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The appropriations bill and accompanying coronavirus relief/stimulus package for fiscal year 2021 now advancing through Congress will bring critical and much-needed support to millions of Americans. We are also pleased to report that the package, which funds federal agencies, includes a number of wins for animals, including horses, wildlife, companion animals and animals in research.
We’ve advocated for these and other items throughout 2020. Here, in brief, are key measures in the package that benefit animals:
Horse racing: The package includes the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (S. 4547/H.R. 1754) introduced by Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Martha McSally, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Reps. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y. and Andy Barr, R-Ky., to address the widespread doping of racehorses and unsafe track conditions that have been key contributing factors in frequent equine fatalities on American racetracks.
The mandarin duck is a species of bird from the duck-bird family that
is native to East Asia.
Like the wood duck, it belongs to the genus Aix.
In Europe, there are isolated overgrown park populations that have arisen from captive refugees.
The mandarin duck is one of the “glossy ducks”, whose name comes from the metallic sheen of their plumage.
It is one of the medium-sized ducks and reaches a body length between 41 and 51 centimeters.
The males weigh between 571 and 693 grams.
The females are slightly lighter with a weight between 428 and 608 grams.
The magnificent, colorful drake is easy to recognize by its green-metallic forehead, the chestnut-brown “whiskers”, the large white stripes over the eyes, and the strikingly large orange-colored wing feathers that are set up like a sail.
Racing reforms are on their way across the United States after Congress passed the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act as part of a massive spending bill, which included $US900 million in Covid relief.
The racing legislation, backed by several important industry bodies and widely supported by lawmakers, will require national, uniform safety standards that include anti-doping and medication control, as well as racetrack safety programs.
The fractured nature of anti-doping and track safety efforts across the country’s 38 racing jurisdictions has long been the subject of criticism.
Supporters of the bill argued that the patchwork of regulations undermined the public’s confidence in horseracing, threatened the integrity of competition, and, in the view of advocacy groups, endangered the human and equine athletes.