Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2021 to Question 43684 on Horses: Animal Breeding, and with reference to the Government Response to the e-petition entitled Introduce national limits on horse breeding, published on 4 August 2021, how many times in the last 12 months his Department has been in contact with (a) World Horse Welfare and (b) the British Horse Council; which other (i) equine stakeholders and (ii) rescue and rehoming bodies his Department has been in contact with; and what recent assessment the Minister has made of the health of the sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to engage closely with key stakeholders in the equine sector about a range of equine welfare issues. My department currently meets on a fortnightly basis with equine stakeholders including the British Horse Society, the British Equine Veterinary Association and World Horse Welfare.
The sector keep us regularly updated of the current health of the sector, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to rescue and rehoming rates, and information on cruelty investigations. In order to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, we held monthly meetings with the National Equine Welfare Council during winter 2020/21 and increased our engagement with other equine stakeholders.
Defra remains committed to continued engagement with the sector.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2021 to Question 43683 on Horses: Animal Breeding, and with reference to the Government Response to the e-petition entitled Introduce national limits on horse breeding, published on 4 August 2021, which key stakeholders in the equine sector the Government has engaged with; and on which dates it has engaged with each of those stakeholders in the last 12 months.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to engage closely with key stakeholders in the equine sector about a range of equine welfare issues. My department currently meets on a fortnightly basis with equine stakeholders including the British Horse Society, the British Equine Veterinary Association and World Horse Welfare.
The sector keep us regularly updated of the current health of the sector, sharing their surveys particularly with respect to rescue and rehoming rates, and information on cruelty investigations. In order to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector, we held monthly meetings with the National Equine Welfare Council during winter 2020/21 and increased our engagement with other equine stakeholders.
Defra remains committed to continued engagement with the sector.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government Response to the e-petition entitled Introduce national limits on horse breeding, published on 4 August 2021, what steps his Department is taking to monitoring the numbers of foals being born; when that monitoring commenced; for which breeds that monitoring is being conducted; and if his Department will publish those data from that monitoring.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
To promote responsible ownership, there is clear guidance available to educate and remind horse owners of their responsibilities to provide for the welfare needs of their animal. The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids makes clear that you should consider buying or rehoming a youngster before taking the decision to breed. The foal’s individual future must also be considered before breeding from your equine, and the code highlights the UK’s overpopulation problem at the time of publication. The Code can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/700200/horses-welfare-codes-of-practice-april2018.pdf
Further information on responsible breeding is available to the public, including World Horse Welfare’s “Need to Breed” initiative which can be found here: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/advice/management/do-you-need-to-breed.
The Government considers that key the issue at stake here is how well equines are cared for after they have been born, and existing protections address this. We continue to engage closely with key stakeholders in the equine sector about these issues. The Government currently has no plans to monitor more closely the number of foals being born.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government Response to the e-petition entitled Introduce national limits on horse breeding, published on 4 August 2021, what estimate his Department has made of the number of equine sanctuaries and rescue centres that are operating in Great Britain; how many and what proportion of those centres his Department has been in communication with; how often his Department has communicated with them in the last three years; and when that communication began and what form it took.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to have close engagement with the equine sector to support our positive action to protect and improve the welfare of animals.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had regular contact with equine stakeholders such as World Horse Welfare and the British Horse Council to assess the health of the sector.
A group of animal welfare charities released a report titled “Britain’s Horse Problem” in December 2020 which raised a number of issues including overbreeding. Recommendations from the report include the need for responsible ownership of equines as well as the enhanced promotion of the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids. We continue to engage with the sector on the issues presented in the report. The Code of Practice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-horses-ponies-donkeys-and-their-hybrids
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare demonstrates our commitment to a brighter future for animals both at home and abroad. Our reform programme includes pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries and rescue and rehoming centres including for horses. This mirrors a recommendation from “Britain’s Horse Problem”. Defra has been engaging with rescue and rehoming organisations to understand their views and the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.