I’ve asked the states of Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma two simple questions about Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). I didn’t use any big words. I used short sentences. I thought I was clear enough.

But the questions are obviously too hard. I can’t get any answers.

The first question: How many horses die of EIA annually in your state?

The second question: What is the criteria your state uses to determine when animals should be slaughtered in order to protect other animals?

I think these are important questions which require answers.

Carla Everett, the public information officer for the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), never provided answers. She faxed 29 pages of information, none of which addressed the questions. Texas, according to TAHC, made their EIA regulations more stringent in 1997 when 750 horses tested positive out of 186,318 tested. That works out to four tenths of one percent. Is that a threat to the Texas horse population? I don’t know because Texas won’t say if any of those horses died, were sick or even showed symptoms of EIA.

If the positive horses were "inapparent carriers"--no symptoms, no sickness, no disease transmission--then the preponderance of scientific evidence indicates they were no danger to other horses. Still, Texas requires ANY horse testing positive be quarantined for life or euthanized.

I sent e-mail to Dr. Carey Floyd and Dr. Rick J. Woodbridge, representatives of the state of Oklahoma. I asked the same questions of them since both are reported to be administrators of the state EIA program. In addition to the questions I e-mailed, I also asked if they would mind answering a questionnaire on my web page.

Apparently they did mind, or they can’t find the "Reply to Author" button on their e-mail tool bar.

When an "advocate for answers" e-mailed the same questions, Dr. Woodbridge’s only response was: "Who is doing the survey? What is the purpose of the survey? Who will see the answers? Are you sending the survey to all 50 states?"

That prompts a new question? Do the answers change depending on who is doing the questioning and who will see the answers?

Of course, in Arizona it should be easy to get answers, right? After all, I’m a taxpaying resident. Jill Davis, information officer for the Arizona Department of Agriculture hasn’t provided answers to my questions. I’ve called repeatedly, but can’t get to talk with Sheldon Jones, director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

I had a nice discussion with Dr. Rick Willer, the Arizona state veterinarian, but he couldn’t answer the questions. He said he’d get the answers and call me back. It’s been five months now and my telephone isn’t ringing.

If EIA is such a tremendous threat that hearty, useful horses must be quarantined for life or euthanized, don’t you think someone, somewhere would have answers to two questions?

I don’t think advocates of the present EIA regulations want to know the answers. I think state agencies want to grow by enforcing stricter regulations, and veterinarians want to prosper by drawing blood for Coggins tests, and laboratories want to keep profits rolling by performing the tests.

If a Coggins test reports an EIA positive horse, so can taking a horse’s temperature. (If the horse has a temperature, he may not have EIA, but he’s got something or suffering some stress. He needs to be examined further, treated and cared for. If he doesn't have a temperature, even if he has a positive Coggins for EIA, he isn’t under stress and he probably isn’t sick.)

A Coggins test only tells you a horse is negative at the time the blood was drawn. Taking the horse’s temperature only tells you the horse wasn’t sick at the time his temperature was taken.

A negative Coggins test allows a horse to be with other horses at shows, public stables, and cross state lines even if he is running a temperature and is contagiously sick with something.

Taking a horse’s temperature says he isn’t sick or under stress now and therefore other horses are not endangered by him.

Instead of killing horses because they want to go to a show or cross state lines, why don’t we just take their temperature?

Oh, darn there’s another question no one is going to want to answer.

But I know the answer to this one. It’s too much trouble; it takes 3 minutes or so, and it kills the profit motive instead of the horse.