Unites States Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the PAST Act today, seeking to amend the Horse Protection Act. Senators Crapo and Warner are working in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States and other animal rights groups to remove legal equipment from show horses that have been repeatedly proven to not harm horses through scientific studies.

Joining Crapo and Warner as original cosponsors are Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Steve Daines (R-MT) and Edward Markey (D-MA).  In continuing the trend from previous introductions of the PAST Act, the sponsors come from areas that have virtually no Tennessee Walking Horse participation or competitions and don’t affect the constituents they serve.  However, some do represent areas that are dependent on agriculture which makes their support of an HSUS bill surprising.

The animal rights groups have mislabeled the bill as a bipartisan and industry supported bill which is clearly not the case.  There has been no support from any major Tennessee Walking Horse association that is involved in the showing, breeding or training of the affected breeds and the senators from the states most affected have refused to support the legislation.

The Tennessee Walking Horse industry is the most regulated horse breed currently showing and has every horse inspected prior to competition and every winner inspected post-show as required by the Horse Protection Act.  In addition, USDA attends on a random basis shows across the industry and does additional inspections to those conducted by the Horse Industry Organizations that are licensed to conduct inspection by the USDA.

Industry groups have continued to advocate for new inspections methods based on objective, science-based methods but humane groups refuse to look at ways to allow the continued showing of horses, but rather ways to eliminate the showing of horses and the ability for charities to conduct shows in an economical way.

General horse enthusiasts are concerned that the Tennessee Walking Horse would be just the first of the many show breeds that will fall victim to the extreme tactics of the Humane Society of the United States and other animal rights activists.