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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory microchipping for all (a) horses, (b) ponies and (c) donkeys.

The Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018 brought in a mandatory requirement from October 2020 for all horses, ponies and donkeys to be microchipped, including those born prior to 30^th June 2009, which were not required under previous legislation. The one exception to this regulation is a derogation for qualifying wild and semi-wild equines that do not leave the designated areas of Dartmoor, Exmoor, the New Forest and Wicken Fen. There is equivalent legislation in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.