Wild Horse Roundups and the Horse Slaughter Industry

“Here are these exquisite, immensely powerful creatures, who willingly give us their labor in return for our stewardship. They have attended us throughout history, bearing us across frontiers and into battle, pulling our plows, thrilling us in sport, warming us with their beauty …. To send these trusting creatures to slaughter is beneath their dignity and ours.” ~ Laura Hillenbrand, author of “Seabiscuit”

The slaughter of America’s horses is driven by the demand for horse meat in other countries. Horses in the U.S. are not raised for food. It is illegal to sell, serve or distribute horse meat in the U.S., and it is illegal to slaughter horses in the U.S. The last three slaughterhouses in the U.S. were closed in 2007—two in Texas and one in Illinois, all foreign-owned, and the meat was strictly shipped overseas.

Some Statistics

Over 80 percent of Americans, and 90 percent of American women, are completely opposed to horse slaughter. Approximately 3 in 4 Americans support protecting wild horses on our public lands. Research shows the majority of Americans don’t want their tax dollars spent on inspecting meat that is exported to foreign countries and foreign markets, and they also don’t want to eat horse meat.

Between 2012 and 2016, approximately 135,000 American horses were transported over our borders to both Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered for consumption in Europe and Asia. In 2017, just under 80,000 horses were shipped over the border.

Brief History of Horse Slaughter (The Politics)

Horses in the U.S. are not raised for food. They are bred for recreation, companionship, pets, work or sport—but never for meat. Horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S., however, some Republican legislators and meat industry and animal agriculture lobbyists are trying to re-open closed horse slaughter plants, despite the horrific cruelty to horses, the risks to human health associated with contaminated and toxic horse meat, and public sentiment firmly against it.

The Future

Horses will not be safe until a permanent ban is in place that outlaws the slaughter of horses and bans their export abroad as food for consumption. We must ensure Congress passes this critical legislation in 2019-2020. The proposed SAFE Act (Safeguard American Food Exports), or H.R. 961, will end the international export of horses over the U.S. border and prohibit the export of horses for slaughter. The SAFE Act was re-introduced by Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) in January 2019. If passed, this bill would impose fines and prison time for anyone who sells, transports, imports or exports horses going to any horse processing facility in any country.

The Controversy

The practice of slaughtering horses is highly controversial in most parts of the world. The primary concern is one of animal welfare and the inhumane, cruel and terrifying practice of horse slaughter for horses. There is no disputing how cruel horse slaughter is. See our section on horse slaughter below.

Horses are not raised for food or consumption like cattle, pigs and chickens in the U.S., and many horses that come into the horse-slaughter factories have been race horses that have been injected with multiple illegal (banned substances), legal as well as toxic drugs including: steroids, phenylbutazone (bute), Nitrofurazone, anti-inflammatories, tranquilizers, pain relievers, antibiotics, wormers, and FDB banned and prohibited drugs, that causes the meat to be dangerously contaminated. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently bans the presence of 379 common equine drugs in animals slaughtered for human consumption.

The key ethical, moral and social issue is that horses are considered our friends, our companion animals, our pets, and throughout history they have been loyal and protective to humanity and even considered man’s greatest friend and helpmate. Horses are healing to children with disabilities and kids with special needs, and have helped and supported humans in critical and life-saving ways for centuries.

Deceptive and incorrect advertising, where meat products were advertised as beef or containing beef, have been instead found to contain horse meat. In Europe in 2013, horse meat was found in many foods advertised containing beef or pork. The scandal was revealed when horse DNA had been found in hamburgers sold in the U.K. It still happens today in foreign countries, and has even happened in the U.S. sold as mislabeled meat.

HSUS Uncovers the Cruelty Done To American Horses Exported to Mexico for Slaughter.

Who Eats Horse Meat?

Horse meat is consumed in Western Europe in France, Italy, Belgium, Scotland, Switzerland and Germany. In Asia, horse meat is eating in China, Japan and Indonesia, and in other foreign countries including Kazakhstan, Mexico and some Latin American countries. The biggest buyer of horse meat in the world is China, then Kazakhstan. Mexico, Argentina and Kazakhstan are the largest producers of horse meat for consumption.

Horse meat is taboo and illegal in the U.S., Canada (non-French), Australia, England, Brazil and Israel; and horse slaughter is banned in the European Union and the U.S.

Why and How Horses End Up in Slaughterhouses

Unscrupulous, unprincipled, irresponsible horse owners and breeders that don’t care about the well-being of horses or their own horses, and see them only as a commodity for money, will sell their horses to horse auctions that use “kill buyers” who buy horses for slaughter. Selling horses to kill buyers and auctions is an easy way to unload a horse they no longer want while making a profit. Unscrupulous horse owners and breeders use horse slaughter auctions as a dumping grounds for excess horses, unwanted horses, unhealthy horses, sick horses, unsuccessful horses, injured horses and old horses—that they no longer want—so they dispose of them inexpensively. Businesses and industries that use and exploit horses for money like horse racing, carriage horses, show horses, rodeo horses, and draft horses—are often unloaded at and sold to kill buyers when they are no longer useful; winning or successful for the owner; or cannot be exploited for profit any longer. Before the 1998 U.S. ban on horse slaughter, horses were stolen and sold to auctions and kill buyers. Selling a horse to kill buyers by horse owners is the last profit they can squeeze out of their horses.

Horse Racing & Race Horses

Thoroughbred race horses are often abandoned and sold by their owners for slaughter when they are no longer useful for them, are no longer winning horse races, or never won a horse race, and they don’t want to bother finding them a proper home. Often these horses have developed injuries while racing—and inhumane, cruel owners then dispose of them to slaughterhouses. These are greedy, uncaring, irresponsible owners and it’s common in the horse-racing industry. Kentucky Derby winner, Breeder’s Cup winner, and “Eclipse Horse of the Year” Ferdinand, was slaughtered in 2002 after being sold by Dell Hancock, whose family owns Claiborne Farm, and was shipped to Japan where he was slaughtered for horse meat. Exceller, a Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, was sent to slaughter by his owner Nelson Bunker Hunt after “failing to breed well.” Learn more about the cruel sport of horse racing.

Carriage Horses, Show Horses, and Horse Breeders

When carriage horses, who have spent their lifetime ferrying tourists through major city streets in the U.S. are deemed no longer useful, or healthy, or are getting old and are physically depleted, or are injured—their owners will often sell them to kill buyers for profit. Some show horse owners do exactly the same, and breeders are notorious for selling horses that they deem are exposable and no longer viable to kill buyers. But the vast majority of horses sold to kill buyers are healthy. With new owners or sanctuaries willing to adopt or buy them, these horses can go on to live long, healthy lives with their new owners. Read more about carriage horses.

Wild Horses, Mustang Round-Ups

Ranchers raising free-range cattle and livestock on government-owned BLM lands are the major cause and force behind wild horse roundups and horse slaughter by the U.S. government. For decades, ranchers have been at war with America’s wild horses sharing the land with their livestock. Moreover, ranchers have been at war with nearly every predator animal in the U.S. causing the near annihilation of wolves, coyotes, cougars, and bears, and their habitat across America’s wild lands. For decades, it was ranchers that rounded up wild horses themselves and killed them in cruel ways, but now they are having the U.S. government do it for them. The beef lobby, the meat lobby, the animal ag lobby, and the ranchers themselves—spend millions lobbying for wild horse roundups and for horse slaughter. The real perpetrator of killing these magnificent wild animals are America’s cattle ranchers, they are the dark force trying to exterminate America’s mustangs and always have been. It is America’s cattle ranchers that use and exploit the vast majority of government-owned, tax-payer lands in the U.S., not horses. America’s cattle ranchers are at war with America’s wild horses and always have been. See the statistics.

BLM Grazing in States with Wild Horses (Photo Credit: American Wild Horse Campaign)

State	BLM Acres Grazed by Livestock	BLM Acres Wild Horse and Burro HMAs	% of BLM rangelands occupied by wild horses & burros
Arizona	11.5 million	1.5 million	13
California	7 million	2 million	28
Colorado	7.8 million	365,000	5
Idaho	11.5 million	383,000	.03
Montana	8.2 million*	27,094	.003
Nevada	43 million	14 million	33
New Mexico	13 million	24,500	.001
Oregon	14 million	2.7 million	19
Utah	22 million	2.1 million	10
Wyoming	17.4 million	3.6 million	21

*includes Dakotas

The win-win solutions for wild horses instead of government-subsidized roundups for horse slaughter that are not being implemented, include:

Using the proven PZP fertility control vaccine to reduce population growth rates.
Creating public-private partnerships to implement humane management programs.
Adjusting the artificially low and unscientific AMLs to accommodate current population levels and allow for the preservation of wild horses and burros in genetically viable herds.
Developing mechanisms to compensate ranchers for reduced use or non-use of public grazing allotments in HMAs. Compensating ranchers will be far cheaper than continuing to roundup, remove and stockpile wild horses in holding facilities.
Reducing the population of horses in holding by transferring them to zeroed out Herd Areas or other public lands areas where they can earn their own keep. These horses are non-reproducing, so will phase out over time and thus will not create additional management challenges.

Read Myths and Facts About the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Roundup Program, by American Wild Horse Campaign.

Terrifying Transport

After a horse is bought by a kill buyer, they are trucked or shipped to Mexico or Canada to slaughterhouses located there. Currently, there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S., but conservative Republican legislators, slaughterhouse proponents, the meat and animal agriculture industry, and horse meat proponents continue to lobby to open horse slaughterhouses in the U.S.

Transporting horses is extremely dangerous for them because they are packed into cramped trailers that are not designed to transport horses, and are extremely unstable for them. Workers cram as many horses as possible into the trucks meant for cattle. Stallions are mixed with pregnant mares and older horses with foals, leading to fights and injuries. They are transported for very long periods of time often over 24 hours; they are exposed to extreme heat, freezing cold and inclement weather; they are denied food, water and rest; and are severely injured during transport. Common injuries during transport (reported by investigators) include broken legs, severely injured legs or missing legs, missing eyeballs, broken ribs, and horses that have fallen and been crushed during the ride. Since horses have long legs and necks they become easily injured, and the slaughter industry sees them as nothing more than “meat,” transporters do nothing to keep them from getting hurt or traumatized. They arrive dehydrated, starving, exhausted, injured and terrified.

Inhumane Slaughter

All slaughter is inhumane. There is no such thing as humane slaughter. It does not exist. And even when welfare laws are followed, most animals that are slaughtered are not rendered unconscious before they are strung up by their legs and bled out. Unfortunately, most end up fully conscious because of the high numbers of animals slaughtered too quickly and carelessly, and because of the poor skill and carelessness of workers using the captive bolt gun to stun the horse first.

Because of the physiology and shape of the horse’s narrow skull or cranium, and because horses are so large, and are prey animals that spook easily – they can move suddenly. Horses, when fearful, can be dangerous because of their movements – and because they are afraid of what is about to happen to them, the captive bolt gun is not a reliable way to kill or stun a horse. Often workers miss the horses’ skull or partially hit it causing horrendous pain and suffering. Workers will try again, or multiple times, before the horse is finally unconscious. Because horses are so afraid in the slaughterhouse, the horse may only be paralyzed by the bolt gun, then can remain conscious through their hoisting by their legs, the bleeding out, and the skinning and butchering.

But in Mexico and Canada investigative reporting reveals that horse slaughter is even more brutal and horrific, where workers use “puntilla knives” to sever the horses’ spinal cords, stabbing them in the neck multiple times, leaving them paralyzed, while they bleed them out fully conscious. But in the U.S. it is reported, horses fared no better according to investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Horse slaughter is brutally and horrifically inhumane anywhere it is conducted.

How You Can Help Horses

Never sell your horse to a kill buyer or horse auction that will sell them for slaughter. If you are facing this, it is better to euthanize your horse, and far more humane. Here is some help with this option if needed.
Call, Email, Write Letters, or Visit Your Legislators – Urge them to cosponsor and support the SAFE Act (H.R. 961) to end horse slaughter. Find your state Legislators here.
Write Your Legislators on their Social Media Pages – Post on your legislators’ Facebook and Twitter pages urging them to cosponsor the SAFE Act and support it. You can say something like, “Please cosponsor the SAFE Act to protect horses from slaughter!” Or Tweet: “.@joesmith Please cosponsor the #Yes2SAFE #EndHorseSlaughter”. Use the Hashtags: #Yes2SAFE #EndHorseSlaughter in your message to connect with other advocates!
Share on Social Media – Share links to this page: Horse Slaughter: Cruelty Uncovered by HSUS
Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor – Write to the Editor of your local newspaper, radio station, TV station, about the cruelty of horse slaughter and to pass legislation protecting horses from horse slaughter
Attend a Town Hall Meeting – Here are some tips for attending a Town Hall Meeting in your community to express your views on horse slaughter. You can find the schedule for upcoming meetings by visiting the websites of your federal legislators or calling their offices. The U.S. Capitol switchboard’s number is 202-224-3121.
Volunteer with a Horse Rescue Sanctuary – Help your local horse rescue group or sanctuary and offer to volunteer – grooming, cleaning, feeding, fundraising etc.
Donate to a Horse Rescue Group or Horse Sanctuary – Donate money that is much needed for hay, alfalfa, straw, oats, support, veterinary care, medicines, fencing, and supplies.
Adopt a Horse! – Horses need help, you can save a horse from horse slaughter through adoption at horse auctions. Check out Homes for Horses Coalition for starters.
Join Existing Efforts Opposing Horse Slaughter – Organizations like the ASPCA, HSUS, PETA and horse sanctuaries – all oppose and are helping to end horse slaughter. Contact these organizations to find out what they are doing, and support their efforts.