U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1, is a champion for animal protection, recently cosponsoring three critical bipartisan amendments that passed the U.S. House to increase enforcement of animal cruelty laws and protect wild horses.
This common-sense legislation would provide funding for the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice to crack down on severe cases of animal cruelty, such as animal fighting, where animals are pitted against each other in a fight to the death while spectators gamble for profits, and crush videos, where animals are killed for fetishes. These abuses are still far too common and USDA and DOJ must send a strong message that this cruelty is unacceptable.
Rep. Fitzpatrick also joined with a dozen other lawmakers on an amendment to put the Bureau of Land Management on a more humane and sustainable path for managing wild horses in the West and help prevent horse slaughter. The bipartisan legislation would allocate a portion of the BLM’s budget toward the implementation of humane, reversible fertility control, like the PZP vaccine. For far too long, the agency has relied on removing and warehousing wild horses for population management — and at a significant expense to taxpayers that is projected to cost a billion dollars. It’s expensive, cruel, and simply isn’t working. Fertility control is a science-based solution that would benefit horse welfare and save taxpayer dollars.
Rep. Fitzpatrick should be applauded for his leadership to protect animals from cruelty.