Another Leap of Faith

We all face challenges and go through various seasons during our lives. In many instances, humans who excel in their work and careers rise, fall, and plateau. I have been through all three phases on several occasions. I feel I’ve plateaued in my career working to protect animals, and in particular, I’ve done everything humanly possible to bring an end to the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, the issue that first lured me into the animal protection space.

As a child there were three things I wanted to be: an astronaut, a horse trainer, or the President of the United States. When my parents couldn’t afford to send me to space camp in Alabama as a kid, I gave up on my dream in aeronautics and crossed it off the list.

I was fortunate, however, during my time working in the U.S. Congress to handle NASA issues and topics related to the House Committee on Science, Technology, and Energy, and it was a lot of fun. I still gaze at the stars when I can see them and remain in awe of how magnificent the universe is.

Growing up I spent most of my time with the horses and that desire to train horses grew within me. Fortunately, my mentor, William B. Johnson, the founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and to whom I sold a horse when I was just 13, saved me from the fate of training Tennessee Walking Horses with a full paid college scholarship and he told me that was very intentional as he could see the course I was headed down.

Along the way my interest in civics and politics grew and has continued to be fostered by others, like my best friend Clay Barclay, the former Chairman of the Young Republican National Federation, who took me to a YR meeting at age 19, former Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., who lived across the street from my grandparents as a child. Other key figures and organizations in my passion for politics include former Gov. Bob Riley, R-Ala., whom I helped elect, The Heritage Foundation, and former Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., whom I served in Congress as Press Secretary, Communications Director, and Policy Advisor.

Somewhere along the journey I was fortunate enough to have a six-year career in the real estate and construction space working W.B. Johnson International, LLC in Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and The Bahamas, and later running my own business in Tennessee. When that business collapsed in 2013 due a set of unfortunate circumstances resulting from my public stance to end horse abuse and subsequently testifying in Congress, I felt like God had put me back on track and was steering me in a new direction.

A decade later I found myself working in the U.S. House, which was a tremendous and wonderful experience. Later I joined a massive animal non-profit plagued by bureaucracy, ridiculous amounts of waste, hypocrisy, and hubris, and it was the worst employment experience of my life. But more recently, for the past five years, I’ve worked within the structure of three different animal groups: the Animal Wellness Foundation, Animal Wellness Action, and the Center for a Humane Economy, two of which I helped establish and build, and it has truly been a pleasure. And now, as my time in this space comes to a close and I’m on the cusp of a new career course, I’m proud to look back at the laws we’ve enacted.

In the past five years alone at Animal Wellness Action we’ve successfully achieved the following:

·The enactment of the first federal horse protection law in half a century, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, that banned race-day doping in the ‘Sport of Kings,’ and created a uniform national standard for racetrack safety and drug testing and a subsequent legislative fix to the new law after a Federal Court of Appeals deemed the measure unconstitutional. The law is now on the right track and the anti-doping rules take effect on Monday, March 27.

· Enactment of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 that repealed a 1938 Depression-era mandate that required animal testing for any drug or vaccine approved by the FDA. The antiquated policy drove up the cost of drugs and time to market, placing unnecessary burdens on drug companies and consumers – and of course, consigning millions of animals to torture and death in laboratories. What makes it even more special is that it’s the first federal law enacted led by U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., during his time in Congress. We also secured enactment of the Reducing Animal Testing Act by combining it with the first version of the FDA Modernization Act.

· Enactment of the Big Cat Public Safety Act that ended the practice of ‘cub petting’ and now prevents the ownership and incarceration of dangerous tigers, lions, and others of the like in suburban neighborhoods across America, keeping families safe from harm and ensuring that entire generations of big cats will be spared the misery of life in captivity.

· Enactment of the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act that will bring an end to the trade in shark fins, a body part acquired by killing sharks simply by slicing their fins off to serve shark fin soup at Chinese restaurants and social events, like weddings..

· Enactment of the first-ever animal cruelty statute in the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act signed into law by President Donald J. Trump in 2019 that offered me the opportunity to join the President in the Oval Office for its signing, truly a surreal moment in my life.

· Enactment of the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act that helps pair our American heroes, those who’ve fought for our country and suffered post-traumatic stress, with canines who help veterans heal and find relief from their trauma, and ultimately offering unwanted dogs a good home.

· Enactment of Rescuing Animals With Rewards (RAWR) Act that provides reward money to those who offer information that leads to the successful arrest and conviction of terrorists caught trafficking wildlife parts, the number one source of funding for those who seek to cause our great nation harm.

· The end of greyhound racing in Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, and Iowa – ending not only animal cruelty but also cutting massive subsidies that helped propped the industry up to a point dogs were required to run despite no spectators in the stands.

· Enactment of an anti-cockfighting provision that outlawed the blood sport in the U.S. Territories, the Pet and Women Safety (PAWS) Act, and Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act in the 2018 Farm Bill.

· Enactment of a ban on bestiality in the State of Kentucky in 2019, because yes, sex with animals was still legal in the Bluegrass State.

These accomplishments are the ones that are set in stone, and permanent, but don’t include countless bills and amendments we’ve passed through one chamber or the other that didn’t quite make it over the goal line. Just a few include the U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act through the U.S. House in 2019, an amendment to end the transport of American equines for the purposes of slaughter in 2021, and an amendment to help end mink farming in the U.S. in 2022, in recognition of minks being the number one superspreader of COVID besides humans. To date six variants of COVID have been spawned at mink farms around the globe. The only reason mink coats are even produced in the U.S. today is to cloak the Chinese elite in luxury garments.

We’ve also helped prevent the most infamous serial doper in American horse racing, Bob Baffert, from running horses in the Kentucky Derby in 2022 and this year as well. Just recently we’ve worked to see Nike and Puma end the use of kangaroo skins in their supply chains through reform in corporate policy, a flagship campaign for the Center for a Humane Economy.

I am also very proud to have been named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2019, 2020, and 2021, but without a doubt the greatest honor of my life came in 2020 when the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honored me for my work to protect American equines, a passion she and I both deeply shared. And I will continue that work in my own personal capacity moving forward. I remain forever grateful to the Queen, and my dear friend Monty Roberts, the famed “Man Who Listens to Horses,” who presented Her Majesty with my life story and recommended the honor.

While I am a bit disheartened that the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, the reason I entered the animal protection space in the first place, still persists, I am confident that in time the practice will be stamped out. It will require patience, as it has for the past six decades. It will require advocates rallying boots on the ground to carry on the work of my late friend Clant M. Seay organizing protests at events where soring runs rampant in Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, and other Southeastern states. After attending his memorial service this week in Oxford, Miss., I am pleased to know that organizers are already preparing to carry the torch. Time and pressure, that’s what it takes for any long-standing “tradition” based on cruelty to finally break.

With all those accomplishments now in my rearview mirror, beginning Monday I’m moving on to serve in a new role as Chief Operating Officer at one of the nation’s top conservative organizations that works to cut federal waste and rein in the runaway inflation and federal spending we see today. I have prayed about this decision a lot, more than any other career decision I’ve intentionally made, and I believe that my abilities can best serve the greater good in this area. In 2013, I wrote a story of the crisis in the world of Tennessee Walking Horses and my own life entitled “A Leap of Faith,” and today, I’ve made the decision to take another leap of faith. We can pass all of the animal laws we want, but if we don’t have a strong and stable United States, then what does it really matter? Perhaps I’m being too blunt, but that’s just how I feel and what God has put on my heart.

I know that many of you may be sad and even angry that I am moving on to a new horizon, but do not fear, there will be others that step forward. I will always watch for opportunities to help protect the horses, and I feel truly blessed to have been a part of so much great work for the voiceless creatures we all care so deeply about. For those who’ve been silent in so many situations where animals are being abused, now is your time. Now is the perfect opportunity for each of you to step up, speak out, and bring new voices and ideas to the cause of a kinder and better world. I will carry a prayer in my heart for all of you fighting hard for that lofty and worthy goal, and I will always be here for the horses when they need me the most.

Marty Irby is the former executive director at Animal Wellness Action in Washington, D.C., and an 8-time world champion equestrian, who was named one of The Hill's Top Lobbyists for 2019-2021, and was honored by the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his work to protect horses. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @MartyIrby