Feeling slightly taken aback - is this in UK too?

Chico Mio

Chico Mio

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Went to finalise the paperwork for my two this morning, down at the local Ministry Vets office. Very thorough but charming ladies went through the passports stamping and signing and assigning official numbers etc.

Suddenly the conversation took a turn for the surreal. I was asked if the horses would ever be eaten by humans!!!!! At first I hoped my Spanish had let me down, but no, that was definitely what she said. I must have looked a bit bemused as her colleague came over and repeated the question very slowly and clearly. With the example, If your horse broke it's leg tomorrow would you sell the meat for human consumption?!!! I said I really understood what they were saying and NO, they weren't for human consumption EVER!

It turns out you have to sign a particular page in the passport saying you promise you won't give your horse certain drugs if it is going for human consumption or you sign a different page if you don't promise. I know there are horses around here bred specifically for the meat trade but it was still vaguely unsettling. Do you lot have to sign anything like that in the UK?
 
Yes. But the whole passport system is a farce anyway. If someone nicks a horse they can get a new passport at the sales ring. They are hardly going to sign that its had drugs previously. No protection to the human food chain at all.
 
Yes, it's an option we have to consider and either accept or decline. It might seem a callous thing to agree to, but it has implications which must be looked at carefully because once an animal is declared as NOT for human consumption, this cannot be overturned. I think I have this correct.
 
Ah OK, obviously an EU thing then! Doesn't figure on my old Andalucian paperwork - but then neither did vaccinations! I can see the logic and also the fact that it is open to abuse. Is there also a requirement in the UK to register yourself as a 'keeper of horses' along with your premises, even if you are a private individual? I have a number to which my horses are registered and I have to fill out paperwork to enter a new horse or permanently remove one from my place.
 
Ah the joys of being in the EU! The stupid thing is, how many horses just die? Most are put down after some illness which almost certainly meant they were given drugs in the run-up, which would make them unsuitable for consumption anyway. It is all just glorious red-tape, like 99% of EU legislation.
 
I think 'passports' are a bit more regulated over here. Only your Junta Vet Office can issue a passport so it's an official government thing, not run by private companies. You have to have an approved vet come out and fill out the identification part (chip number, identifying marks and brands, coat markings etc). Then you personally have to have an 'explotacion code' to which horse is registered if you keep them on your own premises, or if it's on livery it has to be entered on the YO's code. If you move a horse you have to fill in paperwork saying where it's leaving and where it's going. Well, that's the theory. The ony other thing is if you have an official code number you can get bargain insurance in case a carcase has to be removed from your place. I think I pay about 6 euros a year, whereas it woud be over 300 euros to pay for the knackerman.
 
You need to do that because of Peste Equina - it started then, so that all horses could be accounted for so if another run of immunisations ever have to be done, EVERY horse is done (that is the theory anyway
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yes the last time was 20 years ago and you can still see older horses that have the branding on them to say they were vaccinated at the time, much better now that you use chip data and the green card.
 
Mik - yes but the green card doesn't hold any vaccination records, at least here in the North everything is in one book and, if you have your book, no guia required to transport them within Galicia! Yippeee!

ETA is the brand mark the X on the left shoulder? My,allegedy 22 yo mare has this.
 
Yes the brand is an X on the nearside
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None of our horses had vaccination records on their green cards either, but mine had full passports for SJing so they had their records on there. Guia was usually only required to travel outside of your province (at least that used to be the case).
 
If you look in the back of any UK horse passport there should be a section about medications and a declaration that the horse is not to go for human consumption.

This came in when the EU changed the drug regulations a few years ago and declared a lot of useful drugs including ACP and bute not suitable for use in animals that may possibly go for human consumption.

So, a lot of drugs disappeared from the market for food producing animals. The complication came because the EU views horses as a food animal whereas people in the UK generally don't. As a compromise to stop us losing drugs such as bute and ACP for horses, the medicines declaration was brought in. If your horse is given one of these 'annex 4' drugs, the passport must be filled in as that horse can now never go for human consumption.

The system is stupid for 2 main reasons. 1. it relies on vet and owner actually filling passport in, 2. we all know that it is perfectly possible to obtain duplicate passports for horses.

Oofadoofa, you're right about pet food meat being fit for human consumpion. The animals have to be up to scratch pre-slaughter, they're just a bit less careful about the handling of the carcases afterwards as all pet food meat is sold processed so no food poisoning worries.
 
no your right the vacs are in the passports, gosh youre lucky they can travel within galicia without a piece of paper, although did you know you can do the 'fit to travel bit' yourself, downloaded from the net, It isnt necessary to get a vet to do it. i didnt know that till one of my pupils told me the other day.
 
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