P-04-333 Stop neglect and abandonment of horses and ponies by enforcement of microchipping laws– Petitioner to Committee, 10.09.15

Dear Kayleigh,

Many thanks for your email of 3rd Sept with the Summary Response of the Consultation on Fly Grazing and Abandonment of Horses and Ponies.

I understand our existing Petition P-04-333 calling for the Enforcement of Micro chipping laws is to be further discussed at the Petitions Committee on 22nd Sept.

I would be obliged if you would pass the following to the Petitions Committee.

To The Petitions Committee

It was very good news that the Welsh Government introduced The Control of Horses Act Wales - Wales led the way and eventually Westminster followed. However the Act does not go far enough in that local authorities are not obliged to use it and so often Charities are called upon to deal with the issue of an abandoned equine.

Since this petition was first raised The National Equine Database (NED) has been closed down by DEFRA and there is no way of tracing equines.  The fact that there are approximately 75 Passport issuing agencies and no central Database does not help and makes tracing a horse's owner virtually impossible.

There is still seems to be no enforcement of the Micro-chipping laws when an owner can be traced!

There needs to be mandatory passports and micro-chips for all equines including those born before July 2009 and which is overseen by one competent authority with more stringent checks on passports requiring the sale of an equine to be notified to the Passport Issuing body (as with Motor vehicles to DVLA)  Not only would this make tracing equines more efficient but essential in the event of a disease outbreak.

As a charity we have come across some microchips that have been impossible to trace as the number does not exist therefore with any new legislation it needs to include that only vets are able to microchip an equine.

 Often the cost of microchipping an equine and obtaining the passport far outweighs the monetary value of the animal, sadly some foals are being sold for as little as £5.

The Registration of Stallions would in effect protect Native breeds on Commons and reduce indiscriminate breeding by irresponsible individuals producing unwanted poor quality equines (many inter-bred) of no or little monetary value and causing massive welfare issues.

 I believe that the UK Government is working towards forming a new Central Database with one single Passport issuing authority with the suggestion that there should be a central Database in every European country. This would appear to be the way forward and  I would urge the Welsh Government to support this.

We have made great strides for equine welfare in Wales but there is still a long way to go and I thank the Petitions Committee for their continued interest. 

Yours most sincerely,

Sian Lloyd

Trustee

SWHP