On Sept. 21, the Humane Society of the United States issued a release calling for immediate action in the Senate on S.R.1915, a bill that, if passed and signed by the president, would stop the shipment of horses intended for slaughter. The House passed a similar bill (H.R.503) 263-146 earlier this month.

Top: Slaughter numbers for the first 36-week period for the past three years. Bottom: The number of horses sent to slaughter by year from 2005 to 1997.

“For the weeks ending August 26 and September 2, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), slaughter plants killed more horses than any other week in over a decade, processing 2,456 and 2,520 horses for human consumption, respectively,” the release stated.

Also on the rise is the weekly average (1,905) of horses slaughtered in the United States in 2006, which is up 12% from last year’s weekly average (1,708) at this time last year (36 weeks into the year). It has risen 66% from 2004’s average for the same 36-week period