The Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has released a new poll showing 80% of Americans are opposed to the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The nationwide survey reveals that Americans oppose horse slaughter overwhelmingly regardless of their gender, political affiliation, whether they live in an urban or rural area, or their geographic location. Further, it confirms that a vast majority of horse owners are also against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines.
Lake Research Partners designed and administered this telephone survey, using professional interviewers, with 1,008 registered voters. The poll was conducted January 9-12, 2012. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-3.09 percentage points, and larger for sub-groups. The data were slightly weighted by gender, race, age, and region to ensure a comprehensive representation of registered voters in the U.S.
Recently, Congress approved and President Obama signed into law an appropriations measure that included funding for inspections of horse slaughter facilities. The idea was to pave the way for the re-opening of facilities to slaughter horses for human consumption which has been illegal in the U.S. since 2007. The de-funding of inspections required by the Federal Meat Inspection Act for horses slaughtered for human consumption successfully shut down these facilities, at least until now. "Using tax dollars to fund this inhumane and controversial practice is a wildly unpopular decision, as our research confirms, and has fueled the fire for a complete ban on horse slaughter," said Nancy Perry, senior vice president for Government Relations for ASPCA.
A 2006 Public Opinion Strategies poll found that nearly 70% of Americans support a ban on equine slaughter. A CNN poll that same year showed a similar result. The ASPCA poll proves that the support among Americans for a ban on equine slaughter for human consumption has grown. And, currently, according to the Popvox poll, nearly 80% of Americans support pending legislation, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 2966/S.B. 1176, which would end the slaughter of American equines for human consumption.
You have the power to stop the slaughter of American horses for human consumption. Go here for information about the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act and how you can help pass it.