Cuts to the animal inspection program at the Michigan Department of Agriculture are not expected to have a big impact on animals or horse stables on Mackinac Island. State veterinarians will continue to visit Mackinac Island to investigate complaints or outbreaks of illness following the August 1 state budget cuts, but the agency will no longer routinely send veterinarians and inspectors to enforce requirements for animal care, food storage, security, cleanliness, and rodent management in animal care operations. The program inspected conditions at Mackinac Island riding stables, and offered aid to carriage operations, but did not inspect livery establishments.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture ceased operation of its riding stables inspection program after August 1. The program enforced laws created in 1974. Also cut was the states pet shop program, which enforced animal care laws and responded to citizen complaints.

Mackinac Island veterinarian Al Sibinic said he doesn't believe state program cuts will affect business here, in part because most facilities don't fall under their legal jurisdiction.

"I don't expect a whole lot of impact, truthfully," he said. Now the department will only come when absolutely needed.

"If we had a big outbreak of equine encephalitis, they'd be here," he said. "That's their job. They'd do a containment or a quarantine. That's the kind of stuff that the Agriculture Department is primarily involved in... but I don't expect a great impact here."

Steve Halstead, veterinarian for the Michigan Department of Agriculture, said the state simply doesn't have enough money to continue all of its programs.

"What we've had to do is, as we look at the state budget and our appropriations for the coming fiscal year -- not that it's settled yet, but just the range that it's likely to fall into -- and then comparing that to the long list of things that we have either legal responsibilities for, or ongoing programs, or the work that we've been doing and mean to continue to do, we run out of money against that list somewhere before we get to the end of it," he said. "So then we come back and look at what are the priorities and, of course, public health and food safety are at the top of the priority list, so anything that has to do with health or public safety is where we would focus more of our limited resources. Ö What it comes down to is we don't have enough money to continue the pet shop and riding stables licensing and inspection program."

Mackinac Island has two riding stables, both in operation for decades.

The program never legally encompassed carriage companies, only riding stables, but, according to Dr. Halstead, state veterinarians visited the carriage companies informally to help with any questions they might have and share tips and advice.

"We have had a great relationship with the carriage operators on the Island over the years," Dr. Halstead said. "Now, of course, it's interesting because we've never licensed or regulated the carriage industry, it's only been riding stables. So [we] haven't had a licensorlicensee relationship with the carriage operators on the Island, but yet, because of the profile that Mackinac Island has and the very important role that it plays in Michigan as a primary tourist attraction, and just because of the history over the years where there has been, I think, criticism, in some cases, and, in most cases, unwarranted or I think invalidated criticism of the operations, we've had a good relationship. We've established that good relationship with the carriage operations just to help make sure that we're not overlooking something, or to provide some guidance or system of assurance that the things that are being proposed, are being done, are consistent with normal practices."

"I think it's been very productive," he added. "I think it has helped to alleviate some of the unfair criticism that's come along over the years, and it's helped us to strengthen that relationship with the folks on the Island, and it's been positive for everybody."

In spite of the program cuts, Dr. Halstead said complaints can still be registered. The same anti-cruelty and animal welfare protections under the Michigan penal code apply, as did during the program, he said, and concerned citizens should notify their local law enforcement office or animal control office. Dr. Halstead added that several counties have established their own licensing requirements that new pet shop and riding stable businesses would have to comply with.

The majority of the complaints the Agriculture Department received regarding Mackinac Island were of carriage operations by visitors, Dr. Halstead said. They claimed that horses looked overworked or ill. The department would look into these concerns but only had legal power in complaints of riding stables. Dr. Halstead supposed the department may have seen more concerns about carriage operations because they are more visible to tourists.

All in all, however, the department has received very few complaints from Mackinac Island in the last few years and none at all this summer.

"In recent years we haven't had too many," he said. "There have been times in the past where it seems that there's a surge or maybe a campaign to try to generate more attention, but I haven't seen that in the last several years, and I will attribute some of that decrease to the responsiveness that we've seen, primarily, from the carriage operations. Ö Again, that's what concerns us. It concerns the operators on the Island, because I've spoken with a few of them and they're saying, 'we're not real happy about this because we think it's been a fruitful relationship and we don't want to see any loss of the benefits of that.' They've appreciated what's offered to them."

Dr. Halstead said he is hopeful that either the department will be able to continue its visits in some capacity when the state's budget improves, or that these cuts now will help the department to evaluate which programs are necessary and which are not.

"The responsibility for enforcing the anti-cruelty statutes in the state really is primarily that of local law enforcement and animal control, so it's really not a change in the legal responsibility, it's differences that we're not going to be as involved and so we won't be able to operate as a middle man, so to speak, as much as we have in the past," he said. "So, I'm optimistic. I'll remain optimistic and hope that we can get back into that business as the state's economy recovers and unemployment goes down and things start to pick back up again, and we can come back to this, or [maybe] we can assert that the adaptations we had to make this year are doing the job, and it's an efficiency for the state, and all things are still being covered and costs are reduced and it's a better way to go. That could be. We could stumble into an improvement out of necessity here."