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Press Releases and Industry News
USDA -
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS
SPECTROMETRY FOR ENFORCEMENT
USDA Public Listening Session March
2006 - Springfield, MO
Auburn Study - Thermography in diagnosis of
Inflammatory Processes in Horses...
The Sniffer - USDA Press Release-
Monday August 8, 2005
USDA Public Listening Sessions-
February 2006
HPA Review Committee
Report
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USDA ANNOUNCES THE USE OF GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY/MASS
SPECTROMETRY FOR ENFORCEMENT OF THE HORSE PROTECTION ACT
WASHINGTON,
April 14, 2006–The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced the use of gas
chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), to enforce the Horse
Protection Act (HPA).
Since 2004, APHIS’ animal care program has
held public meetings and informed horse industry organizations regarding
the implementation of GC/MS technologies. This tool will aid efforts to
detect the practice of soring, a cruel and inhumane practice used to
accentuate a horse’s gait. Soring may be accomplished by irritating or
blistering a horse’s forelegs through the injection or application of
chemicals, mechanical devices, cuts, lacerations or burns.
APHIS’ animal care program is
responsible for enforcing the HPA. The HPA is a federal law that
prohibits horses that have been subjected to soring from participating
in auctions, exhibitions, sales or shows. The HPA also prohibits the
transportation of sored horses to or from any of these events.
GC/MS is a testing technique used to
identify the composition of chemical mixtures, which are sometimes
applied to horses’ legs. APHIS collects the samples at shows and sends
them to USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames,
Iowa, where testing is conducted to identify any chemicals in the
samples. GC/MS can detect minute amounts of substances. Prior to GC/MS
analytical techniques, foreign substances were detected by sight or
smell.
The testing procedures and
enforcement actions are as follows:
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APHIS veterinary medical officers will swab horses randomly at
every sale or show they attend for the remainder of 2006.
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Swab tubes will be labeled by class and exhibitor number, and
that information will be compared to the class sheets provided by show
management or a horse industry organization to determine the owner,
custodian, trainer and exhibitor.
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Swabs will undergo testing at NVSL for the presence of foreign
substances via mass spectrometry analysis.
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Any analysis that indicates the presence of a foreign substance
will result in APHIS issuing an official warning letter, known as an
APHIS Form 7060, signifying a violation of federal regulations to the
owner, custodian and trainer of all affected horses, as well as the
exhibitor of the horse swabbed for samples taken “post show.”
A summary of
test results will be available on the HPA Web site at
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/hpainfo.html.
The summary will name the show, its location (city and state), show
date, the number of entries, the number of swabs done for analysis, the
number of foreign substance(s) detected, the names of the foreign
substance(s) detected and the percentage of swabs that contained the
identified foreign substance(s).
Horse industry organizations have
been made aware of this new enforcement measure, and any additional
enforcement methods will not be utilized without prior notification to
HIO representatives and industry publications.
For more
information on APHIS’ horse protection program, please visit
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/hpainfo.html.
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases,
program announcements and media advisories are available on the
Internet. Go to the APHIS news release page at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/newsroom.
Also, anyone with an e-mail address can sign up to receive APHIS press
releases automatically. Send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov
and leave the subject blank. In the message, type subscribe
press_releases. |
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USDA Public Listening Session March 2006 -
Springfield, MO
On March 13, 2006 USDA APHIS Animal Care will
host a Horse Protection program Listening Session from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, located at 333 South
John Q Hammons Parkway, Springfield, MO 65806. Registration for the
Session will he held on site and will begin at 12:30 PM. This meeting
will be the second of six Listening Sessions Animal Care is hosting in
2006, including sessions in:
February 8, 2006, Shelbyville, TN
April 19, 2006, Dallas, TX
May 17, 2006, Somerset, KY
June 12, 2006, Pomona, CA
September 11, 2006, Chattanooga, TN
The purposes of the meetings are to 1)
Gather public input regarding the next Operating Plan; 2) Gather public
input about the future direction of Horse Protection Act enforcement; and
3) Share information with the public about past, present, and future
activities of the Horse Protection program. USDA will first present an
overview of the Horse Protection Program, followed by an open microphone
session for people to share information with USDA. A transcription
service will be present to capture all comments on paper, which will in
turn be posted on Animal Care's Horse Protection web page: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/hpainfo.html
Anyone interested in horses regulated by
the Horse Protection Act are encouraged to attend and share their
thoughts.
Questions about the Listening Session can
be directed to:
Darby G. Holladay
U.S. Department of Agriculture
APHIS Legislative and Public Affairs
Tel: (301) 734-3265
or
Dr. Todd Behre
USDA APHIS Horse Protection Coordinator
4700 River Rd. Suite 6A02-7
Riverdale, MD 20737
(301)734-5784
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AUBURN STUDY -THERMOGRAPHY IN DIAGNOSIS OF
INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES IN HORSES
IN RESPONSE TO VARIOUS CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL FACTORS
To study the effects of acute and chronic inflammatory responses
of the horse’s thoracic (front) and pelvic (hind) limbs, several studies
were done over a seven year period at the School of Veterinary Medicine,
Auburn
University, Alabama.
Full Auburn Study Report
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The "Sniffer"
USDA Press
Release Monday, August 8, 2005
USDA APHIS Animal
Care’s Horse Protection program continues to collect samples from show
horse limbs for testing and analysis using Gas Chromatography technology.
As was introduced in five public meetings in 2004, findings indicating the
presence of illegal foreign substances on horse limbs in 2005 will not be
used to pursue federal prosecution or Horse Industry Organization
penalties against any parties. Further testing and implementation of Gas
Chromatography technology are planned for 2006.
Here is a fact sheet
detailing technology’s role in current and future Horse Protection Act
compliance:
Horse Protection
The Horse Protection
Act (HPA) is a Federal law that prohibits horses subjected to a practice
called soring from participating in shows, sales, exhibitions or auctions.
The Act, also prohibits drivers from transporting sored horses to or from
any of these events. APHIS' Animal Care (AC) program has the
responsibility for enforcing the HPA, which was passed in 1970 and amended
in 1976.
Soring is a cruel and
inhumane practice used to accentuate a horse's gait. When a sored horse
walks, it responds by quickly lifting its front legs high off of the
ground in response to the pain in its lower legs and/or hooves. The HPA
covers all horse breeds, but Tennessee walking horses, racking horses, and
other high-stepping breeds are the most frequent victims of soring.
Soring may be
accomplished by irritating or blistering a horse's forelegs through the
injection or application of chemicals or mechanical irritants, such as
diesel fuel, lighter fluid, strong detergents, and mustard oil. Inhumane
hoof trimming or pressure-shoeing techniques may also be used to create an
accentuated gait.
Criminal or civil
charges can be brought against HPA violators. If convicted, criminal
violators can spend up to 2 years in prison and receive penalties of up to
$5,000. Civil complaints, imposed through administrative procedures, can
result in disqualifications of one or more years and penalties of up to
$2,000 or more per violation.
APHIS inspection teams
attend horse shows and auctions, to conduct unannounced inspections of
horses. All APHIS inspectors enforcing the HPA are veterinary medical
officers (VMO). However, AC VMOs may also be accompanied by investigators
from APHIS' Investigative and Enforces Services as well as security. VMOs
observe horses during shows and may examine any horse for signs of soring.
To enhance enforcement
efforts, APHIS established the Designated Qualified Person (DQP) program,
which enables USDA-accredited veterinarians with equine experience,
farriers, horse trainers, and other knowledgeable horsemen who have been
formally trained and licensed by USDA-certified Horse Industry
Organizations (HIO) or associations to inspect horses for soring. Horse
show or sale managers then contract with HIO's to provide DQPs for their
horse events.
The examination for
soring consists of 3 components:
1. The evaluation of a
horse's movements,
2. The observation of a
horse's appearance,
3. The physical
examination of a horse's forelegs.
Sored horses may
exhibit abnormal tissue damage, swelling, pain, abrasions, or oozing of
blood or serum. Owners or trainers that sore horses, however, sometimes go
to great lengths to conceal evidence of soring, making the practice
difficult to detect in certain cases. For example, temporary numbing
agents may be applied to a horse's forelegs so that it won't react during
an examination by the attending VMO or DQP.
In the spring of 2004,
AC began testing the use of 2 new pieces of technology at horse shows to
determine their usefulness as HPA enforcement tools.
The first piece of
equipment is Electronic Sensor Technology's zNose™ Model 4200, which is a
handheld gas chromatograph or a chemical “sniffer”. Vapor samples are
prepared by swabbing a horse's leg with a cotton swab, and then placing
the cotton swab in an empty sample vial. Within 10 seconds, the zNose
processes a vapor sample and determines the identity of chemicals in the
vapor. This is useful in determining whether numbing or soring agents,
have been used.
The second piece of
equipment is Mikron Infrared's MikroScan 7515. It is a lightweight,
high-performance, hand-held thermographic camera. Thermographic imaging
enables our VMOs to detect and evaluate heat patterns in horses' legs and
feet with great accuracy. Research is being conducted within APHIS to
determine how to best use this technology as an enforcement tool.
To assist with testing,
a considerable number of horse and stable vapor samples and equine limb
thermal images were acquired and evaluated. While initial results are
promising, this equipment is not being used for any type of enforcement at
this time because AC is still in the process of gathering additional
efficacy data.
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