For many months now H&C has been reporting on the horse crisis in the UK – but things may be much worse than feared, according to new research from the World Horse Welfare.
Vulnerable
The charity estimates around 40,000 foals are born each year – thousands of which are unrecorded and therefore ‘invisible’.
EU legislation states all equines must have a valid passport and microchip by the time they are six months old, or by 31December in the year they are born. However, World Horse Welfare believes thousands of foals are not registered with a passport issuing organisation (PIO). It is these horses who are most vulnerable to neglect.
Invisible horses
“They are invisible to the system, and cannot be linked to anyone responsible for their care,” said Roly Owers World Horse Welfare chief executive.
“In addition no vet can administer a medicinal product to a horse or pony unless it has a passport so this adds to the problems that these animals may face if they become ill.”
As part of its 2016 campaign to raise awareness of these invisible horses, World Horse Welfare contacted 66 equine passport issuing organisations (PIO’s) in the UK, requesting data on the number of foals recorded in 2014.
High risk
While only 38 responded the charity estimated a total of around 25,000 new foals were recorded in 2014. However, based on the total equine population the real number is likely to be as high as 40,000. This means around 15,000 invisible horses born each year.
“This may be a crude estimation, but is based on evidence from both World Horse Welfare and a number of other charities and organisations,” said Roly. “This failure to apply for a passport in time is not only contrary to current EU regulations but it puts these animals at a much higher risk because they are effectively invisible and not on anyone’s radar.”
Failed system
It begs the question, why are people not registering their foals? Is it down to irresponsible owners, or a passport system that simply isn’t working?
The fact that 28 PIOs didn’t even respond to the World Horse Welfare’s request for information suggests it could be the latter.
What do you think? Why are so many foals slipping through the net year, and what can be done to prevent indiscriminate breeding?