Walking horse groups miss deadline to adopt inspection rules

The federal government could soon decertify three organizations that regulate the walking horse industry for not adopting new inspection rules.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would implement tougher mandatory penalties for horse soring and other types of cruelty after a video surfaced and aired nationally depicting brazen horse abuse.

Three out of 12 of the horse industry organizations have not submitted amended rulebooks to federal officials after a July 9 deadline. The USDA is following up with the three delinquent groups. Failure to file could result in the loss of federal backing.

SHOW Inc., a leading industry group, is among those that have not filed. SHOW last month sued federal officials in a northern Texas district court contending that imposing minimum penalties for horse abuse is unconstitutional. Read More…