World Horse Welfare’s chief executive Roly Owers has welcomed the UK government’s new animal welfare strategy, in particular its measures around the live export of horses from Britain to Europe for slaughter.

“We welcome the government’s animal welfare strategy, and in particular their commitment to explore further measures to prevent live export of horses from Britain to slaughter,” said Roly.

“It is still far too easy for horses to be exported under the guise of riding or breeding but go straight to a meat market, so it’s urgent and vital that we get the right measures in place to put a stop to this.”

Earlier this year, 20 horses — who have been called the ‘Trafficked20’ — were discovered inside a transporter after it was stopped for inspection at Dover port and officials discovered a foal on the floor unable to stand up.

It came 12 months after a group of 26 equines — known as ‘the Dover 26’ — were found crammed on to a transporter in Dover, awaiting export to Europe.

Described as “frightened and vulnerable” young colts, fillies, mares and geldings, many of them had health issues and only 19 of them had the necessary paperwork for the journey. Four were in such poor health they had to be put down. 

Also this year, Your Horse reported on the three-year-old ex-racehorse who suffered a fractured skull and severe wounds after being trampled by other horses in an overloaded lorry bound for slaughter.

“They were the fortunate few, with many of these smuggled horses ending up in slaughterhouses in Europe after enduring unnecessarily long journeys,” said a statement from World Horse Welfare.

Licensing regulations

Roly said the charity also welcomes other aspects of the government’s strategy, including the recognition of the impact of transport on the welfare of animals and the importance of welfare-friendly journey times, as well as the impact of temperatures and space allowances.

“We applaud the Government’s commitment to working with both the horse sector and enforcement bodies to develop appropriate measures,” he said.

“We are pleased to see the Government commit to working with local authorities to improve enforcement of the current licensing regulations for premises where equines are kept, to ensure greater consistency and effectiveness. 

“We are hopeful that improvements in enforcement will be made before the outcome of the proposed consultation on licensing of rescue and rehoming centres and look forward to working with the Government, via the National Equine Welfare Council and British Horse Council, to ensure that any new licensing requirements are both proportionate and enforceable.”

One omission

However, Roly noted that there is one omission in the new animal welfare strategy.

“Given its acknowledgment of the importance of being evidence-led, we urge the Government to update the Code of Practice for the keeping of horses, ponies, donkeys and their hybrids (mules and hinnies) in England, since the current Code was issued in 2013 and last updated in 2017,” he said.

“Updating the code, as is currently being done in Scotland, would enable the welfare of all equines in England to be better protected, supporting the Government’s stated aims of educating animal owners and carers on best practices and promoting innovation in animal care and welfare standards.

“We would be pleased to support Defra and work with the sector to achieve this.”

Main image of the Dover 26 © World Horse Welfare

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