Animal Welfare

Key co-sponsored legislation

H.R.1847 – the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act (PAST) of 2017  would strengthen existing federal law to help stop the cruel practice of “soring,” in which trainers deliberately inflict pain on the hooves and legs of Tennessee Walking Horses and certain other breeds to force them to perform an unnaturally high-stepping gait and gain unfair competitive advantage at horse shows.

A Lead Democrat on H.R.909 - Pet and Women Safety Act (PAWS) would provide grant funding to programs that involve shelter and housing assistance for domestic violence survivors and their pets. The bill also requires abusers to pay for veterinary services and restitution for harming a pet. Recent studies have shown that one in four domestic abuse survivors return to an abusive partner out of concern for their pet, and as many as one third of survivors have reported that they delayed leaving an abuser for an average of two years out of fear their pet would be injured.

H.R. 2858--Humane Cosmetics Act would phase out animal testing for all cosmetic products manufactured or sold in the U.S.

H.R. 2293--Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act would strengthen existing federal law to cover the underlying acts of animal abuse involved in the production of “crush videos” in which heinous individuals torture and kill small animals.

H.R.113—Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act would prohibit the export of horses outside the U.S. for human consumption.

H.R.1243 - BEST Practices Act would require the Secretary of Defense to use only human-based methods for training members of the Armed Forces in the treatment of severe combat injuries. The civilian sector has almost exclusively phased in the use of superior human-based training methods for numerous medical procedures currently taught in military courses using animals.