Veterinary experts say screwworm threat highlights unnecessary disease risks posed by cross-border horse transport
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy today applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to immediately suspend exports of horses and other animals to Mexico following the detection of New World screwworm (NWS) in the United States. The organizations said the action is a prudent and necessary step to protect American agriculture and should serve as a catalyst for a permanent ban on the export of American horses for slaughter.
The USDA order halts exports of equines, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, dogs, ferrets, birds, and other animals to Mexico while federal officials assess risks associated with the spread of New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasitic fly whose larvae can infest livestock, wildlife, companion animals, and humans.
“New World screwworm is one of the most destructive livestock pests ever to threaten North America,” said Dr. Jim Keen, DVM, Ph.D., director of veterinary Science for the Center for a Humane Economy. “The USDA’s decision is exactly the kind of precautionary action needed to protect livestock, animal health, and rural economies from a costly and preventable threat.”
Approximately 25,000 American horses are exported for slaughter annually, with roughly 80% sent to Mexico. Unlike horses involved in breeding, competition, ranching, or other legitimate equine activities, horses destined for slaughter are funneled through a low-value commodity pipeline that aggregates animals from multiple sources and transports them long distances solely for slaughter.
“The USDA is right to act aggressively,” said Col. Tom Pool, DVM, MPH (Ret.), senior veterinarian for Animal Wellness Action, a rancher in southwestern Oklahoma, and former commander of the U.S. Army Veterinary Command. “The cattle industry has too much at stake to take unnecessary risks. Horses in the slaughter pipeline are moved long distances outside of normal veterinary oversight, and there is no compelling agricultural reason to continue those movements.”
The suspension comes at a time when the North American horse slaughter industry is contracting. Earlier this year, Bouvry Exports in Alberta, one of only two Canadian slaughter facilities accepting American horses, ceased operations, leaving a single horse slaughter plant remaining in Canada. The number of American horses slaughtered annually has fallen dramatically from nearly 400,000 in 1990 to roughly 25,000 today.
“The Administration is right to suspend these exports because of the disease risks associated with moving animals across borders,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Congress is already moving to end this trade, and the screwworm threat underscores why. Horses are not raised for food in the United States. This slaughter pipeline serves a foreign horse meat market, creates unnecessary biosecurity concerns, and subjects horses to needless suffering. It should be shut down permanently.”
Momentum is also building in Congress to permanently end the horse slaughter pipeline. Last month, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved, by a bipartisan vote of 34-30, an amendment offered by Representatives Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Dina Titus, D-Nev., to prohibit the export of American horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter for human consumption and to ban the use of dangerous double-decker trailers for horse transport. The measure incorporates core provisions of the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, which has attracted support from 230 House members. The Senate companion bill, S. 775, is led by Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M.
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy are urging lawmakers to tackle the horse slaughter issue on the Surface Transportation Act and the Farm bill. The Senate is expected to release a draft Farm bill later this month, and the SAFE Act has strong bipartisan support in the chamber.
The organizations emphasized that the USDA’s temporary suspension demonstrates a broader reality: animal movements associated with the slaughter pipeline present avoidable disease risks and should not continue for a trade that is economically marginal, unnecessary to American agriculture, and increasingly rejected by the public.