On August 7, 2019, the Nashville Davidson Metro Council passed Resolution 1868, supporting the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, S. 1007. Councilwoman Nancy Van Reece introduced the resolution and it was approved with an amendment by Councilwoman Kathleen Murphy.
PAST will amend the Horse Protection Act, closing loopholes that have allowed violators to continue their soring practices undeterred.
This resolution puts Nashville on record in support of the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, H.R. 693/S. 1007 and urges Tennessee’s U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn to cosponsor and pass the legislation that will: 1) end the failed system of industry self-policing; 2) strengthen penalties; and 3) prohibit pads, action devices, hoof bands and weighted shoes from being used on Tennessee walking, racking and spotted saddle horses during shows, sales or exhibitions. All these devices are used in the practice of soring to produce the artificial, pain-based gait commonly known as the “Big Lick.”
The Metro Council’s unanimous vote comes on the heels of the PAST Act’s passage in the U.S. House on July 25, 2019 by a vote of 333 to 96. U.S. Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Nashville), Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), and Steve Cohen (D-Memphis), in bipartisan fashion, voted for the measure that would end six decades of the abusive practice of soring. In a spirited debate on the House floor on July 24, 2019 Reps. Scott DesJarlais (R-Jasper), and John Rose (R-Cookeville), represented the pro-soring coalition against the PAST Act in defense of the “Big Lick” that’s exhibited annually at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in Shelbyville.
View the exact text of the resolution follows, received from the Metropolitan Clerk's Office, Nashville, Tenn. 8/9/2019
