Sponsors: Reps. Buchanan (R-FL) and Schakowsky (D-IL), Senators Graham (R-SC) and Luján (D-NM)
U.S. H.R. 8870 — BUILD America 250 Act: Horse Transportation Provision
Amendment Sponsors: Reps. Van Drew (R-NJ) and Titus (D-NV)
Update — May 22, 2026: An amendment banning the transportation of horses for slaughter has been added to the BUILD America 250 Act, which is advancing through the House of Representatives. This is a major step toward long-overdue protections for America's beloved horses. Urge your members of Congress to support this provision.
Every horse in this country, no matter how loved, is just one bad sale away from slaughter. While Congress has effectively shut down horse slaughter on U.S. soil, each year that goes by without a federal ban on horse slaughter dooms tens of thousands of America’s equines — work partners, athletes, trusted friends — to unnecessary and inhumane deaths in Canada and Mexico. With your help, we're fighting from every angle to stop it.
There are two major federal opportunities that would finally close the loophole that has been allowing horses to be exported for slaughter abroad: the SAFE Act and the BUILD America 250 Act.
The SAFE Act is a bipartisan bill that would amend the Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition Act to include equines as well, thereby permanently banning the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the United States and the export of horses abroad for that same purpose.
This transportation bill, renewed every five years, sets national policy and funding for how people and goods move across the country, determining how billions of federal dollars are spent on transportation nationwide. The House’s BUILD America 250 Act includes a provision that would bar the transportation of horses for slaughter, shutting down the export slaughter pipeline.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose horse slaughter, and it is time to give them the same protection from slaughter that we give cats and dogs.
How You Can Help Ban Horse Slaughter
Please use the form below to email your members of Congress and urge them to help end horse slaughter by advancing the SAFE Act and preserving the ban on transporting horses for slaughter in the BUILD America 250 Act. If your lawmakers already support these issues, the system will send them a message of thanks.
