AQHA may refuse cloned horses

AMARILLO, Texas — The United States’ pre-eminent quarter horse organization may refuse to register cloned animals, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case brought by two Texas ranchers.

In a 20-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the ranchers failed to prove their antitrust case against the American Quarter Horse Association.

The ruling overturns a lower-court decision that had said the association had to admit cloned quarter horses to its breeding registry. The prestigious list adds financial value to listed animals.

In August 2013, U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson in Amarillo had issued a permanent injunction against the group’s prohibition after the ranchers sued. The ranchers argued the association was operating a monopoly by not allowing clones.

The lower-court ruling would have set a precedent as no American horse-breeding groups allow cloned horses to be registered.