Horse Welfare

The FY2021 Agriculture Appropriations Package, scheduled for votes by the Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations and the full Appropriations Committee this week, doubles to $2 million the funding for enforcement of the Horse Protection Act (HPA) of 1970 while maintaining the current ban on horse slaughter in the United States by defunding the inspection of horse slaughter plants on U.S. soil. "We applaud Reps. Sanford Bishop and Jeff Fortenberry for their leadership of the subcommittee and for providing additional funding to enforce the 1970 law that made it a crime to...

Dr. Mick Peterson, Executive Director of the Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory and Professor, Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky gave a presentation entitled "Track Surfaces: International standards for racing surfaces and the expansion of the Maintenance Quality System"  Tuesday as part of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation's weekly webinar series. The series was developed to make up for the cancellation of the ninth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit due to the coronavirus pandemic. Peterson's presentation was divided into three parts--"current best practices for testing and documentation of...

The office of California Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) announced Tuesday the introduction of AB 2177, the Equine Welfare and Safety in Horse Racing Act. Citing last year's rash of horse deaths at Santa Anita Park as the impetus, the proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Social Compassion in Legislation (SCIL) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "If the state is to continue to sanction horse racing and its wagering as a legal sport, addressing horse fatalities to the greatest extent possible needs to take precedence," said Kalra....