A consultation has just been launched asking the horse community for their views about a proposed new voluntary scheme for trading horses. It is hoped the scheme will raise standards of animal health and welfare within the horse industry, and allow people to feel more reassured when buying horses.
There have been concerns for some time about problems associated with the purchase of horses from ‘dealers’ with evidence in the past of animals being given fraudulent identities and others affected with disease which gives the horse trade a bad name.
The Equine Disease Coalition, which was established last year, has formulated The Voluntary Equine Animals Trading Scheme (VEATS), and hopes the Scheme will regularise the horse trade by ensuring the Scheme’s members adopt high animal health and welfare standards on their premises linked to fool-proof identification and good records. This would therefore increase the level of preparedness for a major equine disease outbreak in Great Britain.
The Disease Coalition is now seeking feedback from members of the public about the proposal. Chairman of the Disease Coalition and World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers said: “Before the Voluntary Equine Animals Trading Scheme can be developed further, a consultation is being carried out to obtain the opinions from a number of key organisations within the equine industry. But we feel it is equally important that we also get the views of the wider horse community about our proposals.
“We hope that people who buy and sell horses to the public, together with producers, will appreciate the benefits of the scheme and it will also allow the general public to feel more confident when buying a horse from these sources. We believe that by encouraging horse producers and traders to join the scheme standards of their premises would be raised which can only be a good thing for their reputation.”
There are several proposed conditions associated with the Voluntary Equine Animals Trading Scheme the members would need to adhere to, which include:
• Horses on the registered premises must meet scheme standards at all times and will be subject to independent audit.
• Each member must nominate a veterinary practice that will be involved with the care of the horses on the registered premises.
• All horses on the registered premises must be identified by a passport and microchip.
• Members must either have their own microchip reader or have access to a reader.
• The member may only sell animals in the scheme that are in good health and show no signs of illness.
World Horse Welfare Veterinary Consultant Keith Meldrum who was involved with setting up the Equine Disease Coalition and VEATS said: “This is a very exciting project and we are looking forward to receiving some interesting feedback from both traders and the horse owning public. We believe that the Scheme could make a huge difference to the horse trade in a positive way as it will make it clearer as to who one can trust when buying a horse or pony. It will be proof that the members are reputable as they have to adhere to tough but realistic conditions.”
Members of the public can see more information about the Voluntary Equine Animals Trading Scheme as well details on how to send their responses to the consultation questions on our website at www.worldhorsewelfare.org/contact/veatsconsultation
The Equine Disease Coalition, which is made up of representatives from the Animal Health Trust, British Equine Veterinary Association, Cambridge University, Defra, Horse Trust, RSPCA and World Horse Welfare, plans to work closely with a number of authorities such as Government Departments and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency.