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JUNE 16, 2010

Take action on the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009 (H.R. 503)

Call your U.S. Representative today

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The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (HR503) was recently reintroduced. With more than 100,000 American horses brutally slaughtered last year there is an urgent need to pass federal legislation to shut down this trade. Despite claims by pro-horse slaughter advocates, horse slaughter has not been banned in the U.S.  Thankfully, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) and many of their colleagues have taken up the reins and reintroduced H.R. 503, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act of 2009. The legislation recognizes horse slaughter for what it truly is – animal cruelty – and will end the practice for good by prohibiting the slaughter of horses in the US and preventing their export for the same purpose. Please take a moment to contact your U.S. Representative and ask for his/her support of this sound legislation.

The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (HR503) was previously introduced on Wednesday, January 15, 2009 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Representative Dan Burton (R-IN).

The bill which will ban horse slaughter and the transport of horses to slaughter for human consumption was first introduced in the summer of 2008. While it had strong bipartisan support and passed out of the Judiciary Committee, time ran out for the 110thCongress.
The swift introduction of HR503 to the 111th Congress indicates just how committed Chairman Conyers is to ending horse slaughter and the brutal conditions surrounding this practice.

HR503 already has 60 co-sponsors in the House and has strong bipartisan support.
"The horse is an American icon, and it is a betrayal of our responsibility to these animals to treat them like cheap commodities and send them across our borders for slaughter", said Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.

Although the last remaining horse slaughter plants operating in the US were shut down in 2007, the practice continues by transporting our horses to Canada and Mexico where they are brutally slaughtered and their meat is shipped overseas as a delicacy in Europe and Asia.

“There are naysayers who claim we should reopen the US plants rather than seek to ban all horse slaughter. Clearly, they’ve already forgotten how awful the plants here were,” said Chris Heyde, Deputy Director of Government and Legal Affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute.

Americans Against Horse Slaughter is a non-funded, grassroots movement comprised of supporters of a federal ban on the slaughter of American horses for human consumption. People from all walks of life and from all parts of the country have joined together to form AAHS.

“We have no other agenda, other than to stop the slaughter of American horses. This should not be a political issue but one of humanity,” said Shelley Abrams, one of the co-founders of AAHS.

To join the movement and help end the suffering of hundreds of thousands of American horses or for more information, please join www.americansagainsthorseslaughter.com.