Pat Deering
Question:545. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress being made on the amnesty for unregistered horses. [50461/13]
View answerTuesday, 26 November 2013
Questions (545)
Written answers
Since 1 July 2009 it is a legal requirement for each equine to be microchipped and to have a passport issued from an approved studbook or horse passport agency, with the details relating to the animal recorded on a database maintained by the passport issuing body. Horses can be slaughtered for human consumption subject to a number of conditions, including that they have been registered within six months of birth or by 31 December of the year of birth whichever is the later, have not been treated with any prohibited veterinary medicines and are accompanied to the slaughterhouse by the horse passport. Horses not identified within the prescribed period are ineligible for slaughter for human consumption.
It is not open to me to provide an amnesty to horse owners in respect of the foregoing legislative provisions. It is the responsibility of horse owners to ensure the horses in their ownership and/or their care are correctly identified, that the welfare of their horses is not compromised and to dispose of them appropriately. In this context, horse owners are reminded of the advice of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council that, where an owner can no longer adequately provide for their horse or where the horse can no longer fulfil the purpose for which is was bred, he or she should be proactive in seeking to dispose of the animal, in a humane way.
My Department is monitoring the horse welfare situation on farms and I have indicated that emergency funding will be provided to assist horse owners who cannot afford to pay for their humane disposal. Farmers who are facing a critical horse welfare issue over coming months can contact the Department helpline for assistance.