PepsiCo has canceled its sponsorship of the annual Tennessee Walking Horse championship, the Celebration after an ABC News investigation revealing extreme animal cruelty involving Tennessee Walking horses. The cancellation of the sponsorship was in response to an undercover video made by the Humane Society of the United States showing horse trainer Jackie McConnell torturing horses in his stables near Memphis.
Horse with high-stepping show-ring gait
Soring is the practice of injuring a horse's lower front legs to force them to lift their feet in an exaggerated way.
© DanDee Shots
On March 1, 2012, a federal grand jury handed down felony criminal indictments charging Jackie McConnell, a well-known Tennessee walking horse trainer, for multiple violations of the federal Horse Protection Act. Horse soring is the abusive practice of applying highly painful chemicals (such as mustard oil or kerosene) and heavy metal chains on horses’ lower front legs, forcing them to lift their feet in an exaggerated way in an effort to seek relief from the pain.
The goal of this cruel treatment is to produce the artificially high-stepping show-ring gait that wins fancy ribbons and prizes at Tennessee walking horse show competitions. McConnell and several of his associates were indicted on 52 counts of violating the federal Horse Protection Act (including 18 felony counts), and also charged with numerous violations of the Tennessee Cruelty to Animals Statute.
In a related joint operation led by The HSUS, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General, and the 25th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, horses were rescued from Jackie McConnell’s training operation and placed in the care of the HSUS Animal Rescue Team.
Industry groups maintain that the vast majority of horses are not subjected to the cruel practice of "soring."
But a random inspection by the agents of the Department of Agriculture at last year's annual championship found that 52 of 52 horses tested positive for some sort of foreign substance around front hooves, either to cause pain or to hide it.
According to reports, McConnell decided to change his plea to guilty last week on a single charge of conspiracy to violate the HPA. Federal court documents state the remaining charges will be dismissed. He is scheduled to be back in court on May 22 to change his plea. He could face up to three years in prison and a $5,000 according to the sentencing guidelines. It is unknown if McConnell will be allowed to continue training horses as part of his deal.