Victory for Horses in Congress!


In late September, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly—by a vote of 69-28—to stop the use of tax dollars to slaughter American horses for food exports. The successful amendment to the agriculture spending bill, led by Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Robert C. Byrd (D-WV), followed on the heels of an identical amendment sponsored by Reps. John Sweeney (R-NY), John Spratt (D-SC), Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and approved by the House of Representatives in June by a vote of 269-158.

Last week, however, when the agriculture appropriations bill went to a final conference committee, some lawmakers worked behind closed doors to remove the horse slaughter language, seeking to undo the overwhelming public votes from both chambers and substitute their own judgment for the judgment of the American people and their elected representatives. Luckily, animal advocates around the country called on lawmakers to keep the horse slaughter ban intact, and the language remained in the final bill with only a four month delay before it goes into effect.

This successful amendment will shut down the three horse slaughter plants in the U.S.—two in Texas and one in Illinois—and will stop horses from going over the border for slaughter, sparing nearly 100,000 American horses from a grim and painful end just to satisfy the demand for horsemeat in France, Belgium, and other countries. Humane USA’s support for key House and Senate lawmakers helped carry the day for the horses, and we thank you for helping us secure this victory. And Humane USA’s bipartisan strategy is paying dividends: the Senate amendment to ban horse slaughter was supported by 35 Republicans, 33 Democrats, and one Independent, showing such depth of support for animal welfare.

Because the amendment was included in a spending bill, the ban on horse slaughter will expire after one fiscal year. Please help us continue this momentum and pass legislation to ban horse slaughter permanently, H.R. 503 and S. 1915. Click here to contact your legislators.

Vote Humane in the Garden State


New Jersey is one of only two states (along with Virginia) holding an election for Governor next week. All 80 seats in New Jersey’s state Assembly are also up for consideration. When New Jersey voters go to the polls next week, Humane USA asks them to elect candidates who have shown their support for animal protection.

In the gubernatorial race, Humane USA has endorsed Sen. Jon Corzine (D) as the best candidate for animals. In his term in the U.S. Senate, Corzine has supported efforts to ban the slaughter of horses, strengthen penalties for illegal animal fighting, increase funding for enforcement of animal welfare laws, stop the sale of “downed” animals who are too sick or injured to walk to slaughter, and crack down on canned hunts of exotic animals trapped behind fences. He recently spoke in opposition to the trophy hunting of bears in New Jersey, while his opponent, Doug Forrester (R), supports bear hunting.

Humane USA urges all New Jersey voters who care about the humane treatment of animals to elect Jon Corzine as Governor. Click here to read more about Jon Corzine’s record on animal welfare issues.

Humane USA has also endorsed 40 candidates for New Jersey’s state Assembly.


Help Support Humane USA !


The only way to pass humane laws is to elect humane lawmakers, and our work in elections across the country is paying off. We plan on achieving more wins for the animals this year, but we need your help.

Please support our work by donating online today. Thank you for helping animals, and for your support.


Paid for by HumaneUSA, www.humaneusa.org,
and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.