Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
News & Reports national equine forum
Taking up the reins on equine issues Gill Harris reports from this year’s National Equine Forum, where one of the main themes was the horse industry and government. The forum, held in London on March 5, was attended by more than 200 people with a connection to the equestrian industry. Lord de Mauley, parliamentary undersecretary of state for natural environment and science at Defra, set the course of the proceedings THE protection of animal health was one of Defra’s top priorities, Lord de Mauley told the forum. Defra, he said, worked hard to prepare for notifiable disease outbreaks, monitor global outbreaks and assess the risk to the UK. Although the risk of an outbreak was currently low, it was a constant risk, so vigilance and prompt reporting by animal keepers and vets was vital. Monitoring, good farming practice and appropriate biosecurity measures were essential in reducing the risk of outbreaks in the first place. ‘We depend on working closely with you and we pay attention to your invaluable experience and knowledge,’ he said. ‘We listened to your concerns about proposals to remove the notifiable status of two exotic horse diseases – contagious equine metritis and equine viral arteritis – as part of the Red Tape Challenge, and we decided not to proceed. We will continue to improve our control approach for both diseases with you.’ Lord de Mauley also credited the forum with highlighting problems surrounding equine identification and an equine database. He said that the new requirement for
Lord de Mauley: a robust regulatory framework is important, but to be effective, everyone must meet their responsibilities
European member states to operate a central equine database was the result of Defra’s push for a strengthened, fit-for-purpose equine identification regime throughout Europe. ‘We have welcomed input and
Accidents happen In accidents involving horses, unless there is human injury that requires hospital treatment directly from the scene of the accident, there is no guarantee that the incident will be recorded in police (or any other) statistics. Pointing out that, if no-one knows about accidents involving horses, nothing can be done, Lynn Petersen, chief executive of the British Horse Society (BHS), explained that, for this reason,the BHS had launched www.horseaccidents.org.uk in November 2010. This aimed to gather ‘the evidence and statistics needed to effect changes in legislation, policy and behaviour’. She said that the number and type of incidents reported to the BHS in the first two months of 2015 included 44 road accidents, 25 dog attacks, five accidents involving bicycles, seven as a result of aircraft, five on slippery roads and one involving a gate. She encouraged anybody involved in an accident or a near miss involving horses to report their 348 | Veterinary Record | April 4, 2015
experiences using the form provided on the BHS website. Data were collected on a variety of incidents, ranging from road traffic accidents to those caused by Chinese lanterns and incidents involving fireworks and bird scarers. Incident locations were plotted on a map and reported (in an anonymised format) to the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Transport, the police, or other organisations, as appropriate. Where clusters of incidents were identified or common themes emerged, the data were used for lobbying to effect change. She reported that success stories resulting from the findings included reductions in speed limits in some areas, and the development of collaborative education programmes with cycling organisations, bus companies and companies that employ delivery drivers. She also noted that data collected through the website had been instrumental in shaping some of the amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act that came into force during 2014.
challenge from across the sector and learned lessons from the former database,’ he said, confirming that development of the new database would begin towards the end of the year. The new database is intended to prevent ineligible horses entering the food chain. Saying that, although he was aware of strong views as to what the database should do, Lord de Mauley made it clear that government would only deliver a database to meet the statutory requirements, and that any further functions the sector wanted would be for the sector to provide. Extras, he said, could be added where there was a clear need – for example, to assist local authorities in enforcing regulations. ‘Our focus now is to work with devolved authorities, enforcement authorities, passport issuing organisations, horse owners and vets to get the new system working well. A robust regulatory framework is important – but to be effective we need people to meet their responsibilities.’ He cited the revised Tripartite Agreement as one example of successful government and industry cooperation. The agreement allows racing and competition horses with a demonstrably high health status attending Fédération Equestre Internationale events to travel between the UK and France without first being inspected and a health certificate having to be applied for. The agreement, he said, included the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for the first time, preserved existing arrangements with the Republic of Ireland, and assisted in action against horse traders who ignored animal welfare requirements. The view from Defra, he said, was that the strong and practical relationship shared with the horse world was something to be proud of. The forum included a panel discussion session involving Robert Huey, Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland; Tim Morris, a member of the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England; Jo Price, a member of the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group; and Sheila Voas, Chief Veterinary Officer for Scotland. The session was chaired by Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare. Answering a question about fulfilment of the equine database, Professor Morris said that add-ons were planned, which involved
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
News & Reports profession’s role would be to check passports to demonstrate to owners how important they were. Also, for the system to work effectively, passport issuing offices had to deliver on their responsibilities.
Manifesto for the horse
Also highlighted at the forum was the ‘Equine Sector 2015 General Election Manifesto for the Horse’. Produced by the Equine Sector Council Steering Group and the British Horse Industry Confederation, the manifesto calls on all political parties to explain how they would address the following three key areas:
A full house for the panel debate at the National Equine Forum
working with the British Equine Veterinary Association, local authorities and others. Mr Huey described the situation in Northern Ireland, noting that the Republic of Ireland already had a database, which meant that Northern Ireland’s database had to be compatible with this; it also had to be able to ‘talk to’ 27 other databases in the EU.
Mrs Voas said owners needed to see the benefits of having an effective equine identification system. Unless they saw benefits, compliance was likely to be much lower. The panel members felt that a ‘carrot and stick’ approach should be adopted but that best practice should be everyone’s responsibility. The veterinary
n Improving equine health and welfare – enhancing protection from disease, maintaining a suitable armoury of medicines, and improving the ability to deal with welfare abuses. n More successful British trade – maximising the significant potential of all aspects of the equine industry, including increasing the benefit it brings to the UK economy. n Increasing participation in horse sports, making riding easier and safer to take up and inspiring future medal winners. doi: 10.1136/vr.h1714
April 4, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 349
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Taking up the reins on equine issues
Veterinary Record 2015 176: 348-349
doi: 10.1136/vr.h1714 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/14/348
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
News & Reports national equine forum
Taking up the reins on equine issues Gill Harris reports from this year’s National Equine Forum, where one of the main themes was the horse industry and government. The forum, held in London on March 5, was attended by more than 200 people with a connection to the equestrian industry. Lord de Mauley, parliamentary undersecretary of state for natural environment and science at Defra, set the course of the proceedings THE protection of animal health was one of Defra’s top priorities, Lord de Mauley told the forum. Defra, he said, worked hard to prepare for notifiable disease outbreaks, monitor global outbreaks and assess the risk to the UK. Although the risk of an outbreak was currently low, it was a constant risk, so vigilance and prompt reporting by animal keepers and vets was vital. Monitoring, good farming practice and appropriate biosecurity measures were essential in reducing the risk of outbreaks in the first place. ‘We depend on working closely with you and we pay attention to your invaluable experience and knowledge,’ he said. ‘We listened to your concerns about proposals to remove the notifiable status of two exotic horse diseases – contagious equine metritis and equine viral arteritis – as part of the Red Tape Challenge, and we decided not to proceed. We will continue to improve our control approach for both diseases with you.’ Lord de Mauley also credited the forum with highlighting problems surrounding equine identification and an equine database. He said that the new requirement for
Lord de Mauley: a robust regulatory framework is important, but to be effective, everyone must meet their responsibilities
European member states to operate a central equine database was the result of Defra’s push for a strengthened, fit-for-purpose equine identification regime throughout Europe. ‘We have welcomed input and
Accidents happen In accidents involving horses, unless there is human injury that requires hospital treatment directly from the scene of the accident, there is no guarantee that the incident will be recorded in police (or any other) statistics. Pointing out that, if no-one knows about accidents involving horses, nothing can be done, Lynn Petersen, chief executive of the British Horse Society (BHS), explained that, for this reason,the BHS had launched www.horseaccidents.org.uk in November 2010. This aimed to gather ‘the evidence and statistics needed to effect changes in legislation, policy and behaviour’. She said that the number and type of incidents reported to the BHS in the first two months of 2015 included 44 road accidents, 25 dog attacks, five accidents involving bicycles, seven as a result of aircraft, five on slippery roads and one involving a gate. She encouraged anybody involved in an accident or a near miss involving horses to report their 348 | Veterinary Record | April 4, 2015
experiences using the form provided on the BHS website. Data were collected on a variety of incidents, ranging from road traffic accidents to those caused by Chinese lanterns and incidents involving fireworks and bird scarers. Incident locations were plotted on a map and reported (in an anonymised format) to the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Transport, the police, or other organisations, as appropriate. Where clusters of incidents were identified or common themes emerged, the data were used for lobbying to effect change. She reported that success stories resulting from the findings included reductions in speed limits in some areas, and the development of collaborative education programmes with cycling organisations, bus companies and companies that employ delivery drivers. She also noted that data collected through the website had been instrumental in shaping some of the amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act that came into force during 2014.
challenge from across the sector and learned lessons from the former database,’ he said, confirming that development of the new database would begin towards the end of the year. The new database is intended to prevent ineligible horses entering the food chain. Saying that, although he was aware of strong views as to what the database should do, Lord de Mauley made it clear that government would only deliver a database to meet the statutory requirements, and that any further functions the sector wanted would be for the sector to provide. Extras, he said, could be added where there was a clear need – for example, to assist local authorities in enforcing regulations. ‘Our focus now is to work with devolved authorities, enforcement authorities, passport issuing organisations, horse owners and vets to get the new system working well. A robust regulatory framework is important – but to be effective we need people to meet their responsibilities.’ He cited the revised Tripartite Agreement as one example of successful government and industry cooperation. The agreement allows racing and competition horses with a demonstrably high health status attending Fédération Equestre Internationale events to travel between the UK and France without first being inspected and a health certificate having to be applied for. The agreement, he said, included the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man for the first time, preserved existing arrangements with the Republic of Ireland, and assisted in action against horse traders who ignored animal welfare requirements. The view from Defra, he said, was that the strong and practical relationship shared with the horse world was something to be proud of. The forum included a panel discussion session involving Robert Huey, Chief Veterinary Officer for Northern Ireland; Tim Morris, a member of the Animal Health and Welfare Board for England; Jo Price, a member of the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group; and Sheila Voas, Chief Veterinary Officer for Scotland. The session was chaired by Roly Owers, chief executive of World Horse Welfare. Answering a question about fulfilment of the equine database, Professor Morris said that add-ons were planned, which involved
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
News & Reports profession’s role would be to check passports to demonstrate to owners how important they were. Also, for the system to work effectively, passport issuing offices had to deliver on their responsibilities.
Manifesto for the horse
Also highlighted at the forum was the ‘Equine Sector 2015 General Election Manifesto for the Horse’. Produced by the Equine Sector Council Steering Group and the British Horse Industry Confederation, the manifesto calls on all political parties to explain how they would address the following three key areas:
A full house for the panel debate at the National Equine Forum
working with the British Equine Veterinary Association, local authorities and others. Mr Huey described the situation in Northern Ireland, noting that the Republic of Ireland already had a database, which meant that Northern Ireland’s database had to be compatible with this; it also had to be able to ‘talk to’ 27 other databases in the EU.
Mrs Voas said owners needed to see the benefits of having an effective equine identification system. Unless they saw benefits, compliance was likely to be much lower. The panel members felt that a ‘carrot and stick’ approach should be adopted but that best practice should be everyone’s responsibility. The veterinary
n Improving equine health and welfare – enhancing protection from disease, maintaining a suitable armoury of medicines, and improving the ability to deal with welfare abuses. n More successful British trade – maximising the significant potential of all aspects of the equine industry, including increasing the benefit it brings to the UK economy. n Increasing participation in horse sports, making riding easier and safer to take up and inspiring future medal winners. doi: 10.1136/vr.h1714
April 4, 2015 | Veterinary Record | 349
Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on September 6, 2015 - Published by group.bmj.com
Taking up the reins on equine issues
Veterinary Record 2015 176: 348-349
doi: 10.1136/vr.h1714 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/176/14/348
These include:
Email alerting service
Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article. Sign up in the box at the top right corner of the online article.
Notes
To request permissions go to: http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions To order reprints go to: http://journals.bmj.com/cgi/reprintform To subscribe to BMJ go to: http://group.bmj.com/subscribe/
