Here at Brownbread Horse Rescue Charity it has come to our notice that there are some authoritative factions that are telling horse/pony owners that they must get a passport for their pet. We have had several people ringing us in an anxious flurry to know where to get one or even where to get one at less cost. Yes, the cost is considerable and is causing financial concerns for riding schools, livery yards and individual owners. If you join a society that you don’t want to join, say, for a subscription of £17.50 you may get a “free” passport. We must point out that, despite DEFRA helpline assistants saying that it is law, it is NOT yet!
It was to become law by January ’04 but Rural Affairs Minister, Alun Michael admits that this deadline was quite unworkable. The current situation is that the statutory instrument has now been put to both Houses of Parliament awaiting the final parliamentary stage. When it then becomes law the deadline for horse owners to obtain a passport becomes 30th June 2004.
In November DEFRA invited the 75 Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs) plus a few potential issuers to a briefing in London to explain the latest situation. Surprisingly “Horse and Hound” magazine that dispenses much of the information weekly was refused admission to the meeting! There seems to be some covert ulterior motive to the whole shambles of equine passports.
It can only work if the avoidance of fraud is watertight and many details are still controversial. For instance we foresee that some horses and ponies will be simply dumped on the roadside to avoid the red tape and expense. So what do we, as a charity, do when asked to take such an abandoned animal; we wouldn’t be the owners so wouldn’t, surely, be expected to have its passport?! Even if a young foal leaves its home stud for two weeks it will need to have a passport.
Section IX of the passport asks if the horse is intended for human consumption. Naturally most British owners will tick “no”, however this could lead to problems later. Currently most of the 10,000 to 12,000 horses that British abattoirs process go to French and Belgium tables! The owner’s choice of disposals rests principally with the vets’ euthanasic drug. Obviously certain drugs must not be used for entry into the human food chain. If the Government manages to ban hunting equine disposal may increase although many abattoirs may have closed partly due to unacceptable drugs being used for euthanasia. Options of disposal may become limited leading to a reopening of the emotive live export trade. A further repercussion to this debacle is that horses or ponies would no longer be allowed to be quickly buried on private land but owners would have to endure the misery, horror and expense of their pets travelling a long distance to one of a few licensed incinerators. Big Brother DEFRA, with passport records, would be able to levy the full weight of the law on, say, a 13 year old girl who’s pony died and was buried in a corner of its field.
This extension of European law to our island is a direct result of EU membership. There they eat horses so need passports; here we don’t eat horses so don’t need passports as long as they are not exported for human consumption.