The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) will explore ways it can help counties expedite how they carry out equine cruelty investigations.

Rusty Ford, equine programs manager for the KDA, said members of the Kentucky Equine Welfare Council voted to study possible law changes to facilitate the way the department works with local authorities on equine welfare cases during a July 19 meeting.

“As a regulatory agency we’re looking at ways we can do our jobs more efficiently and in a timely manner,” Ford said.

Ford said any changes resulting from the study would be passed on to the state’s legislature for its consideration. Exactly when that might be remains uncertain, he said