrals are overcrowded led to the more violent means of disposal. Now, because of the bill that was passed recently, most horses at auction are bought by “killer-buyers” and the act is only pushed further in favor of horse slaughter. 

A happy medium can be reached between the ban on horse slaughter and the control of the number of wild horses is mentioned by the Humane Society of the United States: “The BLM could reopen the 102 herd management areas that it has zeroed out; it could adopt immunocontraception programs to keep herds from becoming too large; it could funnel the money from its helicopter round-ups into a mass-marketing budget for its adoption programs; it could simply leave the horses alone, with an acknowledgment that Americans value their equine history as much, if not more, than their beef.” (hsus.org)