04/06/2026

In the United States, a landmark law prohibits the slaughter of thoroughbreds and all equines that have raced in the state. It comes into force on 1 July 2026. What is stopping Italy from doing the same?

On 14 April 2026, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed Senate Bill 231 into law. From 1 July 2026, it will be illegal to slaughter a racehorse for commercial purposes, but it will also be illegal to buy, sell, transport or import one when it is known, or ought reasonably to be known, that its final destination is the slaughterhouse. The legislation is now Chapter 84 of the Maryland Code.

Reading the text, one can assume that this is not merely a token law, as its scope is technically precise and deliberately broad: the term ‘racehorse’ refers not only to animals that have competed, but also to foals bred for racing, horses in training, those that have never raced but are registered with the state’s racecourses, and even mares or stallions with a documented racing pedigree. In practice: if a horse has had any involvement with the Maryland horse racing system, the law protects it for life.

A novel regulatory framework

What sets Maryland’s law apart from similar provisions already in force in California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York is not so much the ban itself, but the way in which it is structured. Elsewhere, the slaughter or sale of horse meat for human consumption is generally prohibited. In Maryland, however, the regulation is embedded directly within the horse racing regulatory framework: the body responsible for enforcement is the Maryland Racing Commission, the authority that already oversees the integrity of races, the licensing of industry professionals, and aftercare programmes (which do not exist here!). The penalties for offenders — fines of up to $1,000 and one year’s imprisonment for a first offence, licence revocation, and proceeds from fines channelled into the Racing Special Fund — are designed to target those within the horse racing industry, not external parties.

This decision is based on the recognition of a fundamental fact that people in Italy continue to turn a blind eye to: the problem does not arise outside the racing circuit. It arises within it. It arises the moment a horse ceases to be profitable and the system does not know what to do with it. The Commission itself acknowledged, during its preparatory work, that it was facing a ‘pivotal tipping point’ — a turning point — for the sector’s public credibility. Kirsten Green, executive director of the Retired Racehorse Project, was recently appointed to the Maryland Racing Commission: the welfare of retired racehorses is therefore now institutionally represented within the body responsible for enforcing the new regulations.

The US Context

At federal level, the slaughter of horses is not technically illegal in the United States, but since 2006, USDA funding for the inspection of horse slaughterhouses has been removed from federal budgets, effectively making it impossible for slaughterhouses to operate within the country. The result is that the animals are transported to Mexico and Canada, where slaughter is legal, crossing the border in often appalling conditions. To close this channel once and for all, there is a proposed federal bill, the SAFE Act (Save America’s Forgotten Equines, HB 661/S.755), which has been awaiting approval in Congress for years: it would ban both domestic slaughter and export for human consumption.

What Maryland teaches us

The lesson from the US is not just about the merits of the legislation; it is primarily about the approach. Maryland built the ban from within the horse racing industry: it involved the Racing Commission, linked the requirements to existing aftercare facilities, and appointed an expert in the welfare of retired racehorses to the regulatory body. It made the sector understand that protecting horses at the end of their careers is not an additional cost, but a necessary condition for maintaining the public credibility of a $2.9 billion industry. This is certainly not something IHP can agree with, as it aims to abolish all forms of horse exploitation: but it is highly significant that it has ‘forced’ the horse racing industry to confront a massive issue that in Italy is systematically swept under the carpet and removed from any discussion.

In Italy, where the horse racing sector is undergoing a deep crisis and where public debate tends to polarise around ‘they are eaten / they are not eaten’, the issue is exactly the same: who really controls where the horses end up when they stop racing? Who is responsible for their future? And under what conditions can an industry that uses live animals without caring for them once it can no longer exploit them to the bitter end retain its social legitimacy?

Maryland has answered. Italy is a long way from doing so.