Federal Legislation to Ban Equine Slaughter Reintroduced

02/13/2003

The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA) (H.R. 857) has been reintroduced in the US House by Congressman John Sweeney (R-NY) and Congressman John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC).  The AHSPA will ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for human consumption.  A companion bill will soon be introduced in the US Senate.

Specifically, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act - Prohibits a person from: (1) slaughtering a horse for human consumption; (2) importing to, or exporting from, the United States horseflesh or horses for human consumption; (3) selling, bartering, transferring, receiving, or distributing horseflesh or horses for human consumption; or (4) soliciting or knowingly causing any such actions.  Also, the Act sets forth provisions respecting: (1) criminal and civil penalties; (2) enforcement authority of the Secretary of Agriculture; (3) placement of confiscated horses; (4) euthanasia of unplaceable or severely injured or diseased horses; (4) funding of animal rescue facilities; and (5) exemptions.

(This information obtained from the Society for Animal Protective Legislation www.saplonline.org and the Library of Congress http://thomas.loc.gov/)