We built this country on their backs, yet we often betray them.
Discarded racehorses, work horses no longer considered useful, and horses whose owners no longer care for them due to illness, age, or lameness often end up at U.S. livestock auctions. These auctions are commonly referred to as “slaughter auctions” because buyers purchase animals and then sell and them to slaughterhouses in Canada or Mexico.
While slaughtering horses for human consumption is illegal in the U.S., it is legal to transport and sell them for this purpose in other countries. According to American Wild Horse Conservation, even federally protected wild horses and burros have been sold at these auctions after being adopted through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) incentive program.
At the auctions, kill buyers can outbid private individuals or rescues trying to save horses in order to supply slaughterhouses and make a buck. After the purchase, these individuals may resell the animals to private buyers or rescues at inflated prices.
Once the animals begin their transport across the border, their ordeal truly begins when they find themselves in crowded conditions travelling over long distances. Many are sick, injured, blind, dehydrated, hungry, and fearful.
When they reach their destination, the true horror begins. Undercover footage shows the violent ways in which they are killed, often causing prolonged suffering.
Imagine a terrified blind horse who cannot see their assailant as he is repeatedly hacked to death. No animal deserves this.
Efforts to combat the slaughter pipeline include rescues outbidding kill buyers or purchasing from kill pens, animal welfare organizations advocating for federal legislation to prohibit the slaughter and export of horses/mules for consumption, and private citizens appealing to their federal representatives in support of the legislation: H.R. 1661, Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025.
As of October 2025, the bill has not passed and must be voted out of the House committee before advancing to the full House.
What can we do? Contact our state’s federal representatives and urge them to support H.R. 1661, the SAFE Act.
