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Verplank: U.S. Congress must pass SAFE Act to protect horses

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I am writing to you today ... To bring awareness and gain support for The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, H.R. 3355/S. 2732.

This legislation will end the slaughter of American horses for human consumption — a practice that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose.

Horse slaughter is a cruel, unnecessary and predatory industry that has no domestic market and interferes with our legitimate equine industries. It also threatens human health. Horses are raised outside the regulatory system designed to ensure food safety because they are not considered food animals in this country.

Their basic, daily care includes giving them medications and treatments (like fly spray and dewormer) that contain drugs banned by the FDA for use in food animals due to their toxicity to humans.

Consuming horse meat raises significant health concerns for people. The continuation of this underground industry also strikes constant fear in the hearts of horse owners who worry that their equine work partner, athlete or trusted friend might be stolen or fall into the wrong hands and meet such a fate.

Horses have not been slaughtered legally in the U.S. for human consumption since 2007, due to Congressional action to prohibit taxpayer dollars from propping up this industry.

Yet tens of thousands of horses continue to be cruelly exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, when we can either find new homes for them in the U.S. or provide them with compassionate euthanasia if that is what is necessary.

The pipeline to slaughter is a nightmarish, horrific and extremely cruel process, and the suffering of these horses is unspeakable.

We need the SAFE Act to put an end to this shameful chapter of American history. Equine industry and protection groups have formed an alliance to drive this bill across the finish line. Animal protection is a priority for me, and I have worked hard to get this disgusting treatment of our American equines ended once and for all.

America’s equines deserve humane treatment all the way through their lives until the end. Not a brutal, horrible end to their lives after most have served humans.

Tomorrow is the Congressional hearing for this bill! Let’s get it marked up and to the floor and get it passed!

Thank you.

Sincerely.