California Lawmakers Push for Stronger Protections Against Wild Horse Slaughter

California lawmakers are taking a stand to protect wild horses from slaughter. In response to federal actions that could lead to the sale of wild horses to slaughterhouses, newlegislationis being introduced to strengthen state protections.

Introduction of Assembly Bill 128

California’s wild horses could soon be given more state protection — a move prompted by the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to allow the potentialsale of hundreds of wild horsesto slaughterhouses.

California State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, introduced Assembly Bill 128, which aims to strengthen state law that makes it a felony to sell, import, export, or possess a horse for the purpose of slaughter for human consumption.

Spokesman Nick Serrano mentioned that the bill is still being drafted, but Gloria expects it will improve enforcement of current restrictions.

Support from Lawmakers and Organizations

Gloria was among nearly two dozen state lawmakers who joinedU.S. Sen. Dianne Feinsteinin calling on the Forest Service to stop a planned roundup of hundreds of horses, with those horses 10 and older to be made available for sale for $1 without limitation if they are not adopted in a set amount of time.

Gloria’s bill was welcomed by the executive director of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), which first criticized the sale.

Current Legal Landscape

There are no American horse slaughter facilities, according to the AWHC, but buyers often transport horses to plants in Canada and Mexico, with the horsemeat then being sent overseas for human consumption.

Federal law prohibits horses under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management from being sold for the purpose of slaughter. However, the U.S. Forest Service is under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has no such limitation.

Originally posted by the Sacramento Bee