Accountability is critical to our work. Just as we are accountable to our supporters and the animals we seek to defend, we work to hold elected officials accountable for their track records and their commitment to animal protection legislation.

Today we have published our annual Humane Scorecard to track key votes, co-sponsorships and other actions by federal lawmakers in support of animal protection. We hope you find it a valuable tool, and we’re heartened that many legislators work hard to achieve a high score.

On the surface, perhaps, the most important legislative packages approved in the U.S. Congress and signed into law this year—the American Rescue Plan Act (focused on COVID-19 relief) and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—may not have seemed relevant to the mission of animal protection. But the truth is that both contained sweeping gains for us, and this was no accident.

Accountability is the watchword of our efforts to secure the passage of animal-friendly federal legislation. We are accountable to our supporters as well as to the animals we seek to defend, and we never forget who we’re working for. This means that we also work continuously to hold elected officials accountable for their track records wherever the interests of animals are concerned.

The Democratic leaders on the Senate Committee on Appropriations yesterday released a package of nine appropriations bills funding various federal departments for fiscal year 2022, and it contains some key provisions for animal welfare that we worked hard to secure. These bills haven’t been voted on by the committee; instead, the Senate and House committees will now work to reconcile their respective packages by a December 3 deadline to avoid a federal government shutdown.

The winning trainer/rider of the World Grand Championship class at this year’s Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, John Allen Callaway, recently served a federal disqualification for the “soring” of horses—a distinction also shared by his brother Bill and at least three other riders in the seven horse class. Together, they are the poster children for the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 5441, reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today with almost half the U.S. House of Representatives already onboard.

House reintroduction of PAST Act brings relief for chronically abused horses one step closer

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