American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
Warning: This page contains 3 graphic photographs.

S.1915 must pass in 2006 for the American horse slaughter ban to take effect in 2007.

A failure to pass this bill will result in the continuing escalation of horse slaughter with no end in sight.

If S.1915 does not pass in 2006, then America's horses will continue to be brutally slaughtered, as depicted in this photo of a Texas slaughterhouse. We can make history by passing this vital legislation if every American who cares about horses gets involved now. Outgoing Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, must be urged to bring this bill to the Senate floor for a vote before Congress adjourns. Please take the time to act now. This is literally a matter of life and death.

THE CLOCK IS TICKING!... With the 2006 elections behind us, we must now concentrate on passing the Senate version of The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act so that it can be signed into law and take effect in 2007. The House of Representatives made history by passing its version (H.R. 503) on September 7, 2006 (To read more about it, click here...)

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! There is now no time to rest or waste. Unless the Senate version of the bill, S.1915, is passed in 2006 before Congress adjourns, the entire process will have to start all over again. Worst of all, America's horses will continue to be brutally slaughtered. We are now closer than ever before to ending the cruel and un-American practice of horse slaughter in the United States and the transport of live equines from the US across the Canadian and Mexican borders for the purpose of slaughter. We have just a very short period of time between the end of the 2006 elections (now history) and the time that the Senate adjourns for the year which could be in November or December of 2006. There is very little time left to get this done, so everyone has to really get involved now!

Here is what has to happen in order for S.1915 to pass this year:

• Outgoing Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, has to introduce a motion for the bill to come to the floor for a vote. He must be urged to do this and it must happen through you, the voters, and with the urging of the sponsors and co-sponsors of the bill and his other colleagues in the US Senate. To find out more about S.1915, including the list of co-sponsors and other important information, click here. To read the full text of the Senate bill, click here.


• Although there are reportedly enough votes in the Senate to pass this bill, there still needs to be at least sixty (60) Senators committed to voting for it to avoid a block of this legislation by Charles Grassley of Iowa (who has already made it clear that he intends to try to kill this legislation), outgoing Senator Conrad Burns of Montana (who attached the Burns Amendment to a 2004 spending bill which privatized America's wild horse and burro herds), and others who have ties to special interests that want to keep horse slaughter legal.


• The current status of this legislation is that it is on the Senate calendar, but a date has not yet been determined for a vote. We can and must make that happen. Please take the time to fax, call and email your two Senators, and also urge your family and friends locally and across the country to do the same.

This is what you must ask your Senators to do:

1. Urge outgoing Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, to make a motion for S.1915, The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, to come to the Senate floor for a vote BEFORE CONGRESS ADJOURNS.
2. Vote for S.1915 WITHOUT AMENDMENTS.
3. Try to get at least SIXTY (60) SENATORS to vote for S.1915 to prevent a block by opposing Senators... And just as they did in the House of Representatives, to vote for it WITHOUT AMENDMENTS.

To obtain the contact information for your two Senators or any Senator in Congress, visit: www.senate.gov. Note: Even if one or both your Senators are on the current list of 28 co-sponsors of S.1915, you still must contact them and ask them to work hard for its passage.

Only your swift actions, determination and dedication can ensure that horse slaughter becomes a thing of the past. Please do your part and stop the slaughter of America's horses once and for all by taking action NOW! (For more about horse slaughter, including a photographic trip through an American horse slaughterhouse, visit our web page, Horse Slaughter: An American Disgrace - WARNING: the photographs are graphic.)

How you can provide additional help

After you have contacted your own two Senators, and your family and friends across the country to do the same, here is some additional action you can take to help make a real difference to get this legislation passed in 2006:

• In order to get S.1915 to the floor for a vote, outgoing Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist must introduce a motion to proceed. Call and/or fax him and urge him to do so. Also, please contact Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Whip, to support this legislation and get it to the floor for a vote.
  
  Senator Bill Frist (TN): (202) 224-3344; Fax: (202) 228-1264
  Senator Mitch McConnell (KY): (202) 224-2541; Fax: (202) 224-2499
  
  There are a number of other key players in the Senate who need to be contacted in order to get this bill to the floor for a vote. Please contact these Senators and urge them to do that:
  
• Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and John Ensign of Nevada introduced this bill, but need encouragement from you and your respective Senators to really work for this legislation and get it to the floor for a vote:
  
  Senator Mary Landrieu (LA): (202) 224-5824; Fax: (202) 224-9735
  Senator John Ensign (NV): (202) 224-6244; Fax: (202) 228-2193
  
  
• There are three remaining equine slaughterhouses in the US - two in Texas and one in Illinois. Please contact the four Senators from those two states and urge them to vote for S.1915 without amendments:
  
  From the State of Illinois:
  Senator Barack Obama (IL): (202) 224-2854; Fax: (202) 224-4260
  Senator Dick Durbin (IL): (202) 224-2152; Fax: (202) 228-0400
  
  From the State of Texas:
  Senator John Cornyn (TX): (202) 224-2934; Fax: 228-2856
  Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX): (202) 224-5922; Fax: (202) 224-0776
  
  
• In 1998, 60% of the California electorate passed Proposition 6, the first state initiative in history which banned the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The two Senators from that state should be big supporters of S.1915 because their constituents are solidly behind it. Please contact Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and ask them to work hard to pass this bill:
  
  Senator Barbara Boxer (CA): (202) 224-3553; Fax: (202) 228-2382
  Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA): (202) 224-3841; Fax: (202) 228-3954
  
  
• In addition, please contact key Senators, Harry Reid, the Senate Minority Leader, from Nevada and Ted Stevens of Alaska and urge them to work hard for the passage of this bill without amendments:
  
  Senator Harry Reid (NV): (202) 224-3542; Fax: (202)224-7327
  Senator Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004; Fax: (202) 224-2354

  
  This graphic photo depicts the legs of horses dismembered at an equine slaughterhouse. Notice that some were still wearing their shoes at the time of slaughter. For less than what it had cost to shoe these horses, all of them could have been humanely euthanized by a licensed veterinarian and thus been given a peaceful and dignified death..

• Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has already taken steps to try to kill S.1915, just as his colleague, Congressman Steve King (IA) tried to do in the House of Representatives. Fortunately, King's efforts were soundly defeated and we want Grassley's to fail as well. Please contact him and ask him not to stand in the way of this vital legislation:
  
  Senator Charles Grassley (IA): (202) 224-3744; Fax: (202) 224-6020
  
  
• We know that Senator Conrad Burns of Montana is a strong proponent of horse slaughter and will probably try to block S.1915 and kill it. Please contact him and ask him to remain neutral, particularly since he has been voted out of office and will not be back next year.
  
  Senator Conrad Burns (MT): (202) 224-2644; Fax: (202) 224-8594
  
  Also, Senator Max Baucus of Montana should be contacted and asked to support S.1915 without amendments:
  
  Senator Max Baucus (MT): (202) 224-2651; Fax: (202) 224-0515