We are one step closer to a ban on horse slaughter!

On Friday, Jan. 19, after years of litigation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit finally upheld a 1949 Texas law banning the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. The Humane Society of the United States had filed an amicus brief in the case in March 2006, arguing in favor of the state law banning horse slaughter. Two of the three existing horse slaughter facilities in the United States are located in Texas, and as soon as the ruling goes into effect, Illinois will stand alone as the last state where American horses are slaughtered for foreign diners.
Last week, U.S. Reps. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), John Spratt (D-SC), and Nick Rahall (D-WV), and U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and John Ensign (R-NV) introduced H.R. 503/S. 311, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. This legislation would ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and stop the export of horses for slaughter across our borders. Take action to help protect American horses forever!

In the 109th Congress, the U.S. House voted five times and the U.S. Senate voted once to stop horse slaughter, but time ran out before the legislation crossed the finish line. Now, at the beginning of the 110th Congress and with this major Texas court ruling, we are poised for a big push to protect all American horses from this horrible fate. We are coming at the horse slaughter industry from all directions, and they are operating on borrowed time.
We want to shutter these plants for good but we cannot do it without your pledge to be involved every step of the way. We'll need your action, so please be on the lookout for our updates. With your continued phone calls and emails, Congress will get the job done and save 100,000 horses per year from this grim and painful end. Let's start now by encouraging lawmakers to cosponsor H.R. 503/S. 311 to build support for a permanent ban. With your help, we can make this a historic year for horse protection.

And don't forget to tell your friends and family to let their legislators know that it's time to end the brutal slaughter of America's horses.

Your actions will not only make a difference, they will help make history. Help us end horse slaughter in the United States forever.