from the American Horse Council

Washington, DC — The American Horse Council (AHC) welcomes Dr. Kent Fowler, veterinarian and Chief of the Animal Health Branch at the California Department of Food and Agriculture to its list of top industry speakers at this year’s National Issues Fall Forum to be held at Keeneland Racetrack on November 2, 2007. Complete details and online registration are available on the AHC’s Web site: www.horsecouncil.org.

Dr. Fowler received his D.V.M. from UC Davis and spent over 25 years specializing in equine medicine and surgery. In 2004, he joined the California Department of Food and Agriculture and became Chief of the Animal Health Branch in 2005. Dr. Fowler is the Chairman of the Piroplasmosis Subcommittee of the Infectious Diseases of Horses Committee of the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA).

Dr. Fowler will provide forum attendees with an update on Equine Piroplasmosis (EP). EP is classified as a foreign animal disease not present in the U.S. Regulations requiring the testing of all horses entering the U.S. to determine their EP status have been in place for many years. The disease occurs in Africa, Europe, Asia, South and Central America, however the tick parasites that spread EP exist in the United States.

As EP currently remains classified as a foreign animal disease, it is important for the equine industry to act to keep it this way. Dr. Fowler will discuss the disease, and several current issues surrounding it, including a discussion of a test that was found to be inappropriate for EP, but was used to test imported horses for sometime. The use of this test may have resulted in a small percentage of “false negative” test results, which allowed an unknown number of EP seropositive horses to legally enter the United States.

Complete program highlights for the November 2 AHC National Issues Fall Forum, which is being held immediately prior to the State Horse Council Advisory Committee Fall Meeting, are as follows:

• “Preserving Our Land and Use”: Conservation Easements
  Margaret M. Graves, Esq., Attorney and Board Member, Bluegrass Conservancy
  Shannon Bishop Arvin, Esq., of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC
• “Do You Have a Match?”: Immigration Issues Facing the Horse Industry
  Charles R. Baesler, Jr. of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC
• “Keeping the IRS At Bay”: Federal Tax Laws for Horse Owners
  Doug Romaine, Esq., of Stoll Keenon Ogden, PLLC
• “The ‘Ins and Outs’ of Movement”: Import/Export Issues for Horse Owners
  Dr. Andrea Morgan, Associate Deputy Administrator for Regional Operations at the U. S. Department of Agriculture
• “The Sleeping Giant”: Update on Equine Piroplasmosis
  Dr. Kent Fowler, D.V.M. Chief, Animal Health Branch California Department of Food and Agriculture
• “Own Responsibly”: Latest from the Unwanted Horse Coalition
  Katy Carter, Coordinator of the Unwanted Horse Coalition
• “AHC National Issues Fall Forum Update”: Federal Legislation and Regulations Affecting the Industry
  James J. Hickey, Jr., President of the American Horse Council

All horse enthusiasts are invited to register for this unique learning and growth opportunity. If you are interested in attending this event, please call the AHC at (202) 296-4031 for further details. A complete schedule of events and online registration information is available on the AHC Web site: www.horsecouncil.org.

For more information about the American Horse Council, please visit: www.horsecouncil.org or call (202) 296-4031.