IB 

Union Calendar No. 357 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 503 

[Report No. 109–617, Part I] 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2005 

Mr. SWEENEY (for himself, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mrs. BONO, Mr. 

BROWN of Ohio, Mr. COX, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FERGUSON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

GALLEGLY, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. SHAYS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

JULY 13, 2006 

Rereferred to the Commitee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition, to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. 

PITTS, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. JONES of 

North Carolina, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. FARR, Mr. KING

of New York, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. DICKS, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. LEWIS of California, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. STRICKLAND, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. STARK, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. FILNER, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. WU, Mr. SHAW, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. 

KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. WATSON, 

Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. 

OLVER, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. SCHWARTZ

of Pennsylvania, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. 


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SLAUGHTER, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. NEY, Mr. KIRK, Ms. WATERS, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. CASTLE, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 

ABERCROMBIE, Mr. LINDER, Mr. EVANS, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. ZOE

LOFGREN of California, Mr. WYNN, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, 

Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY, Mr. WEINER, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. PORTER, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. WOLF, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. DAVIS of 

Florida, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HOLT, Ms. CARSON, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GOODE, Mrs. JO ANN

DAVIS of Virginia, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FITZPATRICK of Pennsylvania, Mr. OWENS, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 

MCCOTTER, Mr. LANTOS, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, 

Mr. CLYBURN, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. 

RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. DENT, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. CASE, Mr. 

FATTAH, Mr. KLINE, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, 

Mr. GERLACH, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. EHLERS, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. DOGGETT, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, 

Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. KELLER, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. OXLEY, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. WAMP, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. MILLER of North 

Carolina, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. 

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. 

KUCINICH, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. FORD, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. 

REGULA, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. 

HYDE, Mr. SHUSTER, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 

WELLER, Mr. CAMPBELL of California, and Mr. BURTON of Indiana 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Reported adversely from the Committee on Agriculture with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 1, 2005] 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON SHIPPING, TRANSPORTING, 

4 MOVING, DELIVERING, RECEIVING, POS5 SESSING, PURCHASING, SELLING, OR DONA6 TION OF HORSES AND OTHER EQUINES FOR 

7 SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Horse Protection 

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 1821) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

11 and (4) as paragraphs (2), (3), (5), and (6), respec12 tively; 

13 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re14 designated, the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(1) The term ‘human consumption’ means in16 gestion by people as a source of food.’’; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so redes2 ignated, the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘slaughter’ means the killing of 

4 one or more horses or other equines with the intent 

5 to sell or trade the flesh for human consumption.’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Section 3 of the Horse Protection Act 

7 (15 U.S.C. 1822) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (5) 

9 as paragraphs (6) through (10), respectively; 

10 (2) by adding before paragraph (6), as so redes11 ignated, the following new paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(1) horses and other equines play a vital role 

13 in the collective experience of the United States and 

14 deserve protection and compassion; 

15 ‘‘(2) horses and other equines are domestic ani16 mals that are used primarily for recreation, pleasure, 

17 and sport; 

18 ‘‘(3) unlike cows, pigs, and many other animals, 

19 horses and other equines are not raised for the pur20 pose of being slaughtered for human consumption; 

21 ‘‘(4) individuals selling horses or other equines 

22 at auctions are seldom aware that the animals may 

23 be bought for the purpose of being slaughtered for 

24 human consumption; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

2 Service of the Department of Agriculture has found 

3 that horses and other equines cannot be safely and hu4 manely transported in double deck trailers;’’; and 

5 (3) by striking paragraph (8), as so redesig6 nated, and inserting the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(8) the movement, showing, exhibition, or sale 

8 of sore horses in intrastate commerce, and the ship9 ping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, pos10 sessing, purchasing, selling, or donation in intrastate 

11 commerce of horses and other equines to be slaugh12 tered for human consumption, adversely affect and 

13 burden interstate and foreign commerce;’’. 

14 (c) PROHIBITION.—Section 5 of the Horse Protection 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 1824) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (11) 

17 as paragraphs (9) through (12), respectively; and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(8) As a pilot program to evaluate the feasi21 bility and practicability of imposing such a prohibi22 tion nation-wide, the shipping, transporting, moving, 

23 delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, 

24 or donation of any horse or other equine in the States 


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1 of Kentucky or New York to be slaughtered for human 

2 consumption, unless the equine— 

3 ‘‘(A) is owned or controlled by a State or 

4 local government or owned by an individual who 

5 purchased the equine from a State or local gov6 ernment; 

7 ‘‘(B) will be slaughtered at a facility oper8 ating before the date of the enactment of this 

9 paragraph; or 

10 ‘‘(C) will be slaughtered for human con11 sumption for charitable or humanitarian pur12 poses.’’. 

13 (d) AUTHORITY TO DETAIN.—Section 6(e) of the Horse 

14 Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825(e)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking the first sentence of paragraph 

16 (1); 

17 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

18 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

19 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re20 designated, the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(1) The Secretary may detain for examination, test22 ing, or the taking of evidence— 

23 ‘‘(A) any horse at any horse show, horse exhi24 bition, or horse sale or auction which is sore or which 


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1 the Secretary has probable cause to believe is sore; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) any horse or other equine which the Sec4 retary has probable cause to believe is being shipped, 

5 transported, moved, delivered, received, possessed, pur6 chased, sold, or donated in violation of section 5(8).’’. 

7 (e) REIMBURSEMENT.—Section 11 of the Horse Protec8 tion Act (15 U.S.C. 1830) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 11. REIMBURSEMENT OF OWNERS FOR LOSS OF 

10 VALUE OF HORSES. 

11 ‘‘The Secretary shall compensate the owner of an 

12 equine who disposes of such equine due to the prohibition 

13 under section 5(8). The Secretary shall compensate such 

14 owner for the total amount of— 

15 ‘‘(1) the loss in value of the equine due to such 

16 prohibition; and 

17 ‘‘(2) the costs incurred in the disposal of such 

18 equine.’’. 

19 (f) RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNWANTED HORSES.—The 

20 Horse Protection Act is further amended by inserting after 

21 section 11 (15 U.S.C. 1830), as amended by subsection (e), 

22 the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 11A. RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNWANTED HORSES. 

24 ‘‘The Secretary shall assume responsibility for any 

25 equine that is unwanted by an owner.’’. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12 

2 of the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1831) is amended 

3 by striking ‘‘$500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000,000’’. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS

hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 357 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 503 

[Report No. 109

–617, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the Horse Protection Act to prohibit the 

human consumption, and for other purposes. of horses and other equines to be slaughtered for ing, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donation shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receivSEPTEMBER 6, 2006 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS