At the inaugural Animal Welfare Conference organised by the Department of Agriculture last week, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney warned there will be a significant increase in prosecutions of horse owners who fail to have their animals microchipped.

The Minister announced that he has signed into law new regulations concerning the identification and change of ownership of horses. These new regulations come into effect immediately and will strengthen the powers of the Minister and officials to seize and detain horses of owner who fail to comply.

“Current legislation provides that all equine animals must be identified and those equines identified after 1 July 2009 must be issued with a passport and must have a corresponding microchip,” the Minister said.

“Any person in possession of an equine is legally responsible to ensure the correct identification of that animal. All those involved with equines should be aware of their responsibilities and must abide by the law,” he said.

Change of Ownership

Minister Coveney has also signed new regulations relating to the notification of the transfer of ownership of horses which will come into effect on 1 July. Under these regulations, a person transferring the ownership of an equine to another person will be required to make a declaration in writing that he has transferred ownership of the equine to the new owner.

Commenting on the new regulations, the Minister said that his Department has overseen much work in the tightening of controls on the identification and traceability of horses in the last four years. The new regulations complement legislation on the registration of horse premises which was introduced in 2012. A central equine database was developed in 2013 to record all equine animal registration details on the Department’s Animal Identification and Movement (AIM) system.

Stallion Castration

In a welcome move, the Minister confirmed that his Department will also offer assistance to welfare organisations who introduce initiatives that will facilitate the microchipping, issuing of passports and castration of stallions at a reduced price to owners.

Groups protesting outside the conference said they are concerned that the act ignores many of the issues related to animal cruelty in Ireland, such as the use of animals in circuses, hare coursing, fox hunting, fur farming and puppy farms. The protesters also called for an end to live animal exports from Ireland.

Minister Coveney said the new legislation would lead to prosecutions of those who abuse animals, and would also regulate coursing and hunting. However, he said outright bans on hunting were not on the agenda.