Post by missyclare on Sept 25, 2005 22:29:42 GMT -5
I visited a horse forum in the UK today. I learned that every horse owner must apply for a Passport for every horse that they own. The Gov. is making it mandatory. It is said that the horses must be inspected and signed by a vet or similar person designated called an Inspector. It's costing about 10lbs. to register thru the Gov. and 30-40lbs. thru the breed registries, who are probably trying to boost their memberships along the way. I think this has come about because of the BSE tragedy and future safe meat. Since horses are consumed there, they are an issue as well. Here are some points about it that I read about:
- There's a declaration page for the owner to declare whether he ever wants his horse to go to slaughter or not. If he declares "not for slaughter" then it's permanent. Certain drugs have been deemed unsafe for use in animals for consumption. They have listed these drugs and if your horse needs any of these meds, then you have to declare your horse "not" for slaughter, in order to get them. Once you declare your horse "not" then it's permanent, no changing back, no timeline to let meds clear the system.
- If you don't have a passport, you can't show, import, export, sell, or buy a horse or send it to slaughter. The Gov. has their hands on the breeding aspect as well, though it's not clear what.
-All horses will have a number. The Passport stays with them for life, regardless of owner. The horses will be profiled, identified, and will list the current owner always. The Gov. will be able to track this horse with Passport information.
Britain got hit hard with BSE. I think they've looked at the big picture of safe meat and when it came to horses, and passports were born. Nobody is complaining about it or Gov. intervention in general. By the comments on this forum, they are all asking questions in order to comply instead.....nobody's grumbling at all. No use anyway, it's mandatory. All the countries in the European Union are together on this and all have adopted Passports.
I think this is a good visionary approach. I think they've looked at the big picture and embraced it. Ofcourse, there's going to be repercussions from this change, but I have faith that they will iron them out. In the meantime, horses won't so easily be stolen and whisked off to slaughterhouses. Abusers won't be allowed to apply for a passport, so when the horses are taken away, he won't be able to move to a new place and set up shop yet again. People will be made to be more responsible for their horses. They'll think twice before they breed indiscriminately.
I see the road to slaughter as starting in a wide open funnel where horses are sent into for many, many different reasons. The traffic is high. I think that this passport thing is addressing this large volume by making horse owners more responsible for their horses' welfare. The States and their BSE dilemma, are attacking at the narrow end of the funnel by banning horse slaughter altogether. Texas and Manitoba have become the slaughterhouses of their choice instead, making longer, more arduous trips for the horses. Double Decker vans are only banned in some States, not all. Now they have passed a Bill that takes them closer to banning slaughter...they've removed the Inspectors from the plants. How the heck does that help? Now the employees can have free rein in what they do in these buildings. I've found a lot Americans are divided on the issue. Some believe that slaughter shouldn't be banned, because then what are you going to do with all the horses and if banned, then horses will not longer be deemed "livestock" and horse farms will be redesignated as residential to eventually lose the right to have horses on that property, not to mention taxes deductions gone with it.
I think Passports takes a lot of issues bemoaning horses and gathers them all up into a loop that tightens down and slows the traffic into the slaughterhouse, putting the onus on the owner instead. It may not be infallable, but it will slow the traffic into the slaughter funnel down and that's where the problem really needs to be addressed. I have a strong feeling that these passports are coming. Banning horse slaughter is going to be moot point, cause there isn't going to be any horse meat market for anybody to export to, if they don't comply in kind with these new regulations that are happening over in the UK.
I'd like to hear your imput on this issue. But let's not get into a heated discussion about whether slaughter should be banned or not. Let's discuss this new concept of passports and deal with the reality of it all instead. So, what do you think?
- There's a declaration page for the owner to declare whether he ever wants his horse to go to slaughter or not. If he declares "not for slaughter" then it's permanent. Certain drugs have been deemed unsafe for use in animals for consumption. They have listed these drugs and if your horse needs any of these meds, then you have to declare your horse "not" for slaughter, in order to get them. Once you declare your horse "not" then it's permanent, no changing back, no timeline to let meds clear the system.
- If you don't have a passport, you can't show, import, export, sell, or buy a horse or send it to slaughter. The Gov. has their hands on the breeding aspect as well, though it's not clear what.
-All horses will have a number. The Passport stays with them for life, regardless of owner. The horses will be profiled, identified, and will list the current owner always. The Gov. will be able to track this horse with Passport information.
Britain got hit hard with BSE. I think they've looked at the big picture of safe meat and when it came to horses, and passports were born. Nobody is complaining about it or Gov. intervention in general. By the comments on this forum, they are all asking questions in order to comply instead.....nobody's grumbling at all. No use anyway, it's mandatory. All the countries in the European Union are together on this and all have adopted Passports.
I think this is a good visionary approach. I think they've looked at the big picture and embraced it. Ofcourse, there's going to be repercussions from this change, but I have faith that they will iron them out. In the meantime, horses won't so easily be stolen and whisked off to slaughterhouses. Abusers won't be allowed to apply for a passport, so when the horses are taken away, he won't be able to move to a new place and set up shop yet again. People will be made to be more responsible for their horses. They'll think twice before they breed indiscriminately.
I see the road to slaughter as starting in a wide open funnel where horses are sent into for many, many different reasons. The traffic is high. I think that this passport thing is addressing this large volume by making horse owners more responsible for their horses' welfare. The States and their BSE dilemma, are attacking at the narrow end of the funnel by banning horse slaughter altogether. Texas and Manitoba have become the slaughterhouses of their choice instead, making longer, more arduous trips for the horses. Double Decker vans are only banned in some States, not all. Now they have passed a Bill that takes them closer to banning slaughter...they've removed the Inspectors from the plants. How the heck does that help? Now the employees can have free rein in what they do in these buildings. I've found a lot Americans are divided on the issue. Some believe that slaughter shouldn't be banned, because then what are you going to do with all the horses and if banned, then horses will not longer be deemed "livestock" and horse farms will be redesignated as residential to eventually lose the right to have horses on that property, not to mention taxes deductions gone with it.
I think Passports takes a lot of issues bemoaning horses and gathers them all up into a loop that tightens down and slows the traffic into the slaughterhouse, putting the onus on the owner instead. It may not be infallable, but it will slow the traffic into the slaughter funnel down and that's where the problem really needs to be addressed. I have a strong feeling that these passports are coming. Banning horse slaughter is going to be moot point, cause there isn't going to be any horse meat market for anybody to export to, if they don't comply in kind with these new regulations that are happening over in the UK.
I'd like to hear your imput on this issue. But let's not get into a heated discussion about whether slaughter should be banned or not. Let's discuss this new concept of passports and deal with the reality of it all instead. So, what do you think?