House of Representative to hold a hearing about the SAFE Act (HR3355) to ban horse slaughter. Horses in Our Hands played instrument role behind the scenes.
May 19, 2022
On May 26th, The House of Representatives will hold a hearing about the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE Act, HR3355) to ban horse slaughter. Horses in Our Hands played a major role behind the scenes to create the momentum needed to bring it out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“We are grateful to Chairman Frank Pallone of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for supporting our mission and for bringing this bill forward out of Committee! He believes horse slaughter is morally wrong and wants to act fast on passing The SAFE Act,” said Rebekah Keat and Siri Lindley, World Champion Triathletes and Cofounders of Horses in Our Hands, “We look forward to being a part of the public hearing and will urge legislators to bring it to the House floor for a vote where it’s sure to pass.”
Horses in Our Hands began it’s national educational and awareness campaign in March 2020 and has made huge strides to end the senseless killing of American horses. In the last 20 years, over a million healthy horses were exported to facilities in Canada and Mexico, where they were brutally slaughtered to provide horse meat for sale in Europe and Asia
Here are some of their achievements:
210,000 letters sent to Legislators which translated into 215 cosponsors.
92 million reached with national commercial and award-winning PBS mini documentary.
10 million reached via social media outreach campaigns.
1700 Letters to the Editor published across the nation.
First organization to meet with Chairman Pallone of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Nationally published Op Eds from Celebrity supporters.
Thousands of social media shares.
Horses being exported to slaughter down by 65% since they began their national campaign.
The Founders of HIOH have appeared on 100s of shows and podcasts including, Jane Unchained News (over 872,000 followers) Etheridge Nation and NPR’s Talking Animals.
Celebrity Supporters of the cause include, Tony Robbins, Melissa Etheridge, Willie Nelson, Julianne Hough, Katherine Kelly, Bo Derek, Bonnie-Jill Laflin and more. This boosted HIOH’s reach even more with their own social media posts about banning horse slaughter.
In addition to founding Horses in Our Hands, Siri Lindley and Rebekah Keat are owners of Believe Ranch and Rescue, a 501(c)(3) in Longmont, Colo., where they have rescued 185 horses in five years. “When the SAFE Act gets passed, I’ll be so grateful we won’t have to rush to save horses from the Kill Buyers, only to be kept awake at night over the ones we couldn’t save.” said Keat
In Our Hands Action Fund/Horses in Our Hands is the only equine welfare-specific organization lobbying Congress for the permanent ban on horse slaughter.
For more information about Horses in Our Hands, please contact Rebekah Keat at 310-425-4983 or info@horsesinourhands.org
About In Our Hands Action Fund/Horses in Our Hands:
In Our Hands Action Fund/Horses in Our Hands is a 501(c)(4) dedicated to lobbying congress to pass the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, which calls for a ban on horse slaughter in the U.S. and prevents the export of horses for the same purpose. Though there has been a federal de facto ban on horse slaughter, “kill-buyers” or middlemen in the U.S. continue to ply their trade, purchasing horses, often from unsuspecting owners, and then packing them into overcrowded trailers for the harrowing journey to slaughterhouse.