Back in 1971, the California equine industry sponsored legislation to prevent misuse of drugs and medications in equines (horses, mules and donkeys) in public shows and sales. The resulting law is found in the Food and Agriculture Code (FAC) Sections 24000-24018.
The program has evolved over the years into today's Equine Medication Monitoring Program (EMMP) implemented by the CDFA. The EMMP monitors horses in public shows, competitions and sales though random sample collection for chemical analysis.
The intent of the EMMP is to ensure the integrity of public horse shows, competitions and sales through the control of performance and disposition enhancing drugs and permitting limited therapeutic use of drugs at horse shows and competitions. To fund EMMP, event managers collect a fee of $5.00 for each horse being entered in a show/competition or being consigned to a sale.
To fund EMMP, event managers collect a fee of $5.00 for each horse being entered in a show/competition or being consigned to a sale.
The EMMP has four components.
- Event Registration and Assessment of Fees; event managers must register their event 30 days before the event
- Random Sample Collection from Horses Entered in Registered Events
- Sample Chemical Analysis at the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California - Davis.
- Investigation of Positive Samples and application of civil penalties for violations.
The EMMP advisory committee represents a broad range of equine disciplines regulated by the EMMP. Each equine industry organization nominates one representative and one alternate to the advisory committee. The advisory committee is responsible for addressing the concerns of the industry related to equine medication and monitoring program. The advisory committee holds a minimum of one public meeting a year to review the EMMP.