• Cosponsors: Representative Rivas and Representative Ayanna Pressley secured the 232nd and 233rd cosponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives, establishing a bipartisan majority. 

• Vehicles for Passage: Animal welfare advocates note that ending the threat of horse slaughter is being pursued through two primary routes: the stand-alone SAFE Act of 2025 (H.R.1661) / (S.775) and anti-slaughter shipping language attached to the surface transportation reauthorization bill. 

Summary: H.R.1661 — 119th Congress (2025-2026)

Introduced in House (02/27/2025)

Save America's Forgotten Equines Act of 2025 or the SAFE Act of 2025

This bill permanently prohibits the slaughter of equines (e.g., horses and mules) for human consumption. (Current law prohibits the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption. This bill extends the prohibition to equines.)

Specifically, this bill prohibits a person from knowingly (1) slaughtering an equine for human consumption; or (2) shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an equine to be slaughtered for human consumption or equine parts for human consumption.

The bill subjects a violator to a fine.

The bill applies to conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. However, it does not apply to an activity carried out by an Indian for a religious ceremony.

As background, in recent years, the appropriations acts have prohibited the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using federal funds to inspect horses before they are slaughtered for human consumption. Therefore, there are currently no USDA-inspected horse slaughter facilities in the United States.