Horse owners across the country have been told the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) will have little effect on them. Industry and government officials have implied that horses would get a special deal. But the documents and events show that our lives as horse owners will be seriously affected if the government implements NAIS.

Horses have been part of the plans for NAIS from its inception; both the 2005 and the 2006 documents include horses. And now we have evidence of how NAIS would apply to horses in practice. On December 15, 2006, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture proposed regulations that would make premises registration and animal identification mandatory for all livestock animals, including horses.

In place of the 24-hour reporting requirement in the federal NAIS plans, the proposed Kentucky regulations would have required a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) for all movements, sales, and exhibitions, with only limited species-specific exceptions. Exhibition was defined as a “fair, show, exposition, rodeo, competition, or trail ride.” Movement was defined as “the act of moving, shipping, transporting, delivering, receiving or collecting animals by any means, method, or vehicle by any person for any purpose.” These broad definitions mean a horse would need a CVI almost every time it was taken off your property.

Granted, the proposed regulations did allow for a few limited exceptions. A horse moving directly to a state approved horse sale, for racing purposes, farm-to-farm with no change of ownership, or to a veterinary facility would not need a CVI. All other movements for sale, exhibition, training or change of ownership would require a CVI. Want to take your horse to a county fair or field day? A plowing match? Sell your horse to your neighbor or a relative? Get ready to call your vet, pay for a barn visit or haul your horse in, and get a certificate.

What would the CVI show? The proposed regulations required “official individual identification,” the name and address of both the owner and the receiving location, a certification from the vet that he/she has inspected the animal, and potentially additional information (not specified in the regulations). The proposed regulations provided an alternative for exhibitions—an equine interstate event permit from approved states. To get one, your horse must have a permanent individual identification and you must keep “an accurate event itinerary log... documenting each equine movement.” In other words, you could avoid having a CVI for shows only by keeping a record of every movement you make with your horse and being prepared to show it to the authorities. And even then you would still need the vet certification for movements other than for shows, such as to a trainer or to sell your horse to a friend.

If all this is not bad enough, the proposed regulations allowed for warrantless government intrusion on anyone who owns an animal. The proposed regulation would have allowed the state vet to “enter upon any farm, stockyard, auction barn, or any other place where animals are handled, for the purpose of inspecting and/or testing any animals for communicable diseases.” No requirements were specified for a warrant or for any health emergency—the state vet could enter your property at any time, simply by giving notice.

This proposed regulation covered all animals, not just livestock. Indeed, another section of the proposed regulations specified that dog and cat owners would also have to get CVIs for exhibitions. So even apartment dwellers with a pet dog might face an inspection by the state vet. These warrantless inspections could be done whether or not an outbreak actually occurred or without any risk to human health.

Due to public comments, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has withdrawn these proposed regulations. But the Department has stated its intention to reissue another version of the regulations in the future.

The Kentucky experience provides both a warning and a ray of hope. While it has shown us a clear picture of what NAIS would mean for animal owners, including horse owners, we have also seen that the program can be stopped if enough people speak out.

But stopping the regulations is only one step. Like ag departments in several other states, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture still has the statutory authority to implement NAIS. Continued funding from the USDA, along with pressure from industrial agribusiness and technology companies, creates incentives for the agencies to continue to push the program. To truly stop the program, we must address all the tentacles of NAIS through state and federal legislation.

So, although we cannot declare outright victory, we have hope. In just a little more than year, the issue of NAIS has gone from being almost completely unknown to a hotly-debated subject in public forums and state legislatures across the country. We have made a difference, because individuals have stepped forward to work together to make our voices heard. Keep it up!

Judith McGeary is an attorney in Austin, Texas, who together with her husband runs a small grass-based farm with horses, cattle, sheep, and poultry. She is executive director of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, where you can get tools to help fight NAIS—from educating your neighbors to lobbying your legislators. This article appeared in The Evener 2007 issue of Rural Heritage.