The American Horse Council has issued a statement of support for the United States Department of Agriculture’s proposal to amend regulations governing the commercial transportation of horses for slaughter.

The proposed changes would extend the regulatory protections provided by the Commercial Transport of Equines to Slaughter Act to cover horses bound for slaughter that first are delivered to an assembly point, feedlot, or stockyard.

“The current rules apply only to the transport of horses directly to the slaughter plant, not to any initial shipment to an assembly point, feedlot, or stockyard during the shipping process,” Jay Hickey, AHC president, said. “USDA felt that this was a gap in the protections of the act and the AHC agrees.”

The rules currently require that shippers certify that slaughter-bound horses are fit to travel and provide them with water, food, and rest for six hours prior to being loaded for transport. Horses cannot be shipped for more than 28 hours without being unloaded for six hours and given a chance to rest, eat, and drink.

While being transported, horses must be checked every six hours to make sure that no horse has fallen or is in distress. Trucks used for transportation must allow for the segregation of stallions and aggressive horses from other equines.

Double-deck trailers used to ship horses to slaughter also were prohibited after December 7, 2006.

“The AHC was one of the principal organizations involved in passing the Commercial Transport of Horses to Slaughter Act,” Hickey said. “The AHC was involved in working with the USDA in drafting the rules adopted under the act to regulate the transport of equines for slaughter in December, 2001.”

The rules do not apply to the transport of horses for other purposes, such as breeding, racing, show, or recreation.

Last September, the United State Court of Appeals for the seventh circuit upheld a decision by the state of Illinois to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. The rule could end all slaughtering operations at Cavel International Inc. in DeKalb, Illinois. Two slaughter plants that were located in Texas previously closed.