Passports and Microchipping
Equine Passports
It is legally required that all equines in the UK must have their own passport. This law came into place in 2009 due to a change in the category of the equine species from a domestic animal (like a dog or cat) to a food producing animal.
The passport is a document that describes the animal by breed, colour and species, lists all vaccinations and names the registered owner.
The reason for every equine to have a passport is to enable the enforcement of medicines recording to safeguard our food. Any medicine given to a food-producing animal must be recorded in this document and drug withdrawal times complied. Many of the medicines available for use on horses or ponies are not safe for humans, so you can opt out of ever allowing your equine to be used as a food producing animal.
Section IX is present in all passports since June 1, 2009, and this section means the passport is legally compliant. The owner or keeper of the horse must make a declaration within this section stating the intent of whether the horse is or is not intended for slaughter for human consumption. Any horse having been issued a passport as an adult, or as a replacement will automatically be excluded from entering the food chain.
For more information on horse passports or to apply for one visit: https://www.gov.uk/horse-passport
Equine Microchips
Since October 2020, it is a legal requirement for every equine to be permanently identified with a microchip with the aim to prevent abuse and improve equine welfare. This means any horse passport issued prior to 1st June 2009 that has not already been microchipped will need to have a new microchip implanted and registered.
Owners are legally required to make sure that their animals’ details are up-to-date on the Central Equine Database (CED). This can be accessed online via the Digital Stable and holds information on all horses in England (as well as other parts of the UK) so owners can be reunited if their animal were to ever go missing.
Information from the UK Government is available here:
We offer a microchipping service - give us a call with any questions or to book in on 01782 510502.
