From this date it will be mandatory in England for all
equine owners to microchip their animals. The Central
Equine Database will mean local authorities and the
police can track down owners who abandon their horses,
donkeys and ponies, helping to improve animal welfare
standards, while also helping prevent horse theft.
Compulsory microchipping will also mean lost or stolen
horses can be reunited with their owners more easily.
In 2019, the RSPCA received more than 21,000 reports to
its cruelty hotline and took 875 horses into care.
Around 70% of these were not microchipped, making it
difficult for the organisation to trace owners and to
hold anyone responsible for the cruelty the animals had
faced.
Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss said:
As we have seen with cats and dogs, mandatory
microchipping is a hugely important step forward in
the speedy identification of abandoned or stolen
animals.
Microchipping will not only help the police and local
authorities, but also support the UK’s efforts to
improve traceability and ensure we have better
control over any disease outbreaks. This new
legislation will also ensure that irresponsible
owners are rightly held accountable for any low
standards of welfare.
RSPCA equine expert Dr Mark Kennedy said:
We’re delighted that it will soon be compulsory for
horses of all ages in England to be microchipped,
linking each horse directly to an owner. We believe
this will go some way towards helping to identify
irresponsible owners who abandon or neglect their
horses; as well as helping to reunite owners with
missing or stolen equines.
All too frequently our officers encounter abandoned
and neglected horses who are often sick, dying or
even dead. Equine welfare charities collectively
estimate there are 7,000 horses at risk of poor
welfare in England and Wales alone and, with the
economic fallout of Covid-19, we’re extremely
concerned that many more will fall into situations of
neglect, abandonment and suffering this winter.
Owners are legally required to make sure that their
animals’ details are up-to-date on the Central Equine
Database. This can be accessed online via the Digital Stable and
holds information on all horses in England (as well as
other parts of the UK) so owners can be reunited if
their animal were to ever go missing.
If equine owners do not microchip their animals by
October 2020 they could face sanctions from their local
authority including a fine.
