Lower Bucks Today

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, representing Pennsylvania's 1st District, has introduced the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act in a bipartisan effort to combat the practice of horse soring. He is joined by Congressmen Steve Cohen from Tennessee, Vern Buchanan from Florida, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from Illinois. The legislation seeks to ban the harmful practice of soring horses and has received support from the Humane World Action Fund.

"Horse soring is a vile and inhumane practice that must be prohibited," said Congressman Fitzpatrick. "As Co-Chair of the Animal Protection Caucus, I am proud to champion the PAST Act to protect horses and end this cruelty once and for all."

Horse soring involves inflicting chemical or mechanical injuries on horses' legs and hooves to force an exaggerated gait. This practice has been prevalent in industries such as Tennessee Walking Horse, Spotted Saddle, and Racking Horse shows. Despite existing regulations against it, enforcement remains weak due to industry resistance. The PAST Act aims to close regulatory loopholes, increase penalties, and ensure independent inspections.

"The PAST Act would shut down the cruel practice of horse soring," said Congressman Steve Cohen. "We’ve been joined by a huge coalition of bipartisan members who all want to see this practice ended once and for all."

Congressman Buchanan also expressed his support: "The practice of horse ‘soring’ is nothing less than animal torture. As co-chair of the Animal Protection Caucus, I am pleased to back this legislation."

Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund, highlighted that only a small segment within the horse show world continues to resist these reforms: "We are thankful our champions have rallied well over a third of the House to reintroduce this bill with tremendous bipartisan support."

Dr. Sandra Faeh from the American Veterinary Medical Association endorsed the bill: "The proposed legislation is essential to improving the welfare of our country’s horses... We look forward to working with Congress on this important issue."

The PAST Act represents a significant bipartisan initiative aimed at ending what many consider one of the most severe forms of animal cruelty in equestrian circles.