Humane Society of the U.S. president Kitty Block slammed & damned Baffert in 2018 for allegedly drugging Triple Crown winner Justify, praised him in 2020 for support of the Horseracing Integrity Act, & has slammed & damned him again since then. BALTIMORE, Maryland––Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s horse National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes […]
Necropsies dominate the 2023 Kentucky Derby post-mortems
15-to-1 longshot winner Mage is barely noticed amid seven horse deaths LOUISVILLE, Kentucky––Kentucky Derby post-mortems began in 2023 ten days before the 20-horse field walked to the starting gate, but they were called “necropsies.” The more familiar term “autopsy” is used only when the deceased is human. The upset victory by Mage, a horse with […]
Can the Horseracing Integrity & Safety Act save horse racing from itself?
Marty Irby leaves Animal Wellness Action on a high note, but horses are not drugged just to get them high WASHINGTON D.C.––Former Animal Wellness Action executive director Marty Irby on March 23, 2023 spoke in Oxford, Mississippi at the “Celebration of Life” for his friend and ally Clant Seay, founder of the Citizens Committee Against […]
“Greatest anti-soring advocate of all time” Clant Seay dies at 76
Walking horse defender BillyGoboy never slowed down in fight against the “Big Lickers” OXFORD, Mississippi––Citizens Committee Against Big Lick Animal Cruelty founder Clant Seay, 76, remembered by fellow campaigner Marty Irby as “quite a character and in my opinion the greatest anti-soring advocate of all time,” died on March 6, 2023 in Oxford, Mississippi. […]
Walking horse industry waits for the other (weighted) shoe to drop
“Big Lickers” hold out hope for a Congressional reprieve SHELBYVILLE, Tennessee––A legal showdown may be coming soon over enforcement of a new USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service rule meant to protect show horses, but not just yet. The mood midway through the 2022 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, supposed to climax on September […]
Seven members of Alabama cockfighting family plead guilty to federal charges
Exported gamecocks around the world MONTGOMERY, Alabama––Cockfighters and gamefowl breeders Brent Easterling, William Easterling, and five other members of their family on August 11, 2022 pleaded guilty to federal and state of Alabama charges filed in 2021 as “conspiracy to violate federal anti-animal fighting laws, including operating fighting pits on their properties, possessing thousands of […]
“Big Lick” horses win in court. Can they get a break from Congress?
Trump killed rule meant to stop soring WASHINGTON D.C.––Former U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2017 improperly blocked a new USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service rule meant to protect show horses from taking effect, ruled a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 22, […]
Will anti-show horse soring bill pull up lame through last-hurdle compromise?
What would Marty Irby, Wayne Pacelle & Lamar Alexander think if weighted shoes were on their feet? UPDATE received on December 18, 2020, from Bernard Unti, senior policy advisor, Humane Society of the U.S.: “I’m pleased to share the news that the reckless attempt by an embittered faction within animal protection to swap in a […]
Wayne Pacelle & Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom celebrate returns from extinction
Sagas of alleged giant predators turned animal rights stars WASHINGTON D.C.––Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, a saga of supposedly vanished giant predators, reinvented as animal rights celebrities, debuted to bad reviews on June 22, 2018, yet proved to be a box office magnet, grossing $1.2 billion in its first month. Animal Wellness Action, a political action […]