I am sure you are aware that all horses have required a passport since February 2005. The current law has been seen by many as lacking teeth but this is expected to change next month.
* You are not probably aware that new legislation will come into force in the UK from the 1st July 2009 requiring all animals that need a passport after that date to be microchipped and the application form must be signed by a vet. If your horse already has a passport the law does not require that they are microchipped.
* Horses will automatically be signed out of the food chain when the passport is issued unless they are registered as foals.
* Livery yard/land owners will be liable to heavy fines if they have horses kept on their premises without passports from 1st July 2009
* Veterinary Surgeons will now be required by law to check a horses' passport before treating it with most medicines
If you have any ho rses, ponies or donkeys that have yet to get a passport we would strongly advise that you apply before 30th June 2009.
