H.R.3684 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Edited Press Release

The U.S. Senate passed a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill Tuesday without any provision to ban the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter for human consumption, putting in jeopardy the anti-slaughter provision adopted more than a month ago in the House by a voice vote.

The Senate assembled anew its Infrastructure bill, taking the House bill and number, H.R. 3684, the INVEST Act, but little else. The Senate effectively stripped an amendment led by U.S. Reps. Troy Carter, D-La., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., John Katko, R-N.Y., Dina Titus, D-Nev., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn. and conceived by Animal Wellness Action to H.R. 3684 that would have banned the transport of equines across state and federal lines for the purposes of slaughter for human consumption.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., made an attempt to keep the anti-slaughter transport language in play by filing his own amendment #2296, but that effort gained no momentum, with few Senators treating the anti-slaughter provision in a serious-minded way.

“We are disappointed the Senate continues to treat the ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of horses as anything but an urgent matter,” said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, who was recently honored by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, II for his work to protect horses. “Here was an opportunity to solve a major animal welfare problem that the American public overwhelmingly supports and that's been circulating in the Senate for a quarter century. House Members should vote against the Senate-passed infrastructure bill or amend the measure to restore the anti-slaughter language.”

“We've watched tens of thousands of horses endure a horrible passage to Canada and Mexico every year and then get slaughtered at foreign abattoirs for a small segment of consumers in Asia and Europe,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy. “Americans want to see this ruthless and predatory industry stop gathering up and victimizing American horses and burros. Failing to take up this issue was a terrible missed opportunity for the Senate.”

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In yet another move to showcase its commitment to horse welfare, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association (PHBA) has announced its endorsement of an amendment that would ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses across both state lines and over country borders. The amendment is scheduled to be on the U.S. House floor in coming weeks.

Led by U.S. Representatives Troy Carter, Brian Fitzpatrick, and John Katko, the amendment will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act, H.R.3684. If passed into law, it would effectively ban horse slaughter in America. An estimated 30,000 horses are exported from America to be slaughtered each year, many of which are former racehorses or Thoroughbred breeding stock.

This endorsement is just the latest act in a series of pledges made by the PHBA towards equine welfare. The organization also supports the John Stringer Rainey Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, and has a strict anti-slaughter code of ethics.

The SAFE Act, named for the late South Carolina philanthropist and former director of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, is legislation that would permanently end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption in the United States and abroad. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Humane Society of the United States are among those supporting its passage.

At the time of the SAFE Act's introduction, PHBA executive secretary Brian Sanfratello said, “The SAFE Act is one of three items we are working on. The others are Pennsylvania-specific anti-slaughter legislation, similar to the SAFE Act, that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone who causes or transports a horse into the slaughter pipeline, as well as a PHBA code of ethics, with sanctions for anyone who is a member or registers horses with our organization and is found to be in violation of the Pennsylvania anti-slaughter measures.”

The PHBA's Anti-Slaughter Code of Ethics, which acknowledges it opposes slaughter in general but is focused on the safety and welfare of the Thoroughbred, states that it is a condition of PHBA membership that every applicant signs a pledge not to knowingly cause a Thoroughbred horse to be slaughtered. Violating the rule results in being sanctioned by the PHBA with a $1,000 fine for the first violation, a $5,000 fine for the second, and a fine as well as complete revocation of membership for five years after the third.

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