The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Monday announced proposed changes to strengthen enforcement of the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and "end inhumane practices known as soring, which cause horses to suffer physical pain, distress, inflammation, or lameness while walking and moving."
APHIS enforces the HPA, a federal law that prohibits horses subjected to soring from participating in shows, sales, exhibitions, or auctions. The HPA also prohibits drivers from transporting sored horses to or from any of these events. APHIS works with the horse industry to protect against such abuse and to ensure that only sound and healthy horses participate in shows.
“As tasked by Congress, the HPA’s ultimate goal is to completely end the inhumane practice of soring,” said APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea. “The recommended changes will ultimately help us end soring altogether by giving USDA direct control over the inspection process, and banning the use of certain equipment and training devices is allowed under existing regulations. We believe an independent pool of APHIS-trained inspectors, combined with a ban on inhumane training methods, will be a more effective deterrent to the cruel and inhumane practice of horse soring.”
The proposed rule makes two significant changes:
- APHIS would assume responsibility for training, screening and licensing horse inspectors. The new cadre of inspectors would be veterinarians and veterinary technicians who would be required to follow APHIS rules and standards of conduct.
- APHIS would ban the use of all action devices, pads, and foreign substances at horse shows, exhibitions, sales, and auctions. This would align the HPA regulations with existing equestrian standards set forth by the U.S. Equestrian Federation.
The proposed rule will publish in the Federal Register on Tuesday, and will be available for public comment at http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2011-0009. It can be viewed online today at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection. Consideration will be given to comments received on or before Sept. 26.
Additionally, APHIS is announcing five public meetings to seek additional comments and feedback from the public. Those meetings are scheduled for:
Humane Society of the U.S. officials hailed the ruling, saying that it "contains significant reforms to end the cruel practice of horse soring – in which caustic chemicals, chains, hard objects, cutting and other gruesome techniques are used to injure the front legs and hooves of Tennessee walking horses, racking horses and related breeds. The goal of this abuse is to force the animals to perform an artificially high-stepping gait known as the big lick, which is rewarded in the show ring."
HSUS officials said the new proposed regulations fulfill a number of the requests in a February 2015 rulemaking petition that HSUS filed with USDA and are consistent with key elements of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R.3268/S.1121, including doing away with the failed system of industry self-inspections and banning the stacked shoes, chains and other devices that are integral to the soring process.
The PAST Act has 264 cosponsors in the House and 50 in the Senate, it was stated.
Keith Dane, senior advisor on equine protection for The HSUS, said, “While a handful of politicians doing the bidding of sorers have so far blocked passage of the PAST Act, horses are being tortured for competitions and the corrupt industry self-policing has lost all credibility. It’s time for all equestrians, animal lovers and humane-minded people across America to say enough is enough and support toughening the regulations.”