Animal rights activists are putting forth an effort to reclassify the horse as a companion animal rather than livestock in Colorado. The Colorado Horse Council (CoHoCo), in cooperation with the Colorado Horse Development Authority, has been educating Colorado horse owners about the possibility of an initiative appearing on a ballot. They feel it would cause serious ramifications on the equine industry.

“A year ago, the CoHoCo Board of Directors was notified that Colorado would be the next state targeted (after California),” said Libby Graham, executive director of CoHoCo. “We hosted a series of town meetings to notify the horse industry stakeholders about the potential effects.”

One of the goals of the reclassification, says Graham, is to prevent the sale of horses for human consumption overseas by removing the horse from the livestock category. The reclassification clause was removed from the language of California’s Proposition 6, which bans the sale of horses for human consumption. Reclassification also raises the potential for passage of taxes and interpretation of regulations now in place for companion animals. In some counties of California, per-horse annual fees, taxes, and site regulations on horse facilities, and mandatory licensing of horses, are in place. “There is a possibility of a proposition in Colorado which would reclassify horses, or one that will ban slaughter,” said Cindy Schonhotz, Animal Welfare Coordinator for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “What we see in Proposition 6 is the first step to reclassification. The two are hand-in-hand for sure.”

If the horse is reclassified, opponents say, equine research no longer would be federally funded as it is now and would require additional private grants, which are more difficult to obtain. As a result, horse health would be in jeopardy. “We receive funds from the USDA for livestock research. These dollars will disappear, and you will find the horse industry fighting the dog and cat owners for research funding,” said Graham.

“We can only surmise that the controls that would be placed on horse owners would be the same as those placed on owners of other companion animals,” Graham said, “If the horse is classified as a companion animal, would a stable or breeding operation be treated like a kennel (instead of an agricultural operation), and subject to tax increases? Look at laws on the book, and see how they apply to horses