Thoroughbred industry teams up with animal welfare groups to halt slaughter of U.S. horses

A number of leading Thoroughbred racing organizations have joined together with animal welfare advocates to press for legislation that would put in place penalties for the transport or sale of horses for slaughter in other countries.

The organizations, which include The Jockey Club, the Breeders’ Cup, The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and a number of racetrack companies, said that they have sent a letter to congressional leaders to urge the federal legislature to permanently ban the operation of U.S. slaughterhouses and put in place the restrictions on the sale and transport of horses to foreign slaughter operations.

Horse slaughter is a critical issue for Thoroughbred racing, and many racetracks have put in place penalties for trainers who are found to have entered a horse into the slaughter pipeline. Public opinion polls in the U.S. consistently show that a vast majority of respondents have a dim view of horse slaughter.

Congress first passed legislation defunding inspections at horse slaughterhouses in 2007, a practice that put the few remaining horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. out of business. That legislation has been renewed continually since 2007, but the new group, which is calling itself the Final Stretch Alliance to End Horse Slaughter, said in a release that it is pushing for a permanent ban on the slaughter operations.

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The coalition also said it supported the Save America’s Forgotten Horses Act, a piece of legislation that has been introduced in the House and endorsed by nearly half of its members. That legislation “prohibits the transporting, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation by a person of an equine that the person has reason to believe will be slaughtered for human consumption.”

Equine advocates contend that “tens of thousands” of U.S. horses each year enter the slaughter pipeline, which reaches into Canada and Mexico, where horse slaughterhouses still operate.

“Racing industry groups have demonstrated real leadership in committing resources for aftercare and career transition programs, instituting and enforcing track policies against sale to slaughter, and spearheading state and federal policies prohibiting horse slaughter,” the letter to legislative leaders says. “These programs are critical, but until the law shuts down the slaughter pipeline itself, no horse, no matter how beloved or decorated, will be truly safe.”

The groups announced the formation of their coalition in the midst of the Triple Crown series of races, when Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. is at its highest point of visibility. The second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, will be held on Saturday in Baltimore, 30 miles from Washington D.C.