The world of horseracing in the United States will be under stricter rules now that President Joe Biden signed legislation to end race-day doping of Thoroughbreds, and other forms of abuse.
The spending bill passed last week provides $4.1 million to enforce the Horse Protection Act of 1970 in fiscal year 2023, and continues the ban on slaughtering horses in the U.S. Funding is also available for the Bureau of Land Management to pursue more forward-facing and humane on the range management of wild horses and burros.
Biden signed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), a repair to the 2020 legislation of the same name, after a federal appellate court deemed the legislation unconstitutional in November 2022. Animal Wellness Action, the Jockey Club and Jeff Gural, the owner of The Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey, were instrumental in passage of the amendment, according to a press release.
“We applaud Congress and both Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. Paul Tonko for the leading the charge in making this statutory fix to remedy a legal concern that came from a federal appellate court,” Marty Irby, Executive Director of Animal Wellness Action and an eight-time world champion equestrian, said in the press release. “But it wasn’t without a fight, and it’s hard to believe that horsemen and even some politicians are fighting to preserve race-day doping in Thoroughbred racing in America. Their work puts horses and jockeys at risk and scrambles the results for gamblers and other fans of the sport.”
Then-President Donald J. Trump signed HISA into law in 2020, the first federal horse protection law enacted in 50 years in the U.S., and created a uniform national standard for regulation, enforcement and drug testing in the sport. But the legislation did not take effect until July 2022, and was halted when the attorneys general of West Virginia and Louisiana joined the Horsemen’s Benevolent Protective Association (HBPA) in a legal battle to maintain the status quo.
The new legislation also creates the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which will be overseen by the Federal Trade Commission.
The record-breaking funding in the USDA’s budget is not a substitute for stronger legislative ban on soring, which is the purposeful infliction of pain on the legs of horses to create a certain gait for show or racing. However, the House passed the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act in September 2022, and the Senate failed to act on the legislation. The funding will allow for more enforcement of the existing law which has important strictures on the practice of soring.
According to the press release, the HPA funding for 2023 is six times more than in 2018. Federal funding for HPA enforcement never exceeded $705,000 in a single fiscal year until 2019. Animal Wellness Action, founded in 2018 and based in Washington, D.C., has focused on HPA funding in the war to end soring.
“The omnibus spending bill amounts to an important victory for horses, as Congress continues to defund horse-slaughter inspections as part of the year-end spending bill, as this ensures the cruel and predatory horse-slaughter industry will not regain a foothold in the U.S.,” Scott Beckstead, equine welfare specialist and director of campaigns for Animal Wellness Action and Center for a Humane Economy said in the press release. “And with the Bureau of Land Management’s unprecedented assault on our nation’s iconic wild horses and burros continuing unchecked to benefit commercial livestock, it’s critical that Congress has again appropriated millions for humane fertility control so more of these living icons can thrive wild and free on our public lands.”
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Rebecca Barnabi
