Safeguarding Equine Welfare
A review led by The Horse Trust, on behalf of the equine sector, has found that the Animal Welfare Act 2006 is "significant improvement on previous legislation", but some changes are required "for the Act to be fully effective".
"The Act is a significant improvement on previous legislation and now enables inspectors to be much more proactive when dealing with welfare concerns. On the whole, enforcement of the Act is working well however there are some areas that require amendment or clarification for the Act to be fully effective," states the report titled Post-Legislative Assessment of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 - An equine perspective.
Liane Crowther, The Horse Trust's Welfare and Education Officer and one of the co-authors of the report, said: "This report underlines the value of Animal Welfare Act and how it has helped improve the welfare of horses across the UK. We hope that the government will take note of the recommendations outlined in the report to make it easier to enforce the Act and close any loopholes for offenders."
Various improvements were listed in the report, including stronger powers to deal with non-compliant horse owners, a suggested change in sentencing guidelines, and the need to increase awareness amongst owners, keepers and equine businesses about their responsibilities under the Act.
The Animal Welfare Act introduced more flexibility in sentencing the worst offenders, allowing for higher fines and other penalties. However, the report states that in some cases the use of additional penalties, such as community service, has resulted in shorter deprivation and disqualification orders.
The report called for deprivation and disqualification orders to be prioritised over other penalties as these are of greater use in safeguarding welfare.
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
