Horse owners sue, claiming AQHA's clone ban illegal

Dr. Veneklasen with clone

Two Texas Panhandle horse owners filed a federal lawsuit Monday asking a judge to overturn a ban on cloned horses in the world’s largest equine breed registry. Canadian rancher Jason Abraham and Amarillo veterinarian Gregg Veneklasen allege in the suit the American Quarter Horse Association’s Rule 227, which bars cloned horses from the AQHA registry, illegally curbs competition and puts cloned-horse owners at an economic disadvantage. Abraham and Veneklasen — who own an undisclosed number of cloned quarter horses or offspring — claim the rule violates federal antitrust laws that prohibit any entity from monopolizing commerce without a legitimate reason. The Amarillo-based AQHA passed the rule in 2004. “Without exception, DNA tests confirm that the plaintiffs’ horses are quarter houses,” according to the complaint. “But for Rule 227 and the defendant’s unlawful enforcement of it, the horses that plaintiffs seek to register would be eligible for registration with the (AQHA).” Rule 227 states, “horses produced by any cloning process are not eligible for registration.”...more