Columbus, OH –  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Monday (Feb. 7) released new data from a national poll conducted by Lake Research Partners that reveals 83 percent of Americans oppose the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption.

“The slaughter of horses for the purpose of human consumption is wrong on every level” said Mike Tanner, executive vice president and CEO of the United States Trotting Association in the ASPCA announcement. “The USTA wholeheartedly supports the SAFE Act, and the protection that it will provide to Standardbred horses at all stages of their lives.”

According to the press release, “Despite Congressional efforts that shuttered horse slaughterhouses on U.S. soil in 2007, tens of thousands of American horses continue to be shipped to Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses that supply other countries with horsemeat.

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is working to close this legal loophole with the introduction of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act (H.R.3355/S.2732), which would permanently ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and end the export of American horses for slaughter in other countries.”

The ASPCA website provides a form to contact your representatives in Congress to express your support for the SAFE Act.  To access the form, click here.

To read the complete ASPCA press release, click here.