Armed with endorsements from 305 House members and 58 senators, the Humane Society of the United States is pressuring congressional leaders to set a vote on legislation to ban a cruel — and banned — trick used to get some Tennessee walking horses to high-step at shows.
It is called “soring” and it inflicts pain in a horse’s hoof to get the high-step the walking horses are known for. It was supposedly banned years ago, but is still in limited use.
An HSUS investigation revealed the painful methods used, prompting legislation backed by the group.
Kentucky and Tennessee lawmakers, however, said that HSUS’ real goal is killing the shows and they claim that up to 98 percent of trainers follow the law. “Our goal is to find a way to preserve the Tennessee walking horse tradition and stop the cruelty to horses,” said Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander.
Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said that anti-soring legislation should be voted on before the election.
“The horse soring crowd is in the same league as the cockfighters and the dogfighters,” he told Secrets. “It’s a disgrace that there are lawmakers who give political protection to these criminals.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
