II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1406 

To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional unlawful acts 

under the Act, strengthen penalties for violations of the Act, improve 

Department of Agriculture enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2013 

Ms. AYOTTE (for herself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Horse Protection Act to designate additional 

unlawful acts under the Act, strengthen penalties for 

violations of the Act, improve Department of Agriculture 

enforcement of the Act, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent All Soring 

5 Tactics Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘PAST Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCREASED ENFORCEMENT UNDER HORSE PRO2 TECTION ACT. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Horse Protection 

4 Act (15 U.S.C. 1821) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

6 and (4) as paragraphs (2), (4), (5), and (6) respec7 tively; 

8 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as so re9 designated) the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) ACTION DEVICE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘action de12 vice’ means any boot, collar, chain, roller, or 

13 other device that encircles or is placed upon the 

14 lower extremity of the leg of a horse in a man15 ner that it can— 

16 ‘‘(i) rotate around the leg or slide up 

17 and down the leg, so as to cause friction; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(ii) strike the hoof, coronet band, 

20 fetlock joint, or pastern of the horse. 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘action de22 vice’ does not include soft rubber or soft leather 

23 bell boots or quarter boots that are used as pro24 tective devices.’’; and 

25 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re26 designated) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATE.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘participate’ 

3 means to engage in any activity with respect to 

4 a horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or 

5 auction, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) transporting or arranging for the 

7 transportation of a horse to or from a 

8 horse show, horse exhibition, or horse sale 

9 or auction; 

10 ‘‘(ii) personally giving instructions to 

11 an exhibitor; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) being knowingly present in a 

13 warm-up area, inspection area, or other 

14 area at a horse show, horse exhibition, or 

15 horse sale or auction that spectators are 

16 not permitted to enter. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘participate’ 

18 does not include spectating.’’. 

19 (b) FINDINGS.—Section 3 of the Horse Protection 

20 Act (15 U.S.C. 1822) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(3) the movement, showing, exhibition, or sale 

24 of sore horses in intrastate commerce, and soring 

25 horses for those purposes, adversely affects and burVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:29 Aug 05, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1406.IS S1406

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1 dens interstate and foreign commerce in many ways, 

2 including by— 

3 ‘‘(A) creating unfair competition; 

4 ‘‘(B) deceiving the spectating public and 

5 horse buyers; and 

6 ‘‘(C) negatively impacting horse sales;’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(6) the Inspector General of the Department 

13 of Agriculture has determined that the program 

14 through which the Secretary inspects horses is inad15 equate for preventing soring; 

16 ‘‘(7) historically, Tennessee Walking Horses, 

17 racking horses, and Spotted Saddle Horses have 

18 been subjected to soring; and 

19 ‘‘(8) despite regulations in effect related to in20 spection for purposes of ensuring that horses are not 

21 sore, violations of this Act are prevalent in the Ten22 nessee Walking Horse, racking horse, and Spotted 

23 Saddle Horse breeds.’’. 

24 (c) HORSE SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS.—Section 4 of 

25 the Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1823) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) DISQUALIFICATION OF HORSES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The management of any 

5 horse show or horse exhibition shall disqualify any 

6 horse from being shown or exhibited— 

7 ‘‘(A) if the horse is sore; or 

8 ‘‘(B) if the management has been notified 

9 by a person licensed in accordance with sub10 section (c) or by the Secretary that the horse 

11 is sore. 

12 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF DISQUALIFICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) FIRST INSTANCE.—In the first in14 stance in which the Secretary determines that a 

15 horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify the 

16 horse from being shown or exhibited for a pe17 riod of not less than 180 days. 

18 ‘‘(B) SECOND INSTANCE.—In the second 

19 instance in which the Secretary determines that 

20 a horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify 

21 the horse for a period of not less than 1 year. 

22 ‘‘(C) THIRD INSTANCE.—In the third in23 stance in which the Secretary determines that a 

24 horse is sore, the Secretary shall disqualify the 

25 horse for a period of not less than 3 years.’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘appointed’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘licensed’’; 

3 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(c) LICENSING OF INSPECTORS; MANNER OF IN6 SPECTIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pre8 scribe by regulation requirements for the Depart9 ment of Agriculture to license, train, assign, and 

10 oversee persons qualified to detect and diagnose a 

11 horse that is sore or to otherwise inspect horses at 

12 horse shows, horse exhibitions, or horse sales or auc13 tions, for hire by the management of such events, 

14 for the purposes of enforcing this Act. 

15 ‘‘(2) CITATIONS.—A person licensed by the Sec16 retary to conduct inspections under this subsection 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) issue a citation for any violation of 

19 this Act recorded during an inspection; and 

20 ‘‘(B) notify the Secretary of each violation 

21 not later than 5 days after the date on which 

22 the citation is issued. 

23 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS FOR LICENSING.—The 

24 Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) not issue a license under this sub2 section to a person unless the person is free 

3 from conflicts of interest, as defined by the Sec4 retary in the regulations issued under para5 graph (1); and 

6 ‘‘(B) give a preference to persons who are 

7 licensed or accredited veterinarians; 

8 ‘‘(4) REVOCATION OF LICENSE.—If the Sec9 retary determines that the performance of a person 

10 licensed under paragraph (1) is unsatisfactory, the 

11 Secretary may, after notice and an opportunity for 

12 a hearing, revoke the license issued to the person. 

13 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—The granting of licenses 

14 under this subsection shall not authorize a person li15 censed under this subsection to conduct inspections 

16 in a manner other than the manner prescribed for 

17 inspections by the Secretary under subsection (e). 

18 ‘‘(6) NOTIFICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

20 days before the date on which a horse show, 

21 horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction be22 gins, the management of the show, exhibition, 

23 or sale or auction may notify the Secretary of 

24 the intent of the management to hire 1 or more 

25 persons licensed under this subsection and asVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:29 Aug 05, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1406.IS S1406

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1 signed by the Secretary to conduct inspections 

2 at the show, exhibition, or sale or auction. 

3 ‘‘(B) ASSIGNMENT.—After receiving notice 

4 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall as5 sign 1 or more persons licensed under this sub6 section to conduct inspections at the horse 

7 show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auc8 tion.’’; and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(f) PUBLICATION OF VIOLATIONS.—The Secretary 

11 shall publish on the public website of the Animal and 

12 Plant Health Inspection Service of the Department of Ag13 riculture, and update as frequently as the Secretary deter14 mines necessary, information on violations of this Act to 

15 allow the management of a horse show, horse exhibition, 

16 or horse sale or auction to determine if an individual is 

17 in violation of this Act.’’. 

18 (d) UNLAWFUL ACTS.—Section 5 of the Horse Pro19 tection Act (15 U.S.C. 1824) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(2) In the case of any horse show, horse exhi23 bition, or horse sale or auction— 

24 ‘‘(A) showing or exhibiting any horse that 

25 is sore; 


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1 ‘‘(B) entering any horse that is sore for 

2 the purpose of showing or exhibiting the horse; 

3 ‘‘(C) selling, auctioning, or offering for 

4 sale any horse that is sore; 

5 ‘‘(D) causing a horse to become sore or di6 recting another person to cause a horse to be7 come sore for the purpose of showing, exhib8 iting, selling, auctioning, or offering for sale the 

9 horse; and 

10 ‘‘(E) allowing any activity described in 

11 subparagraphs (A) through (D) with respect to 

12 a horse that is sore by the owner of that 

13 horse.’’; 

14 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘appoint’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘hire’’; 

16 (3) in paragraph (4)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘appoint’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘hire’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘qualified’’; 

20 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘appointed’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘hired’’; 

22 (5) in paragraph (6)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘appointed’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘hired’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting ‘‘that the horse is sore’’ 

2 after ‘‘the Secretary’’; and 

3 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(12) The use of an action device on any limb 

5 of a Tennessee Walking Horse, racking horse, or 

6 Spotted Saddle Horse at a horse show, horse exhi7 bition, or horse sale or auction. 

8 ‘‘(13) The use of a weighted shoe, pad, wedge, 

9 hoof band, or other device or material at a horse 

10 show, horse exhibition, or horse sale or auction 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(A) is placed on, inserted in, or attached 

13 to any limb of a Tennessee Walking Horse, 

14 racking horse, or Spotted Saddle Horse; 

15 ‘‘(B) is constructed to artificially alter the 

16 gait of a horse described in subparagraph (A); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(C) is not strictly protective or thera19 peutic in nature.’’. 

20 (e) VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES.—Section 6 of the 

21 Horse Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1825) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘Except as provided in 

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1 son who knowingly violates section 5’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘Any person who knowingly vio3 lates section 5 (including the regulations 

4 issued under that section), including any 

5 violation recorded during an inspection 

6 conducted under subsections (c) or (e) of 

7 section 4’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘more than $3,000, or 

9 imprisoned for not more than one year, or 

10 both’’ and inserting ‘‘more than $5,000, or 

11 imprisoned for not more than 3 years, or 

12 both, for each violation’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘(2)(A)’’ and all that 

15 follows through ‘‘(B) Any’’ and inserting 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) FALSE STATEMENTS AND ENTRIES.— 

18 Any’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘(C) Any’’ and insert20 ing the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) INTERFERENCE WITH DUTIES.—Any’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH DISQUALIFICA24 TION.—Any person who knowingly fails to obey an 

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1 of, be fined not more than $5,000 for each failure 

2 to obey the order, imprisoned for not more than 3 

3 years, or both.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) in the first sentence of paragraph 

6 (1)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘section 5 of this Act’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘section 5 (including the reg9 ulations issued under that section)’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘$2,000’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘$4,000’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) NONPAYMENT OF LICENSED INSPEC14 TORS.—Any person who fails to pay a licensed in15 spector hired under section 4(c) shall, upon convic16 tion thereof, be fined not more than $4,000 for each 

17 violation.’’; and 

18 (3) in subsection (c)— 

19 (A) by redesignating the first, second, 

20 third, and fourth sentences as paragraphs (1), 

21 (3), (4), and (5), respectively; 

22 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated)— 

23 (i) by inserting ‘‘, or otherwise partici24 pating in any horse show, horse exhibition, 


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1 or horse sale or auction’’ before ‘‘for a pe2 riod of not less than one year’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘any subsequent’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘the second’’; 

5 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as so 

6 designated) the following: 

7 ‘‘(2) PERMANENT DISQUALIFICATION.—For the 

8 third or any subsequent violation, a person may be 

9 permanently disqualified by order of the Secretary, 

10 after notice and an opportunity for a hearing before 

11 the Secretary, from showing or exhibiting any horse, 

12 judging or managing any horse show, horse exhi13 bition, or horse sale or auction, or otherwise partici14 pating in, including financing the participation of 

15 other individuals in, any horse show, horse exhi16 bition, or horse sale or auction (regardless of wheth17 er walking horses are shown, exhibited, sold, auc18 tioned, or offered for sale at the horse show, horse 

19 exhibition, or horse sale or auction).’’; and 

20 (D) in paragraphs (3) and (4) (as so des21 ignated), by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ each place it ap22 pears and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 

23 (f) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

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1 ments made by this section, including regulations pre2 scribing the requirements under section 4(c) of the Horse 

3 Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1823(c)) (as amended by sub4 section (c)(3)). 

Æ 


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