One of the main topics of debate recently is horse slaughter in the United States. For many years the United States supported laws such as the Horse Protection Act of 1970, which maintained a position that protected horses from consumption in America. Now, lawmakers have taken this position to protect horses for human consumption a step further with the passage of the Safeguard American Food Exports Act (SAFE Act). Despite the efforts of the Horse Protection and SAFE laws, there are multiple stakeholders in the United States who hold very different positions and therefore prohibit the implementation of the legislation. The main bill passed to end horse slaughter was the Horse Protection Act, which was originally introduced in 1970 and last amended in 2011. The original Horse Protection Act prohibited "horses subjected to a practice called soring to participate in shows, sales, exhibitions, or auctions" (USDA). The Horse Protection Act was amended in 2011 to include a ban on "shipping, selling, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling or donating horses or other equines for slaughter for human consumption" (Horse Protection Act of 2011). This new amendment, even more importantly, examines intrastate commerce in horses transported for human consumption. An additional bill currently moving through the House and Senate is the Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2013. This bill has not yet been passed. The bill supports “preventing harm to human health from the consumption of equines raised in the United States (Safeguard American Food Exports Act). The U.S. government's position on the horse slaughter issue has been that “unlike the cow… middle of paper… Web. State of New Mexico v. USDA. United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. November 7, 2013. Print.Parisi, Paula. “The Pros and Cons of Horse Slaughter.” Equestrian news. Np, nd Web. November 30, 2013. Rowe, Allison. “Equine Law Blog: Texas Horse Lawyer & Lawyer: Kelly Hart & Hallman, LLP: Equine Legal Matters, Racing, Thoroughbreds: Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas.” Horse Slaughter: Equine Law Blog. Np, nd Web. 01 Dec 2013. American Food Export Protection Act, S., 113 Cong. (2013). Print.Smiley, Jane. "Jane Smiley - The Rail Blog - NYTimes.com." The railway stations of. New York Times, May 1, 2009. Web. October 25, 2013. USDA. "USDA - APHIS - Animal Welfare - Horse Protection." USDA - APHIS - Animal Welfare - Horse Protection. Np, nd Web. November 30, 2013."USDA - APHIS - Animal Health - Horses." USDA - APHIS - Animal Health - Horses. USDA, 7 October 2011. Web. 02 December. 2013.