SAVE AMERICA'S FORGOTTEN EQUINES (SAFE) ACT of 2025

Identified as H.R.1661 in the House and S.775 in the Senate

This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Commonly known as the “Farm Bill”, an omnibus federal law includes several important provisions for animals. Among them, the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which makes it illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. This bill would extend the prohibition to equines. Specifically, prohibiting a person from knowingly slaughtering an American equine for human consumption; or shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an American equine to be slaughtered for human consumption.

Call the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 and ask to be transferred to the offices of your US House Representative and Senators.

Tell your Rep:

“My name is *** I am a constituent and taxpayer *** Please protect American equines by cosponsoring and supporting the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025 - H.R.1661” 

Tell your Senators:

“My name is *** I am a constituent and taxpayer *** Please protect American equines by cosponsoring and supporting the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2025 - S.775” 

THE LEGISLATION

Horse slaughter is currently illegal in the United States because most Americans don’t like it. The ban, however, is subject to annual congressional review and there is nothing to stop the transport of live equines across US borders to foreign slaughter plants. A federal law is needed to permanently ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and end the export of horses for slaughter abroad. This is the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act.

Reintroduced in the House on February 27, 2025 by Congressman Vern Buchanan and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, it is currently cosponsored by over 100 bipartisan members of Congress. Companion legislation is being introduced in the Senate by Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Ben Ray Luján. The SAFE Act can permanently shut down the slaughter pipeline for American horses and donkeys.

This IS the holy grail of legislation to shut down the slaughter pipeline in the US. When we began campaigning for this years ago, 150,000 equines were shipping to slaughter in Mexico and Canada every year! BUT this is a demand driven business and that number has gone down to around 20,000 horses a year, due partly to EU legislation banning the import of horse meat from Mexico and controlling meat from Canada.

The slaughter of equines cannot be conflated with “humane euthanasia”. The animals suffer terribly before and during the journey to foreign abattoirs. The way they are killed is monstrous. Shockingly, the heads of two professional veterinarian organizations - the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) - have helped stop the SAFE Act from moving to a vote in the House by making this ludicrous argument.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EQUINES IN THE PIPELINE WHEN A BAN GOES INTO EFFECT?

A study has shown that rescues and sanctuaries could absorb the last horses out of the pipeline if a ban were to come into place today. I have always said “necessity is the mother of invention” and when the need arises programs like hay banks, free euthanasia clinics, feed assistance for horse owners and re-homing programs would spring into action.

The SAFE Act would force owners to take responsibility for their animals by removing the convenience of dumping them at auction for their meat price. It would intensify the massive pressure that has been building for years to force the horse industry to breed more responsibly. Many horses who ship are by-products of the Quarterhorse and Thoroughbred industries. We’ve already made strides, thanks to public pressure to reduce over breeding, even without the legislation that’s coming down the pipeline.

Skydog has rescued or helped rescue over 150 wild mustangs from in kill pens in the US in the last few years and we  want to put an end to this brutal trade in horse flesh for once and for all. I have all the confidence in the world a ban would continue to bring positive change, as the looming inevitability of legislation already has done so much to stop the flood.

DO MAKE THAT CALL. Make it for all horses and donkeys. Be the change you want to see in this world.

PLEASE NOTE: The SAFE Act will not stop roundups or help wild horses on the range. It will stop the flow of wild horses and burros (and all horses and donkeys) to kill pens and on to slaughter in foreign countries.

HOW TO HELP GET IT PASSED

Click Here to find the list of cosponsors in 2023

Click Here to find the list of cosponsors in 2021

Click Here to find the list of cosponsors in 2019

If your representative was a co-sponsor in the past, please call (202) 224-3121 and ask them to support the current version. If your Rep is not listed on the current list of co-sponsors please pick up the phone, call them and politely encourage them to jump on board as a co-sponsor. Tell them your vote is dependent on their support of the SAFE Act and their efforts to ensure that our wild horses are given the protections they deserve and are afforded by law. 

Constant roundups and long-term holding are not the solution as GOA audits have made clear to the BLM. The policy of successive administrations on wild equines, “The Path Forward”, was written and supported by the National Humane Society (recently rebranded as Humane World for Animals), ASPCA, and Return to Freedom in cooperation with livestock industry and hunting representatives. It is a management tool for the extinction of our wild horses and burros with its goal to remove 130,000 wild equines within ten years. It is responsible for the injuries, deaths, and suffering of the animals during and after every roundup.

Skydog is 100 percent committed to getting the SAFE Act. It is crucial to get it pushed through this year. Our goal is to raise more awareness and inspire more people to fight this brutal trade. But we cannot do it alone! Be a voice for our wild horses and burros and let the government know you want them to be protected on our public lands.

You can phone, email or write a handwritten letter. Many elected officials are active on social media sites like Twitter (X), Instagram, and Facebook, another way to make your voice heard. 

In addition to contacting your local representatives, you can also contact President Trump by following this link and completing the “contact us” form to ask him to please support the SAFE Act.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS

Please follow this Link to message President Trump or send a letter via the Postal Service: 

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500 USA

Horses Saved From Slaughter

Hold or Right Click on the images below to save to your desktop or mobile device to post on social media.

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Skydog Sanctuary teamed up with Jamie Baldanza (@thismustanglife) to make the short film on this page about three mares we pulled out of the pipeline. Along with narration by Daryl Hannah (@dhlovelife), many Friends of Skydog spoke up for the horses, donkeys, mustangs, burros, hinnies, mules, and minis of America:

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr (@robertfkennedyjr)

Gerard Butler (@gerardbutler)

Kelly Reilly (@mzkellyreilly)

Kristin Davis (@iamkristindavis)

Zach Braff (@zachbraff)

Ian Somerhalder (@iansomerhalder)

Josh Groban (@joshgroban)

Julianne Hough (@juleshough)

Kaley Cuoco (@kaleycuoco)

Beth Behrs (@bethbehrs)

Christa Miller (@christabmiller)

Whitney Cummings (@whitneycummings)

Dougray Scott and Matthew Rhys to name a few….

Let's do this!

#passsafeactnow #passthesafeact

These are the real faces of some of the more than 100 horses and donkeys Skydog Sanctuary has saved from the slaughter pipeline.

Here is a growing list of names of equines that Skydog has pulled from kill pens:

Adeline, Aerial, Agnes, AJ, Alfie, Alice, Amelia, Angel, Archibald, Arthur, Aspen, Badger, Bambi, Bear, Bibi, Birdie, Bitsy, Blubell, Bobcat, Bonbon, Boots, Cheyenne, Cinnamon, Cisco, Clare, Colorado, Commander, Curly Girl, Dalton, Denver, Dollar, Dorothy, Eastwood, Eden, Faith, Feather, Francis, Gabriel, Georgie, Goldie, Graham Cracker, Grey Goose (GG), Harry, Hedy Lemarr, Honey Paleuse, Ireland, Jack Sparrow, Kennedy, Ladybug (carrying Firefly) Leonidas, Lewis, Little Girl, London, Louisa, Love, Lucy (carrying Marcie Marshmallow), Luna, Mariah, Marley, Mary, Minnie, Missy, Monte Cristo, Moonshine, Moose, Mrs. Tiggywinkle, Neo, Nutmeg, Onyx, Pearl, Peppermint Patty, Petula, Pony Boy, Poppy, Priscilla, Quinn, Rain, Rango, Read, Redford, Rhiannon, Rose, Saint, Samson, Sally Brown (carrying Woodstock), Sarge, Scarecrow, Schroeder, Scout, Sierra (carrying Shasta), Skye, Smokey, Snow (carrying Frost), Spider, Star, Swayze, Sweet Pea, Tank, Tin Man, Toby, Twiggy, Waldo, Whiskey, Whisper, Wildflower, Woody, Zephyr, Ziggy, Zsa Zsa.

There are also those who broke our hearts by not having the strength to survive their mistreatment. We got them to safety, but they did not live long enough to reach Skydog: Buttons, Charlie Brown, Eleanor, Jacquot, Liberty, Rooster, Snoopy, Viola.

This trade in horses lives has to be stopped and Skydog hopes that sharing some of our stories of horses saved from slaughter will help people understand why protecting them needs to be restored and better solutions must be used to manage them in the wild. Successful marketing experts say “facts tell, stories sell” so it is our hope that instead of listing the dry facts about numbers of horses shipping, engaging people with the real stories of these horses will inspire them to take action.