https://awionline.org/press-re...umerous-wins-animals


House of Representatives Passes Funding Bill with Numerous Wins for Animals



July 21, 2022


Washington, DC—Animals saw important victories in a bill (H.R. 8294) passed yesterday by the House of Representatives to fund the US Department of the Interior, the US Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies in fiscal year 2023. The explanatory statements accompanying this package also include important directives to agencies regarding the implementation of laws pertaining to animal welfare. AWI commends this vital work by members of the House Appropriations Committee, and hopes the Senate will include similar provisions in its version of the appropriations bills.

The following provisions are included in the bill:

Animal Welfare Act
The bill provides funds for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), the primary federal law ensuring humane care of animals used in commercial enterprises, and expresses the House’s frustration with the USDA’s feeble enforcement of that law. The House specifically expressed concern about the USDA’s lack of AWA enforcement regarding online dog dealers. Among other actions, the House directs the USDA to ensure (1) regular, consistent, and unannounced inspection of AWA-licensed facilities, (2) that the resulting inspection reports always include all conditions that are out of compliance with the law, and (3) that those reports be shared with relevant local, state, and federal agencies. The bill also increases funding for the Office of General Counsel to address its workload related to animal issues and continued the long-standing prohibition on licensing Class B dealers who sell dogs and cats acquired from random sources for use in experimentation and teaching.

Marine Mammals
The USDA is directed to prioritize and reissue proposed regulations related to the handling and care of marine mammals in captivity. Almost four decades have passed since the last update, and marine mammal science has made significant progress, which should be used to inform care and maintenance regulations—such as increasing minimum space requirements, establishing species-specific ambient temperature ranges, and mitigating the effects of noise.

Wildlife Services
The House has provided $4.55 million to Wildlife Services to “expand, develop, and implement nonlethal methods with a focus on reducing human-wildlife conflicts related to predators and beavers in the Western Region and Great Lakes.”

Endangered Species Act
H.R. 8294 increases funding for Endangered Species Act implementation to nearly $355 million, a $77 million increase over last year’s budget. The ESA has been desperately underfunded for years, despite the overwhelming evidence that we are facing a global extinction crisis, and this increase is needed to begin addressing a backlog of more than 300 species awaiting protection decisions, among other priorities.

Horses
H.R. 8294 blocks the operation of horse slaughter facilities in the United States by permanently barring the use of federal funds to inspect such facilities. The bill includes $4.1 million—an increase of more than $1 million from the prior fiscal year—to enforce the Horse Protection Act (HPA) and combat the abuses associated with the soring of Tennessee walking horses and related breeds. The USDA is directed to finalize a long-awaited rule that would strengthen the HPA and protect horses from soring.

For wild horses, the package offers numerous victories, including $11 million for the administration of humane, reversible fertility control vaccines to manage herds in their natural habitats. The bill extends protections to wild horses and burros against slaughter and lethal control, and includes key directives to improve oversight and accountability of the government’s management of wild equines—from improving the vetting of potential adopters to identifying suitable habitat for wild horses.

Trophy Hunting
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is prohibited from issuing permits for the import of sport-hunted elephant or lion trophies taken in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, or Zambia. It also must review the Trump-era policies that reduced transparency in the import permitting process, and report back to Congress about how to determine whether trophy hunting of these species harms their populations.

Trapping
The USFWS also must brief Congress on body-gripping traps used on national wildlife refuges and outline nonlethal methods that could replace trapping for wildlife management purposes.

Birds
Multiple agencies are directed to monitor their buildings for bird collisions and, at minimum, implement low-cost actions to minimize these collisions, which are responsible for as many as 1 billion bird deaths each year in the United States.

Mink
The USDA is directed to report to Congress on the new Mink SARS–CoV–2 Transmission Avoidance and Monitoring Plan (Mink STAMP), which is designed to monitor for COVID-19 infection on mink farms and minimize the risk of virus transmission among mink, humans, and other animals on and around mink farms. The USDA must share how it is encouraging greater state and industry participation, and what steps it will take to ensure comprehensive COVID-19 monitoring on mink farms. This transparency is vital for gaining a better understanding of the public health risks posed by mink farms in the United States.

Farm Animals
Beneficial directives for farm animals include language to ensure that the USDA remains transparent about the number of humane handling verification procedures performed and the number of administrative actions taken in livestock slaughter plants. The House also urges the department to work with producers to develop disaster preparedness plans to protect livestock, given that millions die annually during extreme weather events. Further, the USDA is directed to support alternative protein research and improve oversight of animal-raising claims on meat and poultry product labels so that such claims are meaningful and in line with consumer expectations.

Companion Animals
H.R. 8294 provides $3 million for grants to assist domestic violence survivors with companion animals under the Protecting Animals With Shelter (PAWS) program.

MEDIA CONTACT INFORMATION
Margie Fishman, Animal Welfare Institute
margie@awionline.org, (202) 446-2128

https://hslf.org/blog/2022/07/...-appropriations-fy23


House delivers big on animal protection appropriations for FY23

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2022

Today’s approval by the U.S. House of Representatives of a FY23 budget package, H.R. 8294, produced sweeping animal protection gains across a range of concerns. Countless animals will benefit from the additional protections and funds that the package directs. Getting those provisions into this draft federal budget and keeping them there is an absolute priority for us, and we could not be more excited at the results so far. That is why this cluster of six appropriations bills is such an important focus of our animal protection agenda in Congress. We’ll keep fighting to sustain these wins in the final deal.

In terms of the budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the most remarkable provision is a permanent ban on horse slaughter operations in the United States, something we’ve been seeking for years. Other welcome outcomes include increased funding and support for stronger enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the Horse Protection Act (HPA). There is also report language encouraging the USDA to help transition producers toward cage-free eggs—and, for the first time, crate-free pork. Legislators also called upon the agency to issue a report concerning its program to monitor and minimize COVID-19 infection on mink farms.

On horse soring, a priority focus for us, the bill provides $4.1 million for HPA enforcement, $1 million more over FY22. Report language underscores the USDA’s primary responsibility for enforcement of this law, including the training of inspectors, and presses the agency to publish and finalize its proposed HPA soring rule.

On AWA enforcement, the committee approved report language directing the USDA to properly document any interference with or failure to allow access for inspection, as well as each failure to comply with animal welfare standards. Given the troubling signs of USDA’s lax enforcement over the years, report language calls for an end to the use of “teachable moments” or any program that obscures inspection findings.

With regard to USDA-operated laboratories, the bill permanently requires APHIS inspections of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) facilities for compliance with AWA regulations and standards, and encourages ARS facilities to explore and pursue the post-research placement of dogs, cats and other domesticated animals, something the FDA has already begun to support.

The bill permanently bars the use of funds to license disreputable “Class B” random source dealers, and the report directs USDA to prioritize enforcement of licensing requirements for online dog dealers, and to strengthen its collaboration with the Department of Justice on AWA enforcement to ensure access to evidence needed to initiate cases. It also sustains funding for the PAWS grant program that expands shelter options for domestic violence survivors with pets.

We have a special debt of gratitude to Agriculture Appropriations Chairman Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., for his key role in securing many of the provisions in the minibus, as well as to Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Chris Smith, R-N.J., for mobilizing the bipartisan support of 203 Representatives for many provisions.

The package also includes some great news for animal-assisted therapy in the Veterans Administration budget. Committee report language directs the VA to provide a report on the status of the pilot program to assess the therapeutic value of service dogs in the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. We supported the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) Act of 2021, the underlying legislation that created the program. We’re also glad the package recommends that the VA use no less than $5 million for its adaptive sports program for equine therapy, another program aimed at helping veterans with PTSD, as secured in an amendment by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.

This was a banner year for Interior appropriations as well, as the House FY23 minibus includes increased support and language concerning trophy hunting, the Endangered Species Act, manatee protection, and the federal wild horse and burro program.

Responding to concerns over the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s issuance of hunting trophy import permits for protected species, the bill prohibits the use of funds to process import permit applications of hunting trophies of African lions and elephants from Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where their populations are in steep decline. The bill also directs the FWS to carefully assess whether its current hunting trophy import policy and permitting procedures are based on evidence that exporting countries are adequately protecting these species.

This year, the bill lays out criteria for the agency’s review of the trophy import procedures. The United States is the world’s largest importer of hunting trophies of protected species, and it is imperative that the FWS adhere to Endangered Species Act requirements for these imports. We’re very pleased that the House rejected an amendment to strike these crucial provisions on hunting trophies.

Understanding that congressional appropriations to implement the ESA have not kept pace with the number of listed species or the contemporary challenges of endangered species conservation, the package’s FY23 allocation exceeds that of FY22 by more than $77 million. It also includes funding, added as an amendment by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., for FWS to update its manatee population surveys and to rehabilitate sick manatees. This species faces serious threats from boat collisions, water quality degradation and habitat loss.

Thankfully, the FY23 minibus continues to prohibit the sending of our nation’s wild horses and burros to slaughter. With its $19 million increase for the Bureau of Land Management, it includes a directive that the agency energetically implement a non-lethal program for wild horse and burro management, one based on well-established fertility control methodologies. We have joined with other organizations to advance a strong, rational and effective plan for managing wild horse and burro herds on our western ranges, and we’ll be pressing the BLM to make good on its commitment to improve its herd management.

The congressional budgeting process offers tremendous opportunities for advancing animal protection work across the board. This year’s results make the point.

Add this to similar things and it's starting to look like 1984 all over again, this time for real.

Sometimes I'm glad I'm an old fart, maybe won't have to shoot anyone.

This bugs me.

Maybe everyone who voted for it should be found in contempt of court, and then while in jail be impeached.

If they feel that importing trophy’s is wrong, they can pass the law saying so (it’s wrong, but within their job)…

Refusing to fund an activity mandated by law???

WINS??
It bans processing the permits for the import of Lions and Elephants from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania!!
I hope this doesn't pass in the Senate!!

WRITE TO YOUR SENATORS NOW!! Explain the benefits of hunting in Africa!!

Hopefully SCI and Dallas will be after this one!!

quote:

Originally posted by 470EDDY:
WINS??
It bans processing the permits for the import of Lions and Elephants from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania!!
I hope this doesn't pass in the Senate!!

WRITE TO YOUR SENATORS NOW!! Explain the benefits of hunting in Africa!!

Hopefully SCI and Dallas will be after this one!!

Why are they targeting only three nation states?

Mozambique before the Obama era restriction, more or less, kept in place by President Trump was never approved by US Fish and Wildlife for elephant import. Thus, they do not have to ban elephant import from their.

Botswana has already banned lion hunting. This, you do not have to ban lion imports from Botswana.

Why leave South Africa alone that is the center of canned lion hunting and hunts elephant on the big conservancies adjacent to Kurger like the Timbavati? I do not know. The situation is the same with non captive lion. There is a little lion hunting in the Timbavati. I do not know why you would leave S Africa alone. I have noticed advertising for hunting in the Timbavati has significantly declined.

Zambia was more of a lion destination than elephant before Obama Era restrictions.

My guess is the House knows that in arrogate, most lion and elephant hunting combined comes from those 3 countries. Therefore, those three countries got targeted.

The "Wild Horses" piece is bullshit. There is no such thing as wild horses in the US - they are all feral animals, and they create a huge problem in Arizona. You can't walk 10 yards without running into huge piles of horseshit in Apache Natl Forest. They have completely decimated the desert around the Salt River near Phoenix.

Hopefully it won't pass the Senate. I'm hunting lion next year in Tanzania regardless.

No free man is safe while the legislature is in session.

And everyone who voted should also have to take a dozen unwanted horses home as well. Anti-slaughter does not stop death. They are just euthanized and disposed of instead of utilization of the carcass — insane.

Lane,

So right.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
And everyone who voted should also have to take a dozen unwanted horses home as well. Anti-slaughter does not stop death. They are just euthanized and disposed of instead of utilization of the carcass — insane.

When I was in WY a couple years ago. Wild horse was everywhere between 7k and 9k above sea level.

They were doing a round up. I learned quick where there was horse there was no elk.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
And everyone who voted should also have to take a dozen unwanted horses home as well. Anti-slaughter does not stop death. They are just euthanized and disposed of instead of utilization of the carcass — insane.

Feel good politics by idiots with ZERO understanding!

This is like watching children running with long, sharp knives. What could possibly go wrong?

I am pleased to advise that the subject HOUSE BILL for funding the Interior Department is DEAD!! The Senate funding bill, WITHOUT ANY NEGATIVE WILDLIFE PROVISIONS, is moving forward.
According to our local Hunters Heritage Council lobbyist, big thank yous go to DALLAS SSFARI CLUB for the heavy lifting in this change and clean up!!
FYI, I made a concerned call to SCI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICE in WSDC... as a 3 term Chapter Past President... no response!!

A BIG RELIEF!!

CHEERZ,

What we need are more laws. We've got plenty of laws. Time for them to take a break.