The Virginia Horse Journal (VHJ) wants to know what you think about the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act currently awaiting a vote in the Senate. The Virginia Horse Council, which is pro-slaughter, gives their members copies of the VHJ, so this is a great way to let them know just how many of us do not support this terrible practice.

Vote now in favor of the bill at:

http://www.virginiahorse.com

The poll can be found in the lower right portion of the screen.

Then, since you’re already on a roll, contact your current senators and let them know that you still want them to get this legislation passed ASAP. You can find your Senator by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or by looking up the phone number here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Hello, Fellow Horse Advocates! I'm on the side of voting YES to the slaughter ban, but I really DO have some concerns about what will happen...and actually, I'm alarmed by the wording of the actual bill being put forth. Do you realize that it says "for human consumption"? It doesn't say anything regarding animal consumption. I don't know anything factual about this, but don't you think lots of horses that are slaughtered are used in the pet food market?
Also, in response to the Q and A Myths section on this site,my equine dentist who works for the Government, primarily in keeping the Walking Horse people legit, tells me that since the ban in California, horses are dying from being fed DOG FOOD because their owners Know nothing about equine care...they just go to an auction and buy one for several hundred dollars and then keep them in deplorable conditions until they either get tired of horse ownership or kill the horse through ignorance. This really concerns me. Has anybody heard of this? He said this was directly from Vet friends of his in Cali.

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for posting! Actually, horses are not used for the pet food market in this country anymore. Some horses are used for production of food used for zoo animals, but this is a very small percentage and there are other food sources that some zoos already use instead. Banning slaughter for human consumption would make tremendous strides for horse welfare in this country.

We haven't heard about horses being fed dog food in California, and it doesn't appear to be a widespread problem. Horse abuse through uninformed caretakers can certainly happen anywhere, but it has been proven that a ban on slaughter wouldn't increase the incidence that such abuse occurs.