Horse Protection Act of 1970
The Horse Protection Act of 1970 (HPA); (codified 15 U.S.C. §§ 1821–1831) is a United States federal law, under which the practice of soring is a crime punishable by both civil and criminal penalties, including fines and jail time. It is illegal to show a horse, enter it at a horse show, or to auction, sell, offer for sale, or transport a horse for any of these purposes if it has been sored.
| Long title | An act to prohibit the movement in interstate or foreign commerce of horses which are "sored", and for other purposes |
|---|---|
| Acronyms (colloquial) | HPA |
| Enacted by | the 91st United States Congress |
| Effective | December 9, 1970 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 91-540 |
| Statutes at Large | 84 Stat. 1404 (1970) |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 15 |
| U.S.C. sections created | 1821-1831 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
| Major amendments | |
| amended Pub.L. 94–360, 90 Stat. 915, enacted July 13, 1976 | |
Soring is the practice of applying irritants or blistering agents to the front feet or forelegs of a horse, making it pick its feet up higher in an exaggerated manner that creates the movement or "action" desired in the show ring. Soring is an act of animal cruelty that gives practitioners an unfair advantage over other competitors. The Horse Protection Act of 1970 is enforced by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although violations of the law are seen most often in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry, the Horse Protection Act covers all breeds.
Originally all inspectors were from APHIS, but a lack of funding led to a 1976 amendment to the act, which allows non-USDA employees to be trained and certified as inspectors. This program has not always been successful, with some non-USDA inspectors being more lenient on violators than others, and citations for violations tend to increase significantly when USDA inspectors are present at a show. Several methods are used to detect violations of the act, including observation, palpation and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to identify chemicals on horses' legs. Certain training techniques and topical anesthetics can be used to avoid detection by the first two methods. There have been a number of unsuccessful challenges to the act on the grounds on constitutionality, as well as challenges on varying other issues. In 2013, an amendment to the act was proposed in the United States House of Representatives. The amendment would allow only USDA employees to perform inspections, toughen penalties for violations, and outlaw the use of action devices and "stacks", or layers of pads attached to the bottom of the front hooves.