PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 27, 2025
Save America's Forgotten Equines Act of 2025 or the SAFE Act of 2025
This bill permanently prohibits the slaughter of equines (e.g., horses and mules) for human consumption. (Current law prohibits the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption. This bill extends the prohibition to equines.)
Specifically, this bill prohibits a person from knowingly (1) slaughtering an equine for human consumption; or (2) shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an equine to be slaughtered for human consumption or equine parts for human consumption.
The bill subjects a violator to a fine.
The bill applies to conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States. However, it does not apply to an activity carried out by an Indian for a religious ceremony.
As background, in recent years, the appropriations acts have prohibited the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from using federal funds to inspect horses before they are slaughtered for human consumption. Therefore, there are currently no USDA-inspected horse slaughter facilities in the United States.
People & committees
Rep. Buchanan, Vern [R-FL-16] · R–FL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry.
Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Sep 29, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-27 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill proposes to add equines—horses and related animals—to an existing federal provision covering dogs and cats. Its stated subject is prohibiting slaughter for human consumption. Because the bill amends another law without reproducing its rules, the supplied text does not establish exactly which activities or people would be covered.
2. Prohibition on slaughter of equines for human consumption Section 12515 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2160) is amended— (1) in the section heading, by striking dogs and cats and inserting dogs, cats, and equines; and (2) in subsection (a), by striking a dog or cat each place it appears and inserting a dog, cat, or equine.
Section 1 would name the legislation the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act of 2025, or SAFE Act of 2025.
This Act may be cited as the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act of 2025 or the SAFE Act of 2025.
Section 2 would add equines to the heading of section 12515 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018.
Section 12515 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2160) is amended— (1) in the section heading, by striking dogs and cats and inserting dogs, cats, and equines;
The bill would also replace every occurrence of “a dog or cat” in subsection (a) with “a dog, cat, or equine,” retaining dogs and cats while adding equines.
(2) in subsection (a), by striking a dog or cat each place it appears and inserting a dog, cat, or equine.
The supplied September 29, 2026 snapshot records introduction and referral to the House Committee on Agriculture on February 27, 2025, followed by referral to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry on March 28, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-29T08:05:43Z. 2025-03-28: Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry. 2025-02-27: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. 2025-02-27: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-27. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; member disclosures, committee reports, and other accompanying materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No narrow preferential treatment, special exemption, or carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish their absence in other versions or in the underlying law that is not reproduced.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 29, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI