Equine Welfare Advocates and Celebrities Call for Congressional Action on National Ban Horse Slaughter Day
Washington, D.C., November 16, 2022 – Today, Horses In Our Hands 501(c)(4) and celebrity equine welfare advocates marked National Ban Horse Slaughter Day by calling on Congress to pass the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act.
Advocates, including Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Melissa Etheridge, actress Katherine Kelly Lang, radio host Kerri Kasem and entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, urged supporters to send a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, call their House representatives at 202-224-3121, and make their voices heard to congressional leaders on Twitter to urge immediate passage of a federal ban on horse slaughter.
The bipartisan, bicameral bill would permanently ban horse slaughter in the United States and any related interstate or foreign export activity. The bill currently has 223 cosponsors in the House across both parties, more than enough to pass.
About 23,000 American horses were exported to slaughter facilities in Canada and Mexico last year alone. This practice subjects horses to extreme cruelty and puts people at risk of exposure to toxic meat.
“Today on National Ban Horse Slaughter Day, we must be the voices for our horses so Washington hears us loud and clear,” said Siri Lindley, co-founder of Horses In Our Hands, two-time World Champion, eleven-time World Champion Coach, author and renowned keynote speaker. “It's past time that we end horse slaughter in the United States once and for all.”
“It’s clear the SAFE Act has more than enough votes to pass. But time is running out. Congress must act now to pass the bipartisan SAFE Act so that it can finally become law this year,” said Rebekah Keat, co-founder of Horses In Our Hands, three-time national triathlon champion, and founder of Team Sirius Tri Club. “Horses have carried Americans on their backs for centuries. It’s time that we had their backs in return.”
“Today across America on National Ban Horse Slaughter Day, we are uniting to call attention to the critical plight of horses,” said Melissa Etheridge, Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter. “Thousands of American horses are being shipped in horrific conditions to Canada and Mexico to be brutally slaughtered for human consumption. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer must do whatever it takes to ban horse slaughter by the end of the year.”
"More than ever, these beautiful animals need us to speak out against the horrible abuse of horse slaughter. Every year thousands of American horses are being shipped in horrific conditions to Canada and Mexico to be brutally slaughtered for human consumption. This is animal abuse at its worst," said John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell Systems hair products and Patron Spirits Company, as well as founder of JP's Peace, Love and Happiness Foundation to contribute to a sustainable planet through investing in people, protecting animals and conserving the environment.
About Horses In Our Hands
In Our Hands Action Fund, a 501(c)4, was established by experts from across the spectrum all dedicated to one goal: ending the slaughter of America’s horses. In addition to founding Horses in Our Hands, Lindley and Keat are owners of Believe Ranch and Rescue, a 501(c)(3) in Longmont, Colo.
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