What Is the S.A.F.E. Act?
Save America's Forgotten Equines — the bill that would permanently ban horse slaughter in the United States and shut down the export pipeline to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses for good.
S.A.F.E. Act
Save America's Forgotten Equines Act • H.R. 1661 / S. 775
Federal legislation designed to permanently ban the slaughter of horses and other equines for human consumption in the United States — and prohibit the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
What the Bill Actually Does
Permanent U.S. Ban
Amends federal law to explicitly prohibit knowingly slaughtering an equine for human consumption, extending protections similar to those currently in place for dogs and cats.
Export Ban
Prohibits shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating horses and equines to be slaughtered for meat — including sending them across international borders to Canada and Mexico.
Federal Penalties
Subjects violators to federal fines for engaging in the trade or transport of equines for slaughter.
Who's Leading the Fight
Rep. Vern Buchanan
Lead Sponsor — House
Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Lead Sponsor — House
Cosponsors
226+
Sen. Ben Ray Luján
Lead Sponsor — Senate
Sen. Lindsey Graham
Lead Sponsor — Senate
Last U.S. Slaughter Plant
The last domestic horse slaughter plant in the U.S. closed in 2007 — but the killing didn't stop. It simply moved across the border.
The Export Pipeline
Thousands of American horses — including wild horses and burros removed from public lands — continue to be transported to Canada and Mexico annually for slaughter.
Why It's Urgent
Without the S.A.F.E. Act, the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) loophole keeps feeding federally protected wild horses straight into this cross-border pipeline.
Why This Bill Matters
The case for the S.A.F.E. Act is built on food safety, animal welfare, and honoring a federal mandate the slaughter pipeline has quietly violated for decades.
Toxic Meat
Horses are routinely administered substances like phenylbutazone ("bute") and nitrofurazone, which make their meat toxic and hazardous for human consumption.
Cruel Transport
Horses are shipped hundreds of miles in cramped commercial cattle trailers that lack the vertical clearance for equines — causing injury, stress, and death in transit.
A Heritage at Risk
Wild horses and burros are federally protected under the 1971 Act. The S.A.F.E. Act closes the loophole that lets those protections end at the slaughterhouse door.
What the S.A.F.E. Act Means for Wild Horses
The S.A.F.E. Act does not ban helicopter roundups on its own — that's the work of the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. But it closes the slaughter pipeline that gives the roundups their deadly purpose: without a market for horse meat, the financial incentive to clear wild horses off public land collapses. Together, these two bills end the roundup-to-slaughter economy for good.
- Closes the cross-border pipeline that turns $1,000 AIP 'adoptions' into kill-buyer sales.
- Removes the profit motive behind mass removals from public rangelands.
- Restores the intent of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act at the slaughterhouse door.
Demand Congress Pass the S.A.F.E. Act.
Add your name to the petition demanding immediate passage of H.R. 1661 / S. 775 and an end to the slaughter pipeline.
Sign the Petition