Cohen proves devotion to horse health
U.S. Steve Cohen has a couple of things in common with Elvis Presley.
Like Elvis, Rep. Cohen is a stalwart in representing Memphis and Tennessee to the rest of the nation. And, as Elvis did, he loves horses.
The King’s devotion to our hoofed friends is easy to see from his beautifully restored stables, which tourists can now visit at Graceland. Similarly, Cohen’s devotion to the horses is clear through his work in Congress.
Earlier this summer, he championed a House passed bill that prohibits the transportation of horses across state lines in inhumane, double-decker trucks and trailers, which pose a danger to both animals and motorists. And in 2019, he ushered the Prevent All Soring Tactics, or PAST Act to passage in the U.S. House, a measure that would ban the practice of “soring,” the intentional injuring of the hooves and legs of Tennessee Walking Horses.
Most recently, Cohen led the charge on a successful bipartisan amendment on the U.S. House floor that stands to bring about far more humane treatment of America’s wild horses while, at the same time, saving U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars.
The wild horse amendment that passed the House during its Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations deliberations in July is a major step toward ending the inhumane, and sometimes deadly, practice of rounding up and removing wild horses from federal lands.
The provision directs the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to use at least $11 million — nearly 11% of its annual Wild Horse and Burro Program budget — on the humane fertility control vaccine, PZP.
The amendment is consistent with scientific recommendations and previous guidance from Congress urging the BLM to increase the use of PZP fertility control as a step toward moving away from the current inhumane and unsustainable roundup program.
In BLM’S recent report to Congress, the agency outlined a plan to accelerate roundups and remove as many as 90,000 wild horses and burros from public lands at a cost of nearly $1 billion. The vast majority of that money would be spent to remove these freeroaming animals from the wild — where they don’t cost taxpayers a dime — and warehouse them in holding pens at a cost to taxpayers of $2 to $6 per horse per day.
With no guarantee of funding for the lifetime care of captured wild horses and burros, the BLM’S plan would increase the risk of mass slaughter of these American icons, something that 80% of Americans oppose.
As Rep. Cohen put it, the amendment “will force the Bureau of Land Management to move away from cruel and costly helicopter roundups toward humane management of these national symbols of our wildlands.”
Eleven Republican and Democratic lawmakers joined Cohen as cosponsors of the amendment. Among them was Republican U.S. Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona, who said, “I’m pleased to work with my colleagues on this bipartisan amendment to ensure humane methods are used to protect and manage our nation’s beautiful wild horses.”
John L. Smith, a columnist and radio commentator in Nevada, which has the largest population of wild horses in the nation, said the legislation is remarkable because it “signals a change in philosophy. Because this is a bipartisan issue, that $11 million is basically a new chapter for the treatment of the horses and burros.”
We applaud Cohen for his devotion to the humane treatment of American equines, and we have no doubt that Elvis, who loved riding his golden palomino, Rising Sun, to visit fans at the gates of Graceland, would too.
Suzanne Roy is the executive director at the American Wild Horse Campaign; Marty Irby is the executive director of Animal Wellness Action.