Dear John,

Last year there were 666 truckloads of American equines—30 animals to a truck—transported from safe havens in the United States to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. That’s two jam-packed trucks bound for foreign slaughter plants every day of the year.

One day the horses are galloping in a pasture. Or carrying a human companion on a shade-covered trail in a painted forest. Or participating in a show where the fans and judges admire the horses for their grace and stature.

On a different day, however, they may be sold at auction to a “kill buyer.” They are then hustled up the ramp of a trailer and jammed in with other frightened horses. And transported again in another overcrowded truck with urine- and feces-covered floors, often on a journey of more than 20 hours, with no break or food or water, for slaughter.

Last week, we conducted a webinar on the moral scandal of horse slaughter. If you want to learn more about it, and see a presentation from actress Shannon Doherty, please visit this link. (Her video starts at 17:33.)

Congress Must Act to End Live Exports of Horses to Mexico

As I said in our webinar, we are on the cusp of ending, once and for all, the live export of horses for slaughter.

With eyes as big as saucers, horses and other equines are forced into a kill box with an electric prod. They are then taken apart piece by piece.

Their parts are sent to Belgium or China, with the consumers not giving a thought to the suffering behind their fleeting meal.

In an investigation we released a year ago, we documented that these animals—most of whom provided years of faithful service and companionship or ran free on public lands in the American West—are routinely subjected to a level of mistreatment inconsistent with the dictates of our anti-cruelty laws and the norms of decency.

Let’s remember, our nation does not allow the slaughter of American horses for consumption on U.S. soil. The last slaughter plants in our country were shuttered in 2007. So why, then, are we allowing kill buyers to export live American horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter for consumption?

We are sounding the alarm to lawmakers in Congress that healthy American equines are being butchered in a secretive, inhumane trade to Mexico.

Please, we need your help on two fronts.

First, we need your financial support to continue our investigations and our lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill. Please consider donating today by going here.

And second, we need you to raise your voice and to urge your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative to cosponsor the SAFE Act and end this miserable trafficking of horses for slaughter. You can take action quickly and easily by going here.

Remember, it was horses who helped us settle and expand the nation. They facilitated our travel for nearly two hundred years, they carried us into battle, and they gave us joy and the thrill of sport.

It's time to repay them for their service.

In the 21st century, we need to be their protectors, not their persecutors.

Please take action on these two fronts today.

For the horses,

Wayne Pacelle President Animal Wellness Action