The American Quarter Horse Journal April 23, 2012
AQHA receives anti-trust lawsuit on cloning.
AQHA has been informed that an Anti-Trust lawsuit has been filed against AQHA by one of its members, Jason Abraham, and two of his related companies, Abraham & Veneklasen Joint Venture and Abraham Equine Inc. The nature of the suit concerns AQHA’s current rule that prohibits the registration of cloned horses and their offspring. Mr. Abraham and his companies seek to have the cloning rule amended to allow cloned horses and their offspring to be registered with AQHA as American Quarter Horses in AQHA’s breed registry. As this suit was filed April 23, 2012, AQHA has not yet had the opportunity to fully review the suit. However, AQHA will respond accordingly once the claims have been examined in detail.
AQHA is a member-run breed registry organization. The cloning rule with which Mr. Abraham and his companies take issue is Rule 227(a) that provides:
(a) Horses produced by any cloning process are not eligible for registration. Cloning is defined as any method by which the genetic material of an unfertilized egg or any embryo is removed and replaced by genetic material taken from another organism, added to/with genetic material from another organism or otherwise modified by any means in order to produce a live foal.
This rule has been in effect since 2004 and was approved by the board of directors, which is fully composed of members of AQHA. Each year prior to AQHA’s Convention, AQHA members may request rule changes or the implementation of new rules (“rule changes”). During the past several years, a few AQHA members have requested a change to Rule 227 to allow the registration of cloned horses or their offspring. Thus far, the AQHA members who comprise the stud book and registration committee and the board of directors have voted not to change the cloning rule. During the rule change debates that have taken place at past conventions, both those seeking to have the rule changed and those in opposition to changing the cloning rule have appeared before the stud book and registration committee and provided information that they desired the committee to review in preparation for voting on the proposed rule change. Additionally, various persons with scientific backgrounds in the field of cloning, including Dr. Gregg Veneklasen, have appeared before the committee.
At the most recent Convention, which took place in March 2012, the most recent rule change request offered by Dr. Veneklasen was presented to the 33-member stud book and registration committee. Mr. Abraham and Dr. Veneklasen spoke to the committee and voiced their support for the rule change and presented their arguments in favor of registering cloned horses and their offspring. Following the presentation of the rule change, the stud book and registration committee voted against the proposed rule change.
“At this time, we are reviewing the lawsuit and have informed the AQHA Executive Committee, the stud book and registration committee and the board of directors,” said AQHA Executive Vice President Don Treadway. “These committees and the AQHA members who sit on them have charged the staff with defending the rules of the Association. During this process, we will work to keep our members informed as new information becomes available.”
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