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Friend,
In 2017, the Trump administration unlawfully withdrew a rule to curb “horse soring,” where trainers purposefully inflict pain on Tennessee walking horses' hooves and legs to create an artificial, high-stepping show gait known as the “Big Lick.”
Since then, we have been fighting to reinstate the rule and hoped we could achieve our goal under the Biden administration. But the administration’s USDA has now officially moved to withdraw the rule, leaving horses open to further agony, just to win a blue ribbon.
Withdrawing the 2017 rule without putting in place any new safeguards to meaningfully protect horses’ from soring will guarantee that horses will continue to suffer from the barbaric practice. Please urge the USDA to not withdraw the 2017 rule and to actually move to end soring by amending the agency’s Horse Protection Act regulations.
The lengths to which some trainers go to achieve the “Big Lick” gait is horrifying—some will cut the hooves down to the delicate tissue and jam in sharp objects to make the pain even worse when horses put weight on their front legs. Other trainers slather horses’ legs with caustic chemicals and cover them with plastic wrap to “cook” into the animals’ flesh.
Please let the USDA know you DO NOT support the withdrawal of the HPA rule without new regulations that truly ban soring. USDA is only taking comments until August 21—so please act FAST!
No horse should suffer for a blue ribbon—it's past time the USDA fulfills its legal duty to protect horses and end soring for good.
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