Sponsors (10)
The bill protects equines and advances animal-welfare goals by banning slaughter for human consumption, at the cost of eliminating a niche market and creating enforcement and regulatory impacts for affected businesses and some state/tribal authorities.
Equine owners and advocates gain a federal legal protection because the bill explicitly bars horses and other equines from being slaughtered for human consumption.
Animal welfare organizations, rural communities, and the public benefit from expanded protections that reduce commercial killing and sale of equines for food, improving animal welfare outcomes.
Horse owners, breeders, and businesses that currently sell or process equine meat for human consumption lose a market and potential income as that commerce is prohibited.
Interstate transporters and processors who handled equine products face criminal penalties or heightened enforcement risk because the statute covers interstate commerce related to equine slaughter and sale.
States and tribal governments that previously allowed limited equine slaughter or trade may face legal conflicts, regulatory disruption, or loss of a modest revenue source where those activities were permitted.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Expands the federal ban that covered dogs and cats so it also prohibits slaughter and listed conduct involving equines, by changing statutory wording to "a dog, cat, or equine."
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Lindsey O. Graham · Last progress February 27, 2025
Expands the federal ban that currently covers dogs and cats to also prohibit slaughter and related interstate-commerce conduct involving equines (horses and similar animals). The bill updates the statute’s wording so that the existing criminal prohibitions, penalties, interstate scope, tribal exception, and state savings provisions now apply to equines as well. The law’s penalties, interstate-commerce reach, tribal exception, and state preemption/savings language remain unchanged; no new funding or programs are authorized and no effective date is specified in the provided text.