Horse Slaughter

Information on Horse Slaughter: Below, a pen of drafts patiently awaiting slaughter.

Our horses are rescued directly from East Coast horse auctions frequented by meat buyers. Gentle Giants is conscientious to only purchase horses being sold to meat. Very few people are aware that many privately owned horses sold at auction are in grave danger of being purchased for slaughter. Selling horses for meat is a lucrative and easy business, as horse meat is considered a delicacy and is in high demand in Canada, Europe, and especially Japan. Most meat buyers have a per pound price they are willing to pay for a horse. Depending on the market, exported horse meat brings $14 to $18 a pound, so a "meat man's" bid can be competitive with that of a private buyer. This puts draft breeds in particular danger as they are large, easy to fatten, and have lots of muscle.

Over the past year, there have been many legal advances in the effort to end horse slaughter. All plants in the US are currently closed, however both Montana, Oregon (Warm Springs Indian Reservation), and South Dakota have all made legal headway to bring Horse Slaughter BACK to the U.S.!!!  May 4, 2009, Bill H.B. 418 passed into law in Montana, opening the door to allow a new Horse Slaughter Plant. 

Even without these effort, nearly 100,000 US horses are exported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter every year. While our legal advances have protected US horses from being butchered here at home, they have done nothing to outlaw the shipping of our horses over thousands of miles in treacherous conditions... only to meet the same end fate. We have not ended slaughter at all; we have merely made it a cruelly longer process for the horse to endure.

There are currently three bills in Congress seeking Amendments:

H.R.503 - To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes.


S.311- A bill to amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for human consumption, and for other purposes.


H.R.249- To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros, and thereby protect our wild mustangs.

The Horror That Is Mexico....

Conditions in Canada and Mexico are a gruesome fate at best. There is no USDA Inspector to mandate how the horses must be slaughtered. In Canada, the "captive bolt" method is not enforced for every horse, therefore some may be slaughtered still conscious and struggling. In Mexico, horses are simply stabbed in the withers repeatedly until they drop to the ground, disabled.  No living creature deserves an end so painful and cruel.

For an excellent website dedicated to exploring all aspects of horse slaughter, please visit www.justsaywhoa.org. They are an excellent source of information. Please be warned that some photographs and videos you may see are disturbing and not appropriate for children.