Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on prohibiting the practice of tethering horses by (a) roadsides and (b) on (i) common and (ii) waste grounds.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), it is an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare. The 2006 Act is backed up by the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids which provides owners with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their equines.

As stated in the code, tethering is not a suitable method of long-term management of an animal. It should only be used as a short-term method. People who do not tether their horses appropriately risk causing their animals distress and suffering.

Local authorities have powers under the 2006 Act to act to intervene where an animal is suspected to be suffering on any land, public or private.