Horse Transportation Safety Act

Earlier this year, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced The Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2011, to prohibit the transportation of horses in interstate commerce in a motor vehicle containing two or more levels stacked on top of one another. An identical version of this bill passed the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on July 29, 2010 by unanimous consent, but no further action was taken during the 111th Congress.

Why is this important?

• Double-deck trailers are designed for livestock such as cattle and hogs, not horses.
• The USDA opposes the transport of horses on double-deck trailers and recently issued regulations prohibiting their use completely under the agency’s policy governing the transport of equines to slaughter. The Horse Transportation Safety Act will provide protections covering the movement of all horses.
• Although data are limited, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has acknowledged scientific literature that suggests increased rates of injury associated with the use of double-decked conveyances for transporting horses.
• According to the AVMA, "sources, such as the National Agriculture Safety Database and various manufacturers producing trailers specifically for horse transport recommend heights of 7 to 8 ft as being necessary for the safe and comfortable transport of horses (i. e., adequate headroom for the horses to stand comfortably with their heads in normal position); it appears difficult, if not impossible, to meet such recommendations via the use of currently configured double-deck trailers, particularly for taller horses."
• Killer-buyers continue to use these trucks while passing throughout the U.S. on their way to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico.

Find out more about the history and current problems with horse transportation.