As the 117th Congress (2021-2022) comes to a close in the next two months, Animal Wellness Action, a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit working to enact federal horse protection policies on the national level, continues to highlight equine-protection issues in its popular Animal Wellness Podcast.
“We hope horse enthusiasts and equine protection advocates will visit and subscribe to the Animal Wellness Podcast to stay abreast of what’s happening for horses in Congress,” said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action, who was honored in 2020 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his work to protect horses.
The Animal Wellness Podcast focuses on a variety of animal-welfare topics but devotes a significant number of episodes to horse-related issues. Equine matters are a key focus for the advocacy group and its sister organization, the Center for a Humane Economy. Irby, a frequent contributor to the show, brings decades of experience to the microphone, and the host of the podcast, Joseph Grove, is a lifelong resident of Louisville, Ky., growing up close enough to Churchill Downs to hear the call to the post on Kentucky Derby day, if the wind was blowing right.
“Our horse episodes are among my favorites,” said Grove, who also is the director of public relations for Animal Wellness Action. “Along with dogs and cats, the horse represents the best capacity of humans to enjoy and relate to animals. Unfortunately, as we see all too often, they are among the most victimized and neglected of them, too.
The Animal Wellness Podcast has continued kept equine advocates abreast of the ongoing discussions and lack of action in the House and Senate with a legislative update in each episode. The episodes on horse protection during the 116th and 117th Congresses are among the most hard-hitting on equine issues and include discussions on America’s Wild Horses, drug abuse in horse racing, violence free training, the abusive practice of soring of the Tennessee Walking Horse, and harness racing.
To view the list of available podcasts, visit Animal Wellness Podcast.
The Animal Wellness Podcast and Animal Wellness Action’s lobbying team has helped propel passage of the U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act that would stamp out the abusive practice of soring through the U.S. House in 2019, the House passage of an $11 million funding amendment to promote the use of PZP birth control in wild horse populations living on federal lands, and the enactment of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), which banned the use of race day medication, and created a new oversight and enforcement body: the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to secure uniform national anti-doping and safety regulations under the Federal Trade Commission. It’s also helped secure funding for therapy of veterans with post-traumatic stress; and record-breaking increases in funding for enforcement of the Horse Protection Act of 1970, currently $3.04 million for FY2022.
Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) organization with a mission of helping animals by promoting legal standards forbidding cruelty. We champion causes that alleviate the suffering of companion animals, farm animals, and wildlife. We advocate for policies to stop dogfighting and cockfighting and other forms of malicious cruelty and to confront factory farming and other systemic forms of animal exploitation. To prevent cruelty, we promote enacting good public policies and we work to enforce those policies. To enact good laws, we must elect good lawmakers, and that’s why we remind voters which candidates care about our issues and which ones don’t. We believe helping animals helps us all.
Contact: Marty Irby
marty@animalwellnessaction.org
202-821-5686