MPs to discuss equine welfare crisis
A debate at Westminster Hall tomorrow (November 26), is set to address the equine welfare crisis in England, as charities and local authorities struggle to cope with hundreds of horses in need of rescue over the past few weeks alone.
It is hoped that MPs will call for tougher laws to deal with the practice of "fly grazing", where horses are deliberately left on land without the land owner's permission.
Welfare charities have reported that of 7,000 horses thought to be at immediate risk of neglect or abandonment, around half are fly grazed.
Commenting on the Welsh government's decision to fast track proposals allowing authorities to deal more effectively with this, World Horse Welfare chief executive Roly Owers said: "Welfare charities believe Westminster should introduce similar laws or the problem will simply continue to move over the border and hundreds of horses will suffer."
According to the RSPCA, after a Welsh authority recently put pressure on fly grazers, hundreds of horses thought to come from the area were moved to locations in Surrey and Hampshire, where they were abandoned.
A recent major operation in Wales also saw the RSPCA, Redwings and Vale of Glamorgan Council remove over 300 hundred horses from a site in Glamorgan. The RSPCA reports that more than 100 had to be euthanised on welfare grounds.
Nic de Brauwere, head of welfare at Redwings, said: "We have seen numerous situations across England and Wales involving abandonment or fly grazing where there are major welfare issues but the authorities have been unable to act because of the complex and inadequate legislation."
For more than a year, numerous charities including World Horse Welfare, Redwings and the Blue Cross, have been warning of an impending "equine crisis" as an estimated 7,000 horses faced neglect and abandonment. The report, Left on the Verge, was updated in summer this year.
Mr Owers added: "This problem will not go away on its own. The law is not fit for purpose and local authorities need the tools and resources to act."
Members of the public are being asked to encourage their MPs to attend the debate and urge the government to take action against fly grazing.
To contact MPs, click here.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
