SirenaXVI
Well-Known Member
VERY ROUGH DRAFT!!!
For those who may object to Racing, Breeding and Competition horses being exempt, please bear in mind that these industries are fairly strict anyway, they need the free movement, they are regulated and have been travelling freely for years without problems, try to impose this on them and any amendment will be doomed to failure. The current situation has arisen from a bin end dealer and he is NOT the only one.
EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANEMIA AND THE TPA
The recent importation of Infectious Equine Anemia into this country has shown that the Tripartite Agreement is deeply flawed as it stands.
This disease was brought into the country by a dealer who imported Rumanian horses from France. The horses concerned were in the UK for approx 4 weeks before a Coggins Test was undertaken. We were just lucky that it was in the depths of winter when very few or no biting insects were around, this could just have easily happened mid summer and a post import test would have been useless.
EIA is endemic to Rumania and all horses, barring those bound for slaughter in Italy, by law should have a negative Coggins Test before leaving Rumania. Horses intended for immediate slaughter in Italy are somehow ending up in the hands of unscrupulous dealers and entering the UK via France to be sold on for the ridden leisure market and this is how we find ourselves in the position we are in today.
Any horse testing positive for EIA in the UK will be euthanised immediately, the compensation paid to any affected owners is £1, no matter what the real worth of the animal.
Under the TPA's current legislation, no horses imported from France and Ireland to the UK need undertake ANY health checks and it is not only EIA that our herd is at risk from.
We the undersigned demand an amendment to the TPA so that only Racing, Breeding or Competition horses are covered. We want to see rigorous health checks undertaken on all other horses imported to the UK no matter where their point of origin is.
Comments invited
For those who may object to Racing, Breeding and Competition horses being exempt, please bear in mind that these industries are fairly strict anyway, they need the free movement, they are regulated and have been travelling freely for years without problems, try to impose this on them and any amendment will be doomed to failure. The current situation has arisen from a bin end dealer and he is NOT the only one.
EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANEMIA AND THE TPA
The recent importation of Infectious Equine Anemia into this country has shown that the Tripartite Agreement is deeply flawed as it stands.
This disease was brought into the country by a dealer who imported Rumanian horses from France. The horses concerned were in the UK for approx 4 weeks before a Coggins Test was undertaken. We were just lucky that it was in the depths of winter when very few or no biting insects were around, this could just have easily happened mid summer and a post import test would have been useless.
EIA is endemic to Rumania and all horses, barring those bound for slaughter in Italy, by law should have a negative Coggins Test before leaving Rumania. Horses intended for immediate slaughter in Italy are somehow ending up in the hands of unscrupulous dealers and entering the UK via France to be sold on for the ridden leisure market and this is how we find ourselves in the position we are in today.
Any horse testing positive for EIA in the UK will be euthanised immediately, the compensation paid to any affected owners is £1, no matter what the real worth of the animal.
Under the TPA's current legislation, no horses imported from France and Ireland to the UK need undertake ANY health checks and it is not only EIA that our herd is at risk from.
We the undersigned demand an amendment to the TPA so that only Racing, Breeding or Competition horses are covered. We want to see rigorous health checks undertaken on all other horses imported to the UK no matter where their point of origin is.
Comments invited