TX Ag Commissioner calls horse anti-cruelty rule ‘government overreach’

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Express-News reports that a federal rule designed to “crack down on loopholes” in an anti-cruelty law protecting horses has drawn the ire of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who called it “government overreach at its worst” during a Friday interview with KXAN. “I’m horse shower. I’m rodeo guy,” he said. “Before I go, I have to take my horses to vet and get a health certificate. They’ve already been inspected. So what this does is way too far.” The rule targets “soring,” the use of devices or substances to inflict pain on a horse’s foreleg to cause the animal to do a “high-stepping running walk.” While the 1970 Horse Protection Act banned the practice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said it created this new enforcement rule to close loopholes in the law. APHIS, following a White House directive to postpone all pending rules, announced Friday it will postpone implantation of the rule until April 2. The rule was previously scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 1.